Yachting: Team NZ add ocean racing to portfolio

Grant Dalton. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton says the decision to branch out into ocean racing is not a change in direction but the final step to becoming a full-time operational team.

The Kiwi syndicate yesterday confirmed their entry in the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race with the support of Spanish footwear manufacturer Camper.

The move is part of Emirates Team New Zealand's strategy to position themselves as a franchise team with a stable of boats racing around the world.

They now have a presence in America's Cup, Louis Vuitton Trophy series, Audi MedCup, Volvo Ocean Race and, to a lesser extent, on the World Match Racing circuit through their support of Adam Minoprio's BlackMatch Racing team.

Dalton said if the legal wrangles that held up the America's Cup for nearly three years have taught him anything, it is that there was a need to expand the team's interests to ensure they remain active in between cup campaigns.

"I think one of the end products for us that has happened out of the mess that was the America's Cup for a long time, is that to survive we had to diversify, just to try and create a more constant stream within the place. Because if we just go with the flow of the cup, well you don't know where you are from one day to the next," said Dalton.

"So it was a deliberate decision to try and stay the pre-eminent brand in the sport and diversify in to different regattas."

The event has always held a certain kind of romance for Dalton, who has competed in six round the world campaigns, twice as part of winning teams - in 1981-82 on Flyer and in 1993-94 as skipper of Endeavour.

He said the idea of being involved with another campaign never left his mind since completing his last race back in 2002.

But the decision to push forward with the project now is an indication that he expects the organisation of the next America's Cup to be a lengthy process.

The next one, to be organised by Larry Ellison's San Francisco-based BMW Oracle, may stretch out until 2014 as the challenger group takes every opportunity to make its views known.

Dalton said his organisation still have their eye on winning the main prize: the America's Cup, which means the 11-strong crew for the Volvo campaign will come from outside the existing sailing team.

"It's unlikely we'll mix it out of the sailing crew from Team New Zealand, we've got TP52s, we've got Louis Vuitton regattas, so that whole thing has to keep developing, we're finally starting to sail really well."

Dalton said there will be a world-wide search to find the skipper of the yacht.

Team New Zealand operations manager Kevin Shoebridge insists the syndicate's resources will not be stretched too thin. He sees a Volvo Ocean Race campaign as complementing what the team do in other areas.

"It makes you stronger as a team, especially on the technical aspects. Being able to let your guys loose on a project like this is only good news for the America's Cup long term," he said.

The syndicate's boat, which North Shore firm Cooksons would begin building in August, will be named Camper and will fly the flags of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and the Real Club Nautico de Palma.

Camper's investment, estimated at €20 million ($38 million), still leaves Dalton with a funding shortfall for the Volvo campaign. But he said the team won't be seeking any more money from the Government, which has already chipped in $1.5 million to allow Auckland to host a stopover.

"They've done their part and that's the New Zealand stopover," said Dalton.

"We have no intention to ask the New Zealand Government for a cent."

VOLVO OCEAN RACE

STARTS: Alicante, Spain in October 2011

FINISHES: Galway, Ireland in June 2012

STOPOVERS: Cape Town (South Africa), Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), Sanya (China), Auckland (New Zealand), Itajai (Brazil), Miami (US), Lisbon (Portugal) and Lorient (France).