The era of flying boats in the America's Cup

Grant Dalton arrives more than an hour before the appointment, a talk with EL PAÍS and the newspaper AS in Madrid.

The manager of Team New Zealand, the current sailing America's Cup champion, is in a frenzy of activity.

At 65, the sea-tanned, all-black sailor from Auckland is passionate about the upcoming edition of the world's oldest competition (dated in 1851), which will take place from August 22 to October 12, 2024 in the waters of Barcelona.

Dalton is a legend in New Zealand and in the oceans of the planet, winner of a round-the-world tour (1994) in five participations and of the last two America's Cups, already as director of New Zealand: in Bermuda in 2017 in the final against the Oracle and in 2021 against Luna Rossa in Auckland.

As tradition dictates, the champion is the one who chooses the venue for the next stop, and the one who establishes the rules of the competition with the first challenger to show up.

Dalton, New Zealand boss and president of ACE (America's Cup Events), caused an earthquake after raising the last trophy.

The big boss decided that the legendary 100 Guinea Jug would move out of Auckland.

The king would not defend the crown in his port, but listened to the siren songs of Barcelona.

The Catalan city prevailed in the fight to host Malaga, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) and Cork (Ireland).

The British team Ineos (challenger), the American American Magic, the Italian Luna Rossa and the Swiss Alinghi are the contenders for the throne of New Zealand, while France is making numbers to join the race with a crew (all sailors must be of the same nationality as the group).

Spain has not managed to put together a project, although it hopes to sign up for the female and youth categories, which will debut in Barcelona in the 37th edition of the Cup.

Dalton argues that controversial decision not to defend the Jug at home, before his people: "To make a sport grow, to publicize the America's Cup and sailing, with the time difference in New Zealand it is not easy when competing being half the planet at night.

The sponsorship market is Europe.

In the last Cup, we had a cumulative audience of 941 million.

If we kept it in New Zealand, in the wrong part of the world, we couldn't make it grow.

In Barcelona we are sure to grow.

Those are the reasons why we haven't done the competition in Auckland.

The main reason for Barcelona is Barcelona.

There was an affinity for the blue economy, green hydrogen, women's and youth competition, esports and the proximity of other boats that are in Europe and can compete in other regattas.

Barcelona is perfect.

It will be judged later if it is the best in history.

For that it has to be more than a trophy.

If it's just that, it will be similar to others.

Our legacy will not be judged by television numbers, but by what we leave behind in Barcelona and in Spain.

The legacy of the 1992 Olympic Games still shines bright, in part because the spirit of the volunteers lives on.

The fire has gone out, but the heat remains.

You feel it when you are there.

We have to motivate people in the same way.”

in part because the spirit of the volunteers endures.

The fire has gone out, but the heat remains.

You feel it when you are there.

We have to motivate people in the same way.”

in part because the spirit of the volunteers endures.

The fire has gone out, but the heat remains.

You feel it when you are there.

We have to motivate people in the same way.”

From hero to villain, Dalton is well aware of the close distance that separates both shores.

“Let's say that now I am not popular in my country”, he laughs;

“The biggest sport there is rugby and the second is sailing.

The final regatta in Bermuda, in 2017, is the highest television audience in the country's history, 89%.

The streets were deserted.

In Barcelona our fans will come by the thousands.

We live to win.

If I lose, they will tell me: 'See?

You didn't have to take the Cup away with you'.

We have to keep it."

The champion does not want to be singled out as a favourite.

And he resorts to the comparison with an increasingly similar world.

“At the end of the last Formula One season, you might have thought that Mercedes was the favourite, but they got the car wrong and no amount of driver skill can turn a slow car into a fast one.

It's the same here," says Dalton.

The two universes have merged.

Alinghi works with Red Bull.

Mercedes, with Ineos.

“The design of the America's Cup boats and the Formula One cars are getting closer.

Much of the knowledge is used in both fields.

We have 45 engineers and only one is a ship designer.

These boats fly more than they sail”, says Dalton.

Team New Zealand, in Auckland, in the last edition of the America's Cup.Fiona Goodall (Getty Images)

The boats reach 54 knots, 100 kilometers per hour.

“We could get to 150, but it would change his average speed.

An example is motorcycles.

Ducati was very fast in a straight line but very difficult to turn.

Dalton points to the ship as the fundamental ingredient for victory, ahead of the crew, although he qualifies: "Good sailors make a good ship."

Among the innovations, the challenge of using hydrogen instead of gasoline for the boats that follow the participants — "that's the future, an electric boat can't go very far" — and the women's and youth competition.

“The sail has done wrong in imposing quotas.

That's not how you create a path."

It also flies over the idea of ​​emulating the World Cup in Qatar and opening new horizons.

“I spent enough time in Jeddah to understand the place.

Until you go, you are not prepared to criticize.

And I found the Saudis to be impressive.

In the future I see a Cup there”.

Grant Dalton, this Thursday at the headquarters of EL PAÍS in Madrid.MOEH ATITAR

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