‘Where next for the America’s Cup: Auckland, Barcelona, Middle East?’ – Matt Sheahan

Despite providing plenty of return on investment 2024 America's Cup host Barcelona looks unlikely to hold it again. Could New Zealand be back in the cards?

The messages have been confusing. The America’s Cup had barely left town on its long-haul flight back to New Zealand before news broke that Barcelona would not be hosting the event for a second round.

Given the local rumblings during the event where some of the anti-Cup protests started to gather momentum, this was disappointing to hear for those who enjoyed having the Cup in Europe. But it didn’t come as much of a surprise.

Yet, a few months later a report on the economic impact of the America’s Cup in Barcelona put the value at just over €1 billion. That’s quite a difference of opinion.

Even stranger was that the report had been produced by The University of Barcelona and the Barcelona Capital Nàutica Foundation which said 1.8million visitors were counted during the 59 days of the event of which 460,000 were said to have come specifically for the Cup.

On top of this, the report stated that almost 13,000 jobs had been created, generating over €200million in tax revenues.

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The big numbers didn’t go unnoticed down under by Tataki Auckland Unlimited, the events arm of Auckland Council. In a statement released following the Spanish report, its CEO Nick Hill said: “The post-event economic impact report for the 37th America’s Cup event held in Barcelona last year is extremely positive, illustrating strong return on investment. The benefits of hosting this mega-event go well beyond the obvious economic, trade, tourism, employment and social benefits for the region.

“Tataki Auckland Unlimited can confirm we are talking with Emirates Team New Zealand.”

Given how contentious the issue of support had been for the last Cup this public show of confidence will have been music to Emirates Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton’s ears. He continues to face criticism from those who say the Cup should never have left Auckland in the first place and who are fearful it will end up in the Middle East next time.

In an interview with New Zealand broadcaster Stuff, Dalton said the idea was always to win the Cup and bring it back to New Zealand if they could. “We’ve done exactly what we said we would do, and now we’re trying to come back,” he said.

The NZ minister for sport seemed less clear though, saying they hadn’t been approached from the team for funding – but that a feasibility study was under way.

Confusion is typical of this period between Cup cycles. As I write this I’m in Auckland, a stone’s throw from the Cup holders, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, which itself sits at the edge of the annual Auckland Boat Show. Like all boat shows around the world, gossip and speculation is plentiful but hard facts are in short supply.

It’s fair to assume the rosy figures on the one hand and the darker Spanish view of the Cup on the other represent two very different ends of the spectrum, but it’s still difficult to understand why the Spanish city wouldn’t want the Cup back, especially as a second round would most likely cost less to activate as they have a tried and tested blueprint.

It’s easier to see why Auckland may struggle to bring the Cup home given a cost that’s usually assumed to be on par with running a team – in other words around £100million.

Away from the politics, one of the other figures to stand out for me in the Cup wash-up was the 78 female sailors who were involved in this cycle, of which 17 were Olympic medallists. There’s still a long way to go to see women properly integrated into Cup teams and it’s frustrating to see such slow progress at a time when some of the physical barriers have been removed, but it’s progress nonetheless.

Outside the Cup there’s further evidence that the foiling world is continuing to influence the broader scene. Pensacola in Florida, USA, is the main training base for NYYC American Magic. The area recently hosted the latest Foiling Week, an event originally set up in Malcesine, Lake Garda, which has been running since 2014 and is now broadening its reach.

Racing included six boat classes, plus foil-assisted surf sports, stand up paddleboards, e-foils, wing sailing and kite foils – in fact foiling classes now represent 50% of the Olympics fleet.

So while the top end of the sport may be taking the rap among some for no longer representing sailing, the new world of foils gets bigger each season.

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