America’s Cup: How Team New Zealand successfully defended the Auld Mug, again - Sailing Professor Mark Orams

Emirates Team NZ chief executive Grant Dalton. Photo / Getty Images

THREE KEY FACTS

• Emirates Team New Zealand have defended the Auld Mug, by defeating Ineos Britannia 7-2.
• Credit must to go Grant Dalton for keeping the 2021 Cup-winning outfit largely intact.
• Attention will now turn to how and where the Cup will be defended.

Professor Mark Orams is a former NZ and world champion sailor, Team New Zealand member, author, environmentalist and professor of sport and recreation at the Auckland University of Technology.

OPINION

The 7-2 scoreline does not reflect how close this America’s Cup regatta was.

Ineos Britannia were unquestionably the most improved team in Barcelona. They also showed a willingness to be creative with their exploration of their design ideas, as seen in the early iterations of their foils, their hull design and systems. In the end it wasn’t quite enough, but they were very competitive and sailed Britannia fast and to a very high level.

This Cup saw the third iteration of the AC75 foiling monohulls, remembering the teams were permitted to design and build two new boats for the 36th America’s Cup – but only one for this latest edition.