America’s Cup: RNZYS rear commodore David Blakey on Barcelona decision and taking Auld Mug on NZ tour

The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron will take the America's Cup on a 40-stop tour before it is taken to Barcelona. Photo / Photosport

After defending the America’s Cup on home waters in 2021, Team New Zealand’s decision to take their next defence to Barcelona caused a stir.

Declining an offer of $99 million from the Government to host the regatta in New Zealand again, the call was made to take the event to the Spanish city, which beat out Cork (Ireland), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) and Malaga (Spain) for hosting rights.

It was a decision that Team NZ boss Grant Dalton believed was necessary to put the team in the best position to defend the Cup, but wasn’t a choice that went down well with fans of the sport locally. At the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS), who Team NZ represents in the regatta, some members resigned as a direct response to the decision.

Now more than two years on, RNZYS rear commodore David Blakey said while there was still some disdain around the decision, a lot of new members had joined this year in anticipation of the regatta, with more than 15% of members set to make the trip north to support the team.

“Look, I think it would be fair to say that all of us would love it to be still being sailed in Auckland on the Waitematā Harbour, but a lot of that sentiment is behind us. We still get a little bit of it. People are still disappointed, and I suspect that that will rise a little bit as the event itself starts, but it is in the past,” Blakey said.

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Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron rear commodore David Blakey with Matt Heath and Jeremy Wells from Radio Hauraki's Matt and Jerry Show. Photo / Suellen Hurling, Live Sail Die for RNZYS

“I do reflect that since that decision was made to take it to Barcelona - which does rely on central and local government support, not only for the event but also to enable Team New Zealand to have the funding required to be able to compete against the best in the world - the New Zealand economy has struggled.

“We’ve been in and out of recession since then, a cost of living crisis, if the central and local government had committed funding to the event, that would be a difficult conversation to be had when they’ve got lots of other priorities on it as well.

“Hopefully in another cycle, things might change again and maybe there’s another way of being able to bring it back here.”

Local fans will still get a chance to see the Cup itself in September, however, with the RNZYS taking it around the country in a 40-stop trip including sailing clubs, schools and stores of the sponsors, Toyota. A sail is also being taken on the trip on which fans can write messages of support for Team NZ, which will be delivered to them in Barcelona.

It will be the first time they have taken the Cup on such a trip, and Blakey said he hoped it would help to add to the excitement around the regatta and serve as a reminder that, while it’s being defended offshore, it is still New Zealand’s Cup at the moment.

He was also hopeful that taking the Auld Mug to sailing clubs and schools would help to inspire the next generation of sailors

“The Cup is over 170 years old. New Zealand has been involved for nearly 40 years now and no other country has as successful a record in the Cup [in that time] as what we do. We should be very proud of that,” he said.

“Of course, we’d all love it to be raced out of Auckland, that would be ideal. Unfortunately, this time it’s not, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t still be proud of the team, what they’ve achieved and, actually, the very different challenge they’ve got this time defending it in foreign waters.”

The America’s Cup will visit locations in:

Monday September 2

• Auckland City Toyota, Mt Wellington - 11am to 1pm
• Albany Toyota - 3pm to 5pm

Tuesday September 3

• Pacific Toyota Tauranga - 3pm to 5pm

Wednesday September 4

• Hawkes Bay Toyota - 3pm to 5pm

Friday September 6

• Rutherford & Bond Toyota, Porirua - 10am to 12pm
• Rutherford & Bond Toyota, Wellington City – 2pm tp 5pm

Saturday September 7

• Bowater Toyota, Nelson City – 4pm to 5:30pm

Sunday September 8

• Miles Toyota Christchurch – 1pm to 3pm
• Ilam Toyota Christchurch – 4pm to 5pm

Tuesday September 10

• GWD Toyota Queenstown – 7am to 9am

Wednesday September 11

• GWD Toyota Invercargill 8am to 9am
• Cooke Howlison Toyota Balclutha - 1:30pm to 2:30pm
• Cooke Howlison Toyota Dunedin - 4:30pm to 5:30pm

Friday September 13

• Blenheim Toyota, 2pm to 5pm

Tuesday September 17

• Northland Toyota, Whangārei – 11:30am to 1:30pm

Wednesday September 18

• Warkworth Toyota – 3pm to 5pm

Thursday September 19

• Auckland City Toyota, Grey Lynn – 3pm to 5pm

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.