Team New Zealand's victorious 1995 America's Cup campaign converted us all into red-sock wearing, flag-waving zealots.
Team New Zealand's victorious 1995 America's Cup campaign converted us all into red-sock wearing, flag-waving zealots.
Brief website video a feeble celebration of landmark victory.
We have all done things in our past we don't like to be reminded of, but surely winning the America's Cup is not one of them.
Last week we all basked in the memories of one of the country's greatest sporting achievements as Team New Zealand marked 20 years since their famous victory in 1995. All, except for Team NZ it seemed.
The lack of fanfare from them on the anniversary of the syndicate's most celebrated moments is baffling. Yes, for organisations to remain contemporary it's important to move on, look forward and all that jazz, but this was a PR gift horse that Grant Dalton and company stared in the mouth. What an opportunity wasted.
On the morning of May 14, the syndicate should have opened the doors of their Viaduct compound, which 20 years earlier was the site of wild celebrations as they first lifted the America's Cup.
There should have been memorabilia and iconic images from the 1995 campaign on display. There should have been big screens endlessly looping those critical, famous moments for the fans to relive. They should have got the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron to dig out their replica America's Cup from the trophy cabinet.
Hell, they could even have organised for the real thing to pay a visit to these shores (the America's Cup makes hundreds of public appearances a year, you know).
And while this was all going on in the background, in the foreground Dalton could have presented the team's vision for the future.
This was an unbelievable opportunity for Team NZ to reconnect with a disenfranchised and, lately, hostile public.
It was a chance to remind New Zealanders that this was a team that once converted us all into red-sock wearing, flag-waving sailing zealots.
Instead what did the team do to celebrate their most famous moment? They put a 90-second video on their website -- most of it dedicated to the announcement their major sponsor Emirates had recommitted to another campaign.
The sponsorship announcement was indeed significant news for a team that have been on the brink of closing their doors at several points over the past 18 months, but the net result was it created even more distance between today's Team NZ and the heroics of 1995 and 2000.
Do they feel disconnected from their past, perhaps? Are they trying to erase the names of their forebears from the history books?
It is awkward when some of the key members of the 1995 campaign are now the very people trying to prevent the America's Cup from returning to these shores.
Even more awkward still that Dalton has had a combative relationship with Russell Coutts, one of the heroes of 1995, over the years.
But this was a chance to rise above the petty politics that so often enshrouds the America's Cup and celebrate Team NZ's heritage.
It would have sent a strong message that while the personnel may have changed over the years, the principles and values the team stood for in 1995 remain the same.
