There were traffic jams on Auckland's roads as early as 4 a.m. because people wanted to arrive at their workplaces in time for the start of the live broadcast from Bermuda. An hour and a half later, at 5.33am New Zealand time on Tuesday morning, there was no stopping people in their offices and living rooms at home. People ran into the streets waving New Zealand flags. At the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, the home club of Emirates Team New Zealand in the Westhaven Marina, where the America's Cup had its own exhibition and later security room for eight years between 1995 and 2003, hundreds of fans waved flags and screamed with happiness for several minutes. The reason for the frenetic applause: the 35th America's Cup match had been decided: The America's Cup is returning to New Zealand!
Off Bermuda, the New Zealanders took the first of six match points on Monday afternoon local time on the picture-perfect waters of the Great Sound, outclassing and dethroning defending champions Oracle Team USA 7-1. It is the Kiwis' third Cup triumph since 1995 and 2000, but it tastes particularly sweet after the traumatic defeat four years ago against the same opponents. Back then, Emirates Team New Zealand had already led 8:1, but lost 8:9 after a furious comeback by the Americans. "You never get over it," team boss Grant Dalton once said later, "and you shouldn't." His team's Cup victory is likely to have accelerated the healing process of the deep wound.
Faster, smarter, more innovative
Jimmy Spithill congratulated the Kiwis and gave an insight into his inner life. The victorious Emirates Team New Zealand came with four important leading figures from their campaign
The duel between the two Cup giants was won by the New Zealanders with their faster boat "Aotearoa", the talent of the century Peter Burling at the helm, a strong team and more innovative technology. Visually, the "culture of innovation" praised by compatriot, Cup boss and opponent Russell Coutts was made visible by the four cyclists, who used pedal power instead of the conventional arm power on the grinder to provide superior hydraulic power. Not visible, but also much praised, was the Kiwis' foil control system, which was operated by Burling's Olympic foresailor Blair Tuke. An Australian on Emirates Team New Zealand also played a major part in the sailing success: skipper Glenn Ashby, the only person on board who had actively experienced the 2013 trauma himself, trimmed the sail wing of the "Aotearoa" (Land of the Long White Cloud) and helped the team with his wealth of experience.
Peter "Pistol Pete" Burling sets a new record by winning his Cup premiere: At 26, the 2016 Olympic 49er champion is now the youngest helmsman ever to win the America's Cup. His predecessor was the beaten Oracle helmsman Jimmy Spithill, who first won the Cup in 2010 at the age of 30. The next Cup generation has not only left their starting blocks, but has also overtaken their former role models at their first attempt. Burling was also the youngest helmsman in the 49er fleet at the 2012 Olympic Games, when he won his first Olympic medal with silver. And he will be aiming for further heights with his 49er foresailor and "flight mode" regulator Blair Tuke, tactician and wing trimmer Glenn Ashby and Emirates Team New Zealand.
How the two helmsmen of the Cup giants shaped the 35th America's Cup
Spithill bows to his conquerors
The award ceremony for the teams in Bermuda was well worth seeing, with a whole host of emotional, memorable and also strange moments. For example, when the Americans were honoured as runners-up and gave the Cup motto "There is no second" a fitting image with their facial expressions. It was almost a little embarrassing when the team was presented with their medals, but they ran out at the end of the line. Neither Larry Ellison, standing in the middle of his sailors, nor Jimmy Spithill had one left. Spithill gave a short speech afterwards and proved to be a very fair loser: "We take our hats off to the Kiwis. They sailed better. They made fewer mistakes. They were a class above us. As bitter as it is for us, they overcame their demons and came back after 2013. They deserved to win." The Kiwis then took to the stage to celebrate. In addition to the medals, which were also not enough for their team, they received classy Louis Vuitton travelling bags. But what did they do with them instead of giving them to their wives, girlfriends or friends? They happily threw them into the audience. The crowning moment of this edition of the Cup followed: together, skipper Glenn Ashby and helmsman Peter Burling were the first to lift the America's Cup into the sky over Bermuda before everyone else in the team was allowed to lend a hand.
With their victory, the Kiwis take the oldest trophy in the sporting world back to New Zealand and can now organise the 36th edition of the America's Cup. Software billionaire Larry Ellison and his Oracle Team USA have now forfeited this right on foreign soil after their court-enforced victory over the Swiss team Alinghi in 2010 and their successful defence in 2013 off San Francisco. The choice of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda as the venue outside the home country was resented by many Americans towards Oracle Team USA and racing team owner Larry Ellison. However, the highly praised venue has almost always delivered what it promised. Nevertheless, there will be no second Cup edition here, as the Kiwis will be defending "their" jug at home. However, New Zealand team boss Grant Dalton held out the prospect of returning for an event and praised the outstanding regatta area.
New Zealand is only the second nation after the American record winners (29 victories since 1851) to have won, defended, lost and won again the America's Cup. The team also celebrated this extensively on Monday evening in Bermuda.
The red moon rises again
The first answers to the most important questions about the future of the Cup were also given in the evening. The new "Challenger of Record" will be - as expected, reported and already seen on Monday afternoon off Bermuda in the form of an Italian delegation on board the 33-metre superyacht "Imagine" of New Zealand's patron and patron Matteo De Nora in the Great Sound - the Luna Rossa Challenge of Prada patriarch Patrizio Bertelli under the banner of the Circolo della Vela Sicilia. The Italians had withdrawn their participation in the 35th America's Cup during the campaign already underway out of annoyance at too many rule and design changes by the American defenders a year after the protocol for the 35th America's Cup was published, watching the tussle for the jug from the sidelines while financially supporting the New Zealanders. For example, the passionate Cup fans lent their prototype to Emirates Team New Zealand for testing purposes. The Italians also provided the New Zealanders with some staff for the design and sailing departments, including skipper Max Sirena. This was a win-win situation for both sides: the Kiwis had more resources at their disposal, while the Italians stayed close to the action. So it was no wonder that the Kiwis chose Bertelli and his team as their new negotiating partners on the side of the future challengers. The contract between the new Cup defenders and the first challengers was signed by Steve Mair, Commodore of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, and Agostino Randazzo, President of the Circolo della Vela Sicilia.
Team Principal Grant Dalton did not want to give any further details for the time being. The mastermind behind Emirates Team New Zealand said: "We will work for a few weeks and then present the most important key data. Winning the America's Cup and then hosting it is not a right, it's a privilege. We will do the right thing. We have ideas and a plan, but we want to consult with the Challenger of Record first." Grant Dalton also had a farewell message for the skipper who inflicted the most bitter defeat imaginable on Emirates Team New Zealand in 2013. Dalton is quoted in the "New Zealand Herald" as follows: "I couldn't be more indifferent to Spithill. He was very keen to get me out. You did your best. The biggest software company in the world has now just been beaten by little old New Zealand software."
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The last comment at this point belongs to high-flyer Peter Burling, who, despite effusive praise, never tired of praising his entire team and simply ignoring personal questions. When asked how he could have performed so outstandingly, Burling simply said: "We sailed a boat." The fans of Emirates Team New Zealand and all other observers have seen more and can look forward to it: the new national heroes are due to land in Auckland on Wednesday in a week's time - according to the current plan. It should be the sporting spectacle of the year in the land of the long white cloud.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
