The financial strains of Team NZ's 2017 America's Cup campaign almost saw it crash to a halt altogether, revealed CEO Grant Dalton.
Dalton told TVNZ that staff almost missed out on having their salaries paid in June as the pressure of the purse-strings began to tell.
"Ironically, we pay salaries on the 15th of each month, and until we won the Louis Vuitton a week and a half ago, I couldn't actually pay the 15th salaries so it's been pretty tight," said Dalton.
Team members were on reduced wages throughout the campaign, with the government opting to pull their funding following the move of the round-robin series from its original destination of Auckland to Bermuda.
It got so bad that at one stage, Dalton even considered giving up on the 2017 regatta altogether.
Ultimately a $5 million grant was made in order to help the Kiwis retain some of their talent following San Francisco, but decided against any further public grants under the weight of taxpayer pressure.
It's no secret Cup campaigns are a costly affair, and with the Auld Mug safely locked away, Team NZ is now doing their best to subsidise their costs by selling off some of their equipment.
Three of their support boats have popped on Bermudan site emoo.com as they begin the long process of packing up to return home.
"It's time to let these three well-loved babies go from the team" says the advert for the RIBs.
On offer is a high-end 'chase' boat listed at $US60,000 ($NZ82,542), and two 'tugs' at $US12,500 (NZ$17,195).
In spite of their shoestring budget and wages thought to be considerably less than that of their rivals, the Kiwis still managed to display a more innovative and forward-thinking approach to their design.
Raising funds for their defence, likely to be in 2021, is certain to be a much more straight-forward affair.
Newshub.
