Please select your home edition
Edition
Cyclops Marine 2023 November - LEADERBOARD

America's Cup: US team will be first Challenger to arrive in NZ in early June

by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz 4 May 2020 13:15 PDT 5 May 2020
American Magic's first AC75 Defiant testing their Code Zero in Pensacola, Florida - January 2020 © Will Ricketson

New York Yacht Club entry in the 2020 America's Cup, American Magic will be the first Challenger to arrive in New Zealand.

The team confirmed to Sail-World Tuesday morning, NZT, that the team had packed their boat AC75 Defiant onto a ship bound for New Zealand, presumably with chase boats and a base.

The team says their arrival time in New Zealand is "early June".

Currently, construction on their base on Auckland's Wynyard Point has not yet started. They are expected to build a base with container walls and a flexible roof the same as Emirates Team New Zealand used in Bermuda.

Writing in an early digital June edition, of the prestigious Seahorse magazine, published at 2.00am NZT, skipper Terry Hutchinson said: "By the time this is on your kitchen counter we will have executed on a pivotal decision for our programme. All our gear will have been loaded and will be on its way to New Zealand. It is a nervous time as we have no guarantee at this very moment when non-New Zealand citizens will be allowed into the country. We do know our future is in Auckland and we can only "hope", a great value but not necessarily a great strategy, that by the time Defiant and the gear land in early June the New Zealand government has set up a smart, safe process to allow us to execute our planning."

The move has been triggered by the cancellation of two America's Cup World Series Regattas in Cagliari, Sardinia and Portsmouth, UK and the team, unlike Emirates Team New Zealand, was able to stop the shipment of the boat and base to Italy. Their slip was due to leave on March 16, and the decision to cancel the regattas was made just a few days earlier. Rather than unpack and set up at their Rhode Island or Pensacola bases the team has taken the bold move to ship directly to New Zealand and see what unfolds on the immigration side for Cup teams.

Some of the America's Cup team challenger members, who are holders of New Zealand passports, and therefore eligible to enter New Zealand despite the in-bound visitor blanket ban imposed two days after New Zealand first went into a COVID-19 triggered lockdown in late March. This group is expected to include helmsman Dean Barker. At least six of the team have NZ Passports and are expected to be in, or have already completed quarantine.

The rest of the team are in the hands of the New Zealand Government as to their ability and conditions around being allowed into New Zealand to set up base and train ahead of the first America's Cup event due to take place in Auckland in mid-December.

Already another America's Cup team principal spoken to by Sail-World said they would be comfortable with undergoing a 14 day supervised quarantine period. That proposal for Cup teams is similar to that used by the NZ Warriors rugby league team to enter Australia, yesterday ahead of the restart of the NRL season in late May.

American Magic's hopes rest on an easing of visa restrictions to allow the handling of exceptional cases and being able to locate a suitable facility in Auckland for the team to live and quarantine, while maintaining the ability to do physical training, running a simulator and keeping the design effort going.

If that immigration process is not complete by the time the AC75 and gear arrives, then the boat will go into storage until such time as the immigration arrangements are complete.

Currently, New Zealand is in an Alert Level 3 lockdown in response to the COVID19 virus. The team have previously told Sail-World that they follow the daily Prime Ministerial updates broadcast daily in New Zealand and were appreciative of their openness as to the changing situation and government messaging and expectations.

Other America's Cup teams are expected to do the same as American Magic if they are not already in process. Previously INEOS Team UK said they were intending to arrive in September and Italian Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in late October.

For an earlier story and Terry Hutchinson interview click here

Related Articles

America's Cup fillibustered by Challengers
A Cup in turmoil - Protocol is unsigned - with entries due to open on Sunday. Updated story: America's Cup got underway in Rome on Monday, with Round 2 of the official welcoming ceremonies on Wednesday in Naples. However three teams are working in collusion and have again issued statements within minutes of each other. Posted on 29 May
America's Cup enthusiastically received in Naples
The Castel dell'Ovo, was the venue for the arrival of the America's Cup in Napes The Castel dell'Ovo, set on the tuft peninsula of Megaride was the outstanding setting for the Official Host Venue Presentation of the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup. Posted on 28 May
Italian PM welcomes America's Cup in Rome
Prime Minister Meloni set out a bold vision for the regeneration planned around AC38 The magnificent setting of the Casino del Bel Respiro, commissioned by Pope Innocent X in 1644, in the grounds of Villa Pamphilj, was the outstanding and historic setting for the formal presentation of the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup. Posted on 26 May
America's Cup: Big changes in crew line-up
Women and Youth crews to sail in AC75 in the next Cup - Final Draft of AC38 Protocol Historic changes are proposed in the Final Draft of the Protocol released by the America's Cup Defender. For the first time a Female and Youth crew members will be part of the six-crew lineup on board the all-electric AC75s. Posted on 23 May
America's Cup: The Blitz of Statements
Various parties associated with the America's Cup released statements calling for more transparency Various parties associated with the America's Cup released statements calling for more transparency in the America's Cup. Emirates Team New Zealand responded by releasing what is tagged as the Final Draft of the Protocol. Posted on 23 May
America's Cup: Emirates Team NZ respond
Emirates Team New Zealand has responded to the statements sent overnight (NZT) Emirates Team New Zealand has responded to the statements sent overnight by two Challenger teams calling for more transparency in the negotiations over the Protocol and venue for the 38th Match. Posted on 22 May
NYYC American Magic team statement
Concerns over transparency and cooperation necessary to secure a fair Protocol Over the past seven years, we've competed with pride, purpose, and perseverance in two editions of the America's Cup. It has been an honor to represent the New York Yacht Club and the United States on the global stage. Posted on 22 May
Athena Racing concerned over 38th AC transparency
Around the recent announcement of a Host City for the Cup in 2027 Athena Racing, representing Royal Yacht Squadron Ltd. as Challenger of Record for the 38th America's Cup, is concerned by the ongoing lack of transparency around the recent announcement of a Host City for the Cup in 2027. Posted on 22 May
America's Cup: Part 2 - No Excuse to Lose
The last race of the (63+254i) America's Cup has begun where tension deepens and strategy sharpens The last race of the (63+254i)th America's Cup has begun. Earth's syndicate, led by the New York Yacht Club, faces off against the Thalassocratic League of Deniau in a final match — winner takes all. Posted on 18 May
Dalton claims Alinghi are still recruiting
Emirates Team NZ CEO claims the Swiss America's Cup team Alinghi are still actively recruiting. In the course of a TV interview following the announcement of the venue for the 38th America's Cup, Emirates Team New Zealand CEO claimed that the Swiss America's Cup team Alinghi, were still actively recruiting, despite being in an "orderly wind-down". Posted on 17 May
Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca 2025Vaikobi 2024 DecemberMaritimo 2023 S600 FOOTER