Team New Zealand may be sailing into murky waters, after conflicting reports about Auckland hosting the America’s Cup qualifying regatta in 2017.
Government funding for Team New Zealand is contingent on Auckland hosting a regatta, but with European challenging syndicates unhappy over the cost and time of competing on the other side of the world, America's Cup officials have reportedly scrapped the event.
According to the New Zealand Herald, America's Cup Commercial Commissioner Harvey Schiller has told Team New Zealand, who were also having trouble deciding where to locate the team bases for the regatta.
However in a statement this afternoon, Team New Zealand said the report was "news to us".
"Here's the signed acceptance of our Qualified bid, subject to completion of a Host Venue Agreement, the draft of which we finally received on Monday," a post to their Facebook page reads.
The letter, co-signed by Team New Zealand Chief Operating Officer Kevin Shoebridge and Mr Schiller, confirms Team New Zealand’s bid to be host city and venue for the 35th America’s Cup qualifiers.
The Herald also reported Auckland Council was unable to decide on a new location after Westhaven Marina became unavailable.
The announcement of Auckland as a regatta host was due earlier this month but was pushed back following the axing of skipper Dean Barker.
3 News
source: newshub archive
