Mike's Minute: America's Cup glory showcases best of New Zealand

Author: Mike Hosking,
Publish Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2021, 9:38AM

There are so many facets to the Team New Zealand's America's Cup success.

Yes, it’s a contest, a competition, and someone wins.

But what made the America's Cup such a gripping prospect for me all those years ago in Fremantle, when I first got gripped, was the big picture.

I'm not a yachtie, I'm not even a big fan of the water, but what the America's Cup has always been about, especially for a country like ours, is what we can do with it, how we leverage it, and what we make of it.

Through all the dramas, tantrums, and egos over the years ultimately, it's about technology. It's about aspiration. It's about dreaming. It's about wanting to be bigger and the best. The fact it's got yachts involved is secondary to the real story.

Auckland and its viaduct were packed yesterday as it has been a number of times over the years. And it looks the way it does because of the America's Cup. A city's waterfront was transformed because of the dream.

The industry that’s grown as a result of it. Our heritage and passion for the water has made this country billions in design and technology and super yacht refits.

Every single day, bar one, in this regatta the sky was blue. And the pictures sent to the world were greater than any marketing campaign Tourism New Zealand ever came up with. This country, visually, is a showstopper.

We're the little guy battling the super heavyweights. INEOS Team UK, look them up, study who they are, look at their size. They had Mercedes on board, and they had Airbus on board. Luna Rossa had Pirelli. Say whatever you like about Italy, but the industrial capacity of the Italians is never to be underestimated.

We face and beat industrial giants with pocketbooks we can only dream off. We did it this time, and we've done it before. We e have changed the face of the sport. We have made boats fly. We have made foiling the norm, and the future.

Every time this happens, I hope that just a few more of the doubters finally get it. How many wins and success before the doubters close up shop and go home convinced?

Another great day for Team New Zealand, another great day for this country, another reminder that in an age and time of hardship, uncertainty, and some angst, great minds, big dreams, and ambition when executed well beat everything.