Emirates Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton talks to Matt Sheahan exclusively about what happens when you ‘get thumped’.
Why he thinks the Defenders are about to have the advantage, what their relationship with British Challenger of Record is like and plenty more.
Dalton . . . I think Inoes has an advantage on the other challengers because they’re the challenge of record, and I don’t think this myth that being a challenge of record is like a poison {chalice] because of the relationship, and if the relationship sours then it’s a bad place to be.
But you know we haven’t really had any issues at all you know, we give when we think we should and they give when they think they should.
Sheahan . . . we’re in an America’s Cup cycle, this is the second preliminary event. It strikes me that there’s been a huge leap already in the performance of the boats or the performance of the teams since Spain a few weeks ago.
What’s your take on that, what are you seeing?
Dalton . . . yeah, I mean that’s not really any surprise because you’re only not taking it seriously till you get a thumping and then you’re taking it very seriously.
Slingsby I thought put it quite well, you know we did one crap gybe which cost us the entire [AC40] regatta, we would have won it by quite a lot of points, and he said that it gives a feeling within the organization that if the designers deliver a fast enough boat then they’ve just proven that they are capable, because everybody’s always distrusts the other in that respect.
You know he’s proved his sailing team now you guys got to prove its a fast boat and so when you get thumped the designers go well great, now what are we going to do . . . we give you a fast boat, but you can’t even sail it.
So, you know I mean life’s not quite like that but there’s those mentalities and those sort of idiosyncrasies within an organization.
Sheahan . . . do you think the attitude in some of the teams has changed this world? I was sensing in Spain some of them were quite openly saying we know we got to do this and that’s fine for the sailors, but it’s not really part of our main plan, now they seem to be thinking in a slightly different way.
Grant . . . Well, the interesting thing is the feedback I’m getting is we should have more events like this. I sometimes think of this impossible world where you don’t want too many events because the cost goes up, and then it’s too expensive to the America’s Cup, and then you don’t have enough events and they’re moaning about that . . . so it’s just an impossible balance.
