Statement on Latest America’s Cup Bases Plan

Emirates Team New Zealand Statement on Latest America’s Cup Bases Plan

Emirates Team New Zealand today confirmed that they have been presented with another plan for Americas Cup base location and design.

Team boss Grant Dalton said today " the government came to us with a further plan last week. Its a further iteration of the Ministers plan known as the Hybrid option but is closer to the one designed by Viaduct Harbour Holdings. On the face of it and to the layman's eye it looks like it could work.

In the limited time we have had to look into the detail we see that there are some problems that need to be addressed.

The latest plan reduces the extension of Halsey St Wharf from 75 metres to 45 which will please Stop Stealing Our Harbour.

But with the reduction of the extension of Halsey wharf, this means the majority of the challenger bases must go onto on Wynyard Wharf.

The Government has successfully negotiated with Stolthoven for the removal of their tanks earlier than was planned. The same sort of negotiation is currently taking place with Bulk Storage Terminals who own the other tanks that would need to be removed. This negotiation needs to be concluded before this plan could be considered viable. We are unsure of the timeframe for those negotiations to be concluded.

The Wynyard Wharf tank removal and remedial work are complex and time consuming. We along, with Government and Council, have concerns about the works timetable and availability of specialist construction resource in an already stretched environment. The government is seeking a second expert opinion on the timetable issue and we support them in doing this.

There is little point in agreeing to a plan that can’t be delivered on time.

David Parker agreed that we would have a permanent Base on Hobson Wharf. He has been forced by Viaduct Harbour Holdings threat to disrupt the resource consent process to back away from that commitment and move our base to the eastern end of Halsey wharf. To be honest I'm a bit pissed off with this but I will live with an equal Base at the eastern end of Halsey Wharf. It's far enough away from the activities that occur at the Events Center but still allows us to build an innovative interactive public space.We are planning a space where people can get really close to the team while at work and experience the excitement of sailing these amazing boats through simulators and other great technologies.

None of this is ideal but we will continue to work through the challenges in an effort to see the Americas Cup hosted in 2020/21 in Auckland. Its where our home is and where our heart is. Council and Government have their own challenges and we recognize that they are doing their utmost to meet them.

We have a meeting with Challengers in Europe at the end of this month and confirmation of Auckland as a venue and the class rule are eagerly awaited by them.”

DOWNLOAD latest suggested plan HERE

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