American Magic skipper and CEO Terry Hutchinson. Photo / Photosport
American Magic skipper and CEO Terry Hutchinson. Photo / Photosport
It's been a big week for American Magic.
They announced their core sailing crew for their next America's Cup campaign and are now eagerly awaiting the announcement of the venue for AC37.
Team New Zealand have given a self-imposed deadline of March 31, with three overseas ports — Cork, Malagaand Jeddah — on the shortlist. It's understood Team NZ boss Grant Dalton has been in Malaga this week.
American Magic skipper and CEO Terry Hutchinson is optimistic the deadline for selecting the host venue will be met.
"Dalts [Dalton] seems reasonably committed to it so I have no reason not to take them at face value. We have a good relationship and he's always been forthright and honest with me, even when I don't sometimes like what he has to say and the same the other way," Hutchinson said.
"If something changes and he doesn't feel like he's going to meet it, I'm sure he'll let us know."
But having announced his core sailing team, Hutchinson admits the clock is ticking if the America's Cup regatta is to be held in 2024, so the venue needs to be finalised sooner rather than later.
"I think it's a logical progression and as a team we are preparing for that. This is such a unique sporting contest, because right now, all the teams are racing, we're developing, we're designing, we're learning about the new AC75 under the existing class rule.
"It's really just part of the process and we're relying on the defender to make a good decision that takes the America's Cup to a proper maritime place with history and involvement in the sport of sailing."
That last comment would suggest the American team wouldn't be happy if the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah is chosen for the 37th Cup, but Hutchinson is keeping mum on his preferred venues for now, other than to say Newport, Rhode Island, would be perfect.
"We are going to respect the process that Team New Zealand and the Challenger of Record have in place and we are going to rely on them to do the job they said they were going to do."
American Magic in action during last year's America's Cup. Photo / Photosport
Former helmsman Dean Barker revealed to NZME earlier this week he had never had any talks with American Magic about continuing after the last cup campaign in Auckland but harboured no animosity towards his former team, and was enjoying the year he has spent at home with his family.
Asked about Barker's omission, Hutchinson said his decision, as much as anything, was about him spending more time at home.
"First and foremost, Dean was and is a great teammate and he did an incredible job for American Magic in AC36. And so why is he not part of the team? To be quite honest, we had never really talked about it. In every conversation that he and I always had, he was going to pursue other avenues and other adventures.
"He was going to focus on being back in New Zealand and being with his family knowing they had travelled since the cup in Bermuda."
As for the sailing team he has assembled, Hutchinson thinks they have a good blend of youth and experience.
"I'm really happy that we were able to keep Goodie [Paul Goodison] and Andrew Campbell and Dan Morris, and some of the guys stayed committed to American Magic, which is obviously exciting and then we have some young new faces, Riley Gibbs, who represents the US in the Nacra class at the Tokyo Olympics and he's 25 years old.
"Then there's Michael Menninger and Lucas Calabrese. So, I'm pretty happy with how it is coming together. Obviously, there's still some major hurdles in front of us. We have been working on a good protocol to develop the cyclor athletes."
For now, American Magic's boat Patriot is still in Auckland but that's not a concern for Hutchinson.
"We are still six months from sailing Patriot and there's a lot of focus on other things right now. But I think over the course of time, the right people will evolve. We have to make sure that we take our lessons learned from AC36 and set ourselves up to have some good in-house racing and training.
"We have purchased two AC40s for our development and so that should produce some good in-house racing."
