Three Team New Zealand members depart

by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com on 11 Jun 2015 Three members of Team New Zealand have left in the last week as the America's Cup Challenger continues to restructure and re-shape ahead of the 35th Match in Bermuda.

Key of these are long-time Chief Designer, Nick Holroyd, who joined the team in 1997 for the 2000 America's Cup Defence in Auckland and remained with the team through the rebuild in 2003 and led the design team in the 2007 and 2013 America's Cup Challenges.

Also confirmed to have exited are Winston Macfarlane and Derek Saward, both grinders who made the transition from the monohull America's Cup campaigns to the multihulled wingsailed catamarans. Team New Zealand denied there was any crisis situation and they were in business as usual today.

Both Macfarlane and Saward were named in the seven strong sailing team after the shrink-down which occurred after the exit of former skipper Dean Barker who had been with the team since 1995.

The three are not believed to be going directly to Softbank Team Japan, or any other team. However the chequebooks are expected to start circling now the departures are in the public domain.

It is also believed that approaches have been made to Team New Zealand shore and support teams, along with those team members still on part-time contracts.

Both Barker and Holroyd were members of the Executive Committee of Emirates Team New Zealand, and have not been publicly announced as having been replaced. More likely is that as the team restructuring and downsizing continues that Daniel Bernasconi a foiling design specialist will take over the design leadership role.

British educated with a PhD in Fluid Dynamics and a background with Maclaren Formula One, which he joined in 1998, where he remained until joining Internet Team Germany and then Alinghi for the 2010 America's Cup.

There will be further crew selection and testing to increase the sailing team numbers, with sailors with an Olympic sailing background and similar being given more encouragement to step into the America's Cup multihulls.

After the announcement of the shift of the America's Cup venue from San Francisco and Bermuda and the impact that had on sponsorship opportunities and yields, together with the shift from the AC72 to the AC62 and then the AC48, with significant one design components, Team New Zealand announced that they were reducing their budget from $100million down to $80million, and it is expected that the budgets will reduce below that level.

Reductions will take place in all areas as a result of the smaller boat, and dramatic reduction in design scope following the determination by Defender Oracle Team USA to make it easier for new teams to join the America's Cup Regatta. That process also has the very convenient collateral damage to Team New Zealand in that it reduces the value of the team's intellectual property built over nine America's Cup campaigns, and Round the World Races and TP52 campaigns - making it easier for other Challengers to close the gap.

Meanwhile Oracle Team USA have dropped none of their advantage, retaining the ability to build and campaign two AC48's. Additionally the Defender is handing two of its design packages to at least two of the new challengers - assisting them into the America's Cup, but also providing a vital benchmark in a Challenger Series.