French: Why we refused to help Team NZ

The French America's Cup syndicate says sponsorship commitments was one of the reasons it rejected an approach for help from Team New Zealand.

Groupama Team France have confirmed they declined a request from help from Team New Zealand after the pitch-pole that left Aotearoa in tatters - but say America's Cup defenders Oracle had nothing to do with the decision.

In Saturday's Weekend Herald, Team New Zealand principal Matteo de Nora revealed the eventual Cup winners asked Team France, who had been knocked out of the campaign, for assistance after the accident in the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series.

Team New Zealand's boat suffered serious damage when it tipped, and shore crew worked through the night to get the high-tech vessel back in the water and in contention to with the challenger series.

De Nora said the French refused almost immediately. Then came a request for a payment of €300,000 ($468,500) if they were to consider helping.

The long-time Team New Zealand supporter then said that before Team New Zealand had time to consider the payment and search for funding, the offer was abruptly withdrawn, and De Nora wondered if Oracle Team USA had heard about the possible deal.

Team France told the Herald today suspicions over whether Oracle had spoken to Team France about providing assistance were "false and unfounded".

Team France also said it did not request any financial compensation from Team New Zealand.

The syndicate confirmed it had fielded an approach from Team New Zealand chief operating officer Kevin Shoebridge - not team boss Grant Dalton as reported in the Weekend Herald.

It stated ongoing testing and sponsorship commitments, as well as a desire to be impartial during the challenger series finals, were behind the decision not to help Team New Zealand.

"We were still sailing after being eliminated to pursue our training and fulfil sponsoring opportunities for the 36th America's cup," Team France said.

"Therefore, having no spare parts on site, this would have compromised our plans.

"By agreement with our sponsor, who owns our material and our boat, we did not want to favour Team New Zealand over Land Rover BAR in the semifinals. Team New Zealand expressed their opposition to the other team's vision for a certain stability towards AC36. Team France being 100 per cent commercially funded and without private investors, this strategy was vital to protect the potential future of the team."

The Weekend Herald sought comment from Team France last Thursday. Their response came today.