Emirates Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton tells us exclusively what happens when he gets ‘shocked’ by Matt Sheehan.
Why he thinks the Defenders are trying to gain an advantage, what his relationship with the British record challenger is and much more.
Dalton. . . I think Inoes has an advantage over other challengers because they are trying for a record. And I don’t think this superstition that a record attempt is like a poison (holy grail) for the relationship doesn’t exist if the relationship has gone sour. Then it’s a bad place.
But you know, we don’t really have any problems. We donate when we think we should, and they donate when they think they should.
Sheehan. . . We are in the America’s Cup cycle and this is his second qualifying event. It seems like there has already been a big jump in boat performance and team performance since Spain a few weeks ago.
What do you think about it, what are you seeing?
Dalton. . . Well, that’s not really surprising. Because you just don’t take it seriously until you get excited, and then you start taking it very seriously.
Slingsby I think you said it very well, look, you know we made one crappy jibe that cost us all the money. [AC40] In a regatta, we would have won by a significant point margin, and there is a feeling within the organization that if the designers can deliver a fast enough boat, they have proven themselves, because That’s because people don’t always trust boats, he said. Other than that.
Now that he’s proven he’s a sailing team, now you guys have to prove that that boat is fast, so when you get hammered, the designer is fine, now we What are you going to do? . . We give you a fast boat, but you can’t even sail it.
I mean, life isn’t like that at all, but such mindsets and idiosyncrasies exist within organizations.
Sheehan. . . Do you think the attitude of some of the teams has made a difference in this world? In Spain, some of them have said quite publicly that we know we have to do this, it’s fine for the sailors. But it wasn’t actually part of our main plan, and now they seem to be thinking a little differently.
Grant . . . Well, what’s interesting is that we’re getting feedback that we should hold more events like this. I sometimes think about the impossible world where they don’t want to have too many events because the costs go up, but it’s too expensive for the America’s Cup, and there aren’t enough events and they’re moaning about it. I think about it sometimes. . . So it’s an impossible balance.