Kerre McIvor: Dalton fails to read the wind

Grant Dalton. Photo / Abner Kingman

I'm absolutely delighted that Team New Zealand will challenge for the next America's Cup. And good on them for being able to raise the interim money they need to keep the syndicate going until the main sponsorship money starts filling the coffers.

See what happens when you tell the Government to come up with cash to keep you going and the Government tells you - to all intents and purposes - to shove off?

You have to dig deep, do the impossible and make it happen. All of which will be very good practice for when the racing starts. Don't get me wrong. I was incensed with the attitude taken by Team New Zealand at the Black Friday press conference but I thoroughly enjoyed watching the last America's Cup challenge. I "leaned with Dean" throughout every race. I, along with everyone else in the country, suffered incipient cardiac infarction when Team New Zealand came within a zillionth of a degree of capsizing.

And I was as gutted as every other supporter when Jimmy Spittle staged an impossible comeback to win the America's Cup. I felt the members of Team New Zealand had done a brilliant job representing the country and I, too, hoped they would find the way to have another go.

And I have absolutely no problem with the members of Team New Zealand being paid the salaries they're reportedly being paid - unless it's the taxpayer who's expected to cough up to keep them in the style to which they've become accustomed.

I'm quite sure some of the team members could earn more in other syndicates. And I believe the Government should contribute some money towards another challenge. But it was the attitude of Grant Dalton that really got up my nose at his Black Friday press conference.

Cough up with the cash, New Zealand, or we ain't coming back and you'll be sorry, was the implicit message. That doesn't work so well with New Zealanders. It was a classic case of failing to read which way the wind was blowing - a failure that cost them dearly in San Francisco as well.

People don't like the feeling that they're being held to ransom to keep contractors in the lifestyles to which they've become accustomed. Can you imagine Sir Peter Jackson holding a press conference and demanding that the taxpayer fund his family and his film company until such time as his next directing job comes through or he'll never work in this town again?

Certainly, the Government invests in those productions it thinks will be commercial blockbusters, but their contribution is not seen as critical and merely matches what other countries offer film-makers. There have been other high-profile sportspeople who could have been lost to the country due to better offers in their earlier years if there hadn't been generous supporters willing to put their hands in their pockets to keep them in this country.

It was done behind the scenes and with utmost discretion. These sportspeople didn't demand the readies from the taxpayer or they'd take their talents elsewhere. But be that as it may, Grant Dalton has found the funding required to keep Team New Zealand Inc on the water and it looks likely that Team New Zealand can mount a credible challenge.

And I will almost certainly make a donation or buy a branded product in support of them. Because now I can choose to spend my money on the team - it's not being demanded of me.