Kiwis at the Cup: Josh Emett, celebrity chef

Josh Emett. Photo / APN

What brings you to the America's Cup?

I'm up with Nespresso, who are involved with the America's Cup, and came up for a big dinner we hosted on Friday night with a whole lot of other chefs.

Do you do events like this quite often?

I do a lot of events, but this one is quite special as it is New Zealand-related so it's quite cool to showcase New Zealand to other parts of the world.

Have you got to see any of the sailing?

We went out on the water [on Sunday] and got to see that first race - it was just a shame the second one was cancelled. Today [Monday] we're going out on one of the Extreme40 cats before the racing start, so that should be interesting.

What do you think of the racing we're seeing here?

I love it, I'm intrigued by it. The America's Cup has so much interesting history and what we're seeing out there now are like Formula One cars on water, just like people say. They're just unbelievable, it's incredible how fast they go.

Would you consider yourself a sailing fan?

We had a catamaran when I was growing up so I did a lot of sailing when I was young, not so much when I'm older. But I always watch the sailing - I'm always quite intrigued to see what happens, there's just so much politics and outrageous things going on behind the scenes.

Most people get turned off by all the politics, are you saying you think it adds to the event?

Oh, I think it's great. The history of this event is amazing whichever way you want to look at it - billionaires throwing money around or dedicated yachties who chase this dream of winning the Cup. The stakes are high and that's why it's high drama.

Would you be brave enough to sail on one of these boats?

I'd love to sail on one. It's amazing the level they've taken it to with the new technology and foiling and things. You wonder where they'll take it to next - once the Cup's back in New Zealand we'll see, I guess.

What would winning the Cup and having the event back in Auckland do for the hospitality industry?

I think it would be fantastic. I think the Rugby World Cup was a bit of a turning point for Auckland, because a lot happened over that period and it's sort of been on the up and up since then from a hospitality point of view.