America's Cup 2017: Global media react to Team NZ's Cup domination

  • 27/06/2017

The reaction to Team New Zealand's 7-1 blackwash of Oracle Team USA from across the planet has been glowing, hailing the Kiwis' resilience in responding to the heartache of 2013 and their bold and innovative approach to design.

Here are just a few highlights.

Christopher Clarey – New York Times

"Many a well-financed maritime expedition has come to grief through the centuries in the treacherous, deep-blue waters off Bermuda. Oracle Team USA joined that list on Monday, as Emirates Team New Zealand and its crew of young newcomers finished off a surprisingly lopsided 7-1 victory to reclaim the America’s Cup after a 14-year wait.

"Burling, cool and confident under pressure in Bermuda, turned out to be just the man for the very tricky job, and he is now the youngest helmsman to win the America’s Cup. The one-sided result was a humbling one for Oracle’s star helmsman, Jimmy Spithill, and Oracle’s billionaire owner, Larry Ellison.

"The latest in a long line of tycoons to catch America’s Cup fever, Ellison has spent hundreds of millions of dollars of his own fortune and his team sponsors’ money to pursue, secure and now lose the most prestigious prize in yachting."

Bernie Wilson, Associated Press

"Redemption for a gutty crew of five New Zealanders and one Australian came on the turquoise waters of Bermuda's Great Sound, four years and 3,000 miles removed from one of the most brutal collapses in sports.

"With a mixture of ingenuity and national pride, Emirates Team New Zealand got back up after a gut punch for the ages and came to the Bermuda Triangle and ripped the America's Cup right out of tech tycoon Larry Ellison's hands."

Photo credit: Getty
Photo credit: Getty

Nick Vindin Guardian UK

"Emirates Team New Zealand completed the upset over holders Oracle Team USA with a 7-1 dismantling and put to bed the demons of a heartbreaking 2013 defeat in San Francisco that saw them turn an 8-1 lead to a 9-8 defeat at the hands of the Americans.

"Burling and his underrated crew etched New Zealand’s name into the oldest trophy in world sport – the Auld Mug – for a third time, spoiling Team USA’s hopes of a third straight America’s Cup triumph.

"It was an emphatic end to a dominant performance for the syndicate from the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, who excelled with their superior downwind speed throughout the series."

Tom Carry and Miles Dilworth, Telegraph UK

"Four years ago the America's Cup gave us one of the greatest comebacks in sporting history as Oracle Team USA, with Sir Ben Ainslie on board, bounced back from 8-1 down to secure an incredible 9-8 triumph against the Kiwis in San Francisco.

"This time there was to be no fairy-tale comeback. Not even the merest hint of one. Like the All Blacks toying with Lion cubs, this was about as one-sided as sport gets.

"Leading 6-1 overnight and needing just one more race win to secure the Auld Mug for a third time in the nation’s history, after their successes in San Diego in 1995 and again in Auckland five years later, the Kiwis did it at the first time of asking, dominating the USA as they had done all the way through the final series."

Mark Jardine – Yachts and Yachting

"A 7-1 victory over Oracle Team USA was a fair result for the total dominance Peter Burling and his team have shown throughout this campaign.

"The Kiwis had to completely rebuild after their devastating defeat in San Francisco, where Oracle Team USA came back from 8-1 down to win the 34th America's Cup. Funding had to be sourced, new personnel recruited and time was short... but the New Zealand team have always proved to be great innovators, and in this they have completely changed the game."