America’s Cup in Barcelona: Less ‘biffo’ but just as much drama

Italy takes on Britain in the final of the America’s Cup challenger series, starting this week, with the winner set to race Team New Zealand in Barcelona next month.
But true to form, it is Brad Butterworth who is still claiming the headlines, despite his team, Alinghi Red Bull Racing, being defeated in the Louis Vuitton Cup semis.
He likens the way Team New Zealand is running the event to a communist state, claiming there is too much focus on money and not enough on pursuing a vision for the sport and building a wider partnership with competing teams, and insisting rivals are being shut-out of decision making.
America’s Cup correspondent Todd Niall broke the story and spoke to The Detail.
“It’s not unusual in an America’s Cup for one challenger or another at some point to have a go at the defender because the America’s Cup… rules are written by the defender in conjunction with a chosen challenger of record so the rules are often slightly tilted in favour of the defender, that’s what the America’s Cup is all about, so at some point someone is going to have a grumble,” he says.
“Brad is the master of the droll one-liner, the odd little quip,” Niall says, referring to Butterworth’s ‘communist state’ coment.
“That was a line that he threw in. I don’t think there is a great, long, warm relationship [between] him and Grant Dalton.”
Niall says Dalton told him in response that “if they don’t like it, be good enough to win it and set it up the way they want to.”
Journalist and sailor Richard Gladwell has been covering the America’s Cup since 1983. He would normally be waterside with Todd Niall.
But this year he is having to cover it from Auckland, due to costs and the programme.
“I’m not that enthused with the way it’s being run either,” he told The Detail. “It’s the way the media side has been set up, it’s completely Barcelona-orientated, they want to run an event that is quite sterile, whereas the America’s Cup is not about that, it’s all about the biffo.
“That starts on shore and continues on the water. The way they go about the design, and everyone is trying to second guess… it’s spy versus spy type stuff.
“That’s completely evaporated this Cup…. there’s also no media conference for the first time since forever… The PR people have really got this event by the throat”
Both Niall and Gladwell believe Team New Zealand have the form to win the Cup but agree that “it’s sport, anything can happen”.
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