Bruno Troublé: Looking after the Cup

Bruno Troublé

Bruno Troublé, former AC helmsman for Baron Bich and organizer of the Louis Vuitton Cup, hosted the press conferences during the 36th America’s Cup, and remains an enthusiastic fan of the event. Here’s an excerpt of an interview with Tip & Shaft…

How was the atmosphere in Auckland?
It was a real party, people love the America’s Cup here. There were races that saw 17,000 spectator boats on the water it was mind blowing! New Zealand has a population of 4 million there were days when the TV audience was 800,000 viewers so that is 20% of the country, that’s huge, pro rata for France that would be almost 15 million.

And this enthusiasm was also very strong in Italy … I believe there were 6 million people in front of their TV at 4am. This proves that America’s Cup, if we discount the Vendée Globe, which is more of a social phenomenon, the Cup remains by far the most famous and legendary sailing event brimful of stories of people who have dedicated their lives, their energy, their fortune, trying to earn it for 170 years.

What about the rumored challenge between the Brits and the New Zealanders held in England?
For me, it’s a bit of a joke. I had Grant (Kiwi team leader Grant Dalton) on the phone and he told me there were a lot of options, but that isn’t the one he favors. In fact, it is all a game of poker to get the NZ government to pay up, which explains why Team New Zealand, who are losing Emirates as their sponsor, are threatening to hold the Cup abroad.

The most likely outcome is a post COVID America’s Cup organized quickly in November 2022, here in Auckland, with the present teams, so that they don’t get taken apart. That’s also why the New Zealanders spoke so soon about tightening up the nationality rule. They want to avoid a ploy like (Ernesto) Bertarelli used and which harmed them so much (the head of Alinghi hired a lot of the New Zealand crew for the 2003 Cup – editor’s note).

I’m fighting hard now so that the eight existing boats can be used by the new teams, which would mean doing away with the rule concerning the place of construction for the boat, which in my opinion, serves no purpose now. If we did that, the boats could be used by new teams. – Full report

36th America’s Cup Match Scoreboard (wins-losses)
Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL): 7-3
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team (ITA): 3-7

Advancing as the winner of the PRADA Cup, the Italian challenger faced the Kiwi defense in the best of 13 series. After the postponement due to government COVID-19 health regulations, the 36th America’s Cup Match racing schedule had two races per day planned for March 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, and each day after that until the first team had won seven races.

More information:
• 36th America’s Cup details: click here.
• Complete America’s Cup coverage: click here
• Additional America’s Cup information: click here