An Open Letter from Kiwi Home Defence to all Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Members
Dear Members,
Hosting AC37 in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland I am writing to seek your consideration and action as members of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron to assist in the Squadron’s stated aim of hosting the 37th America’s Cup regatta in our home waters here in Auckland.
As you will know, the protocol for AC37 between the defender RNZYS and the Challenger of Record is due to be agreed and released next week on November 17. It is now publicly being suggested that the venue for the defence may still not be announced next week.
We, at Kiwi Home Defence, consider there is more than sufficient funding available in New Zealand to hold a successful defence here. We say that Auckland should be confirmed in next week’s protocol as the venue for AC37.
In our letter dated 21 October 2021 to both the General Committee of the Squadron and the Trustees of Team New Zealand, I have expressly offered a firm contribution of $40 million to support our home defence of the America’s Cup in 2024. In that same letter, we have laid out why the $40 million of funding we have proposed is sufficient to fund Team New Zealand for a successful defence and how this is supported and corroborated by Team New Zealand’s own published information. We have also shown that the proposed government and Auckland Council funding in support of the management of the AC37 event is also sufficient to support the staging of the event. Our 21 October letter and our earlier letter of 14 September are accessible on our website, or you may prefer to contact us directly and we will send you copies.
Notwithstanding our funding offer to both Team New Zealand and the Squadron’s General Committee, neither has been willing to engage with our proposal. The General Committee advises it has delegated all matters in relation to the America’s Cup to Team New Zealand. Team New Zealand appears determined to ignore all offers of assistance and take the Cup offshore under any circumstances.
Team New Zealand’s attitude is puzzling and concerning. There is much conjecture in the media and in sailing circles that the team leadership is determined to move the next event beyond New Zealand shores in pursuit of a more lucrative hosting rights payment. There is also conjecture that government support is conditional on appropriate independent governance of the Event organization, and the team leadership refuses to accept this requirement. If either were in fact the case, this would be a cause of real concern both to RNZYS as the Cup Defender, and to all members. Today we have no venue for defending the America’s Cup in 2024 and no indication when a venue will be announced. The previously advised “hard deadline and contractual commitment with the Challenger of Record” for announcement of the venue, September 17, has come and gone, and it appears likely that November 17 may come and go as well.
In failing to take up genuine offers of help from Kiwi Home Defence, and other like-minded New Zealanders, to ensure a home-town regatta with all the advantages that entails, it becomes more and more likely that our successful defence of the Cup in AC37 is being jeopardized.
It is well past the time for the leadership of the Squadron to take a much more active interest in the actions of Team New Zealand and preparations for our defence of the Cup in AC37.
The Commodore keeps assuring us in Members Updates emailed to us and posted on the Squadron website that it is the Squadron’s preference for the defence to be staged in New Zealand (see Updates of 16 June, 2 September, 20 October). Now is the time for the Commodore, Flag Officers and the other General Committee members to act decisively and announce Auckland as the venue. I am therefore seeking your assistance, as concerned fellow members of the Squadron, to raise these matters with the Commodore, the other Flag Officers and members of the General Committee, to encourage them to take a much more active involvement in the America’s Cup arrangements, and to ensure Auckland is listed in the protocol as the venue for AC37 when the protocol is released on November 17.
I am confident that no member of the Squadron will want to see the defence drift offshore when the opportunity so clearly exists for the Cup to be successfully hosted and defended here on home waters.
I would welcome the opportunity to discuss these matters with any member at any time. It is time to confirm Auckland as the venue for AC37 and ensure a successful home defence.
Yours sincerely,
Mark Dunphy