ETNZ defends position

(June 10, 2013) – Late Monday, Emirates Team New Zealand managing director Grant Dalton replied to Artemis Racing’s statement distributed earlier in the day regarding the team’s readiness to sail in the upcoming challenger series.

“The joint proposal put forth by Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand of starting the Louis Vuitton Cup later in July was done so in the hope of enhancing the event with a full muster of boats from the beginning, and therefore, placing more importance on the racing from the first race, something for which fans and sponsors are craving right now.

“The weighting of points (more points later in July) was also suggested, with the idea being to get racing underway but not determine the results too early in the racing.

Both these proposals were rejected by Artemis racing, the Challenger of Record.

“Normally the challenger series of an America’s Cup is run on terms that meet the wishes of the majority of challengers,” Dalton said. “This is not the case here with Artemis rejecting the proposal and wanting to continue running an event schedule in which, by under their own admission, they will not compete in in the early stages.

“Obviously it was assumed that 10 weeks after the Artemis tragedy, that having previously taken delivery of their second AC72 they would be ready to race. This is not the case.” Warren Douglas, ETNZ