Team New Zealand or TNZ is a

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

team based in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand, representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. The team has been branded as

Emirates Emirates may refer to: * United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective ...

Team New Zealand at America's Cup competitions since 2007. Team New Zealand became a household name in their home country following their consecutive wins in the

America's Cup The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known ...

in 1995 and 2000, under the leadership of Sir Peter Blake, when becoming the first team from a country outside the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to win and successfully defend the America's Cup. Team New Zealand won the 2017 America's Cup, skippered by Glenn Ashby. They successfully defended the title at the America's Cup in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. They are also the winners of the

Louis Vuitton Cup The Louis Vuitton Cup is the name of the Challenger (America's Cup), Challenger Selection Series sailing competition from 1983, named after its Sponsor (commercial), sponsor, Louis Vuitton. The winner of the competition became the Challenger (A ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, and

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

History

Three challenges were launched before the founding of Team New Zealand, all of these backed by Michael Fay. New Zealand Challenge competed in the 1987 Louis Vuitton Cup, the 1988 America's Cup and the 1992 Louis Vuitton Cup.

Founding

Following the 1992 competition, Michael Fay withdrew from backing the New Zealand challenges and a new effort under the leadership of Sir Peter Blake began putting a team together, raising funds and gaining support for the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. Team New Zealand Limited was established as a registered company in 1993.

1995: ''Black Magic''

In 1995, TNZ beat Team Dennis Conner 5–0 in a major upset off

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, California after winning the right to challenge in the

. Their boats were fast, they had an experienced crew led by skipper

Russell Coutts Sir Russell Coutts (born 1 March 1962) is a world champion New Zealand yachtsman. He won an Olympic gold medal and skippered three Americas Cup victories in 1995, 2000, and 2003. Early life Coutts was educated at Otago Boys' High School ...

, and they were ably led by Sir Peter Blake. As NZL 32 approached the finish line on the last race, sailing commentator Pete Montgomery made the now famous line "The America's Cup is now New Zealand's cup!" The winning yacht, ''

NZL 32 ''NZL 32'', or ''Black Magic'', is an International Americas Cup Class yacht which won the 1995 America's Cup by defeating the American defender ''Young America'' in a 5–0 victory off San Diego, California. Design ''NZL 32'' was, in many wa ...

'', was shipped back to New Zealand and given to the Te Papa Museum, and is now housed in an extension to the northern end of the

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unit ...

in Auckland as part of a permanent exhibition, ''Blue Water, Black Magic'', about Sir Peter Blake.

2000: "Still New Zealand's Cup"

TNZ (''NZL 60'') beat Italy's Prada Challenge ( ''Luna Rossa'') 5–0 in the 2000 match held on

Hauraki Gulf The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,Peter Montgomery (broadcaster), Peter Montgomery exclaimed "The America's Cup is still New Zealand's cup!!" – echoing his comment in 1995 America's Cup. A notable feature was Russell Coutts handing over the helm to Dean Barker in the final race.

2003: "Loyal"; Defeat

In 2003, Team New Zealand's eight-year reign ended after they were defeated 5–0 by Swiss-based challenger

Alinghi Alinghi, or Alinghi Red Bull Racing because of the sports marketing branding by Red Bull, is the syndicate set up by Ernesto Bertarelli, racing under the colors of the Société Nautique de Genève, to challenge for the America's Cup, as well ...

. TNZ dubbed their campaign the "Loyal" campaign, featuring a Silver fern flag with the word "Loyal" and an existing song of the same name by New Zealand musician

Dave Dobbyn Sir David Joseph Dobbyn (born 3 January 1957) is a New Zealand musician, singer–songwriter and record producer. In his early career he was a member of the rock group Th' Dudes and was the main creative force in pop band DD Smash. Since then h ...

. This was largely due to the Swiss boat featuring many of the afterguard members from TNZ's previous campaigns (notably

and Brad Butterworth) which, along with a fast boat and a lack of reliability aboard TNZ's NZL 82, contributed to the win.

2007: Emirates Team New Zealand

In 2007, the re-branded

Team New Zealand won the Louis Vuitton Cup and advanced to the 32nd America's Cup against defenders

. Team New Zealand lost the series 2–5 to Alinghi, the last by a single second.

Valencia

In late 2003, TNZ announced their intention to challenge Alinghi at the 2007 Valencia America's Cup, with Emirates on board as title sponsor, and Grant Dalton as Team Boss. Dean Barker skippered a more international team than ever before. TNZ were among the "big four" syndicates leading up to the 2007 Cup. The big four consisted of TNZ, Alinghi,

BMW Oracle Racing Oracle Team USA is an American yacht racing syndicate initially formed to compete for the 2003 America's Cup. They competed again in the 2007 event before winning the 33rd America's Cup regatta in 2010 – representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club. ...

, and Luna Rossa. In the Louis Vuitton Cup 2007 to select the challenger to face

, TNZ lost their first match to Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team, a team who they had beaten in each of their five encounters in the Louis Vuitton Acts. They then won their next 7 races, before losing the final two in round robin 1 to Luna Rossa and BMW Oracle Racing which put them in third place at the end of the first round robin. In Round Robin 2, Team New Zealand were undefeated throughout, taking first place from BMW Oracle Racing. They won their semi-final series 5–2 against Desafío Español 2007 and qualified for the Louis Vuitton finals against Luna Rossa. In the finals, they defeated Luna Rossa with a whitewash victory of 5–0, winning the Louis Vuitton Cup and the right to challenge Alinghi for the America's Cup. On 3 July 2007, Emirates Team New Zealand lost their final race to Alinghi bringing Alinghi's race wins to 5, successfully defending the 32nd America's cup. Americas Cup... * Race 1: Lost to Alinghi by 35 seconds * Race 2: Beat Alinghi by 28 seconds * Race 3: Beat Alinghi by 25 seconds * Race 4: Lost to Alinghi by 30 seconds * Race 5: Lost to Alinghi by 19 seconds * Race 6: Lost to Alinghi by 28 seconds * Race 7: Lost to Alinghi by 1 second Alinghi won the America's Cup, 5–2.

2009 Louis Vuitton Pacific Series

Team New Zealand hosted the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series in January and February 2009 on the

Waitematā Harbour The Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. The harbour forms the northern and eastern coasts of the Auckland isthmus and is crossed by the Auckland Harbour Bridge. It is matched on the southern side of the city ...

in the

Hauraki Gulf The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. Team New Zealand defeated Alinghi by a margin of 3 races to 1 in the final. The final races were reduced to the best of five due to difficult weather conditions resulting in the loss of one day's racing.

2010 Louis Vuitton Trophy

In March 2010, the Louis Vuitton Trophy regatta returned to Auckland after the first regatta of the series in Nice in November 2009 won by Italy's Azzurra team. On Sunday 21 March 2010, Emirates Team New Zealand won the final of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta with a 56 sec win over Mascalzone Latino.

2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race

On 13 April 2010, along with Camper (company), Camper, the Spanish-based international footwear manufacturer, Emirates Team New Zealand announced that it would compete in the

Volvo Ocean Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Rac ...

in 2011–12. The campaign was run by Emirates Team New Zealand and skippered by Olympic and round-the-world yachtsman Chris Nicholson. Racing was very close with results of each leg often coming down to minutes and seconds at the finish line after thousands of miles of ocean racing. Emirates Team New Zealand came in second.

2013 America's Cup San Francisco

On 21 April 2011, Grant Dalton and Emirates Team New Zealand announced their entry for the 2013 America's Cup regatta to be held in San Francisco in 2013. New sponsor

Nespresso Nestlé Nespresso S.A., trading as Nespresso, is an operating unit of the Nestlé Group, based in Vevey, Switzerland. Nespresso machines brew espresso and coffee from coffee capsules (or ''pods'' in machines for home or professional use), a ...

came on board through parent company

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

. Grant Dalton expressed his gratitude to numerous corporate interests based around the world, namely Matteo De Nora and

Stephen Tindall Sir Stephen Robert Tindall (born May 1951) is the founder of New Zealand retailer The Warehouse, The Warehouse Group, and the Tindall Foundation. Early life and education Tindall attended Bayswater Primary School then Takapuna Grammar School and ...

among others, in keeping the team afloat through the intervening years in what had been a difficult four years since the last multi-challenger event in Valencia 2007. The team also received a NZ$36m grant from the New Zealand government to compete in the 2013 America's Cup and to promote and export New Zealand expertise in the field of yachting. This followed on from an economic impact assessment of the 2007 campaign in Valencia had shown a direct economic benefit to New Zealand of $74.4m. Because of the high cost associated with developing the new AC72 catamaran and the rule limitation of thirty sailing days of development, Team New Zealand entered into a technology sharing programme with the Italian team who had an identical boat and were also based in Auckland. Since Team New Zealand's July 2012 launch, their first AC 72 boat proved fast and reliable, foil sailing for long periods of time at speeds over with no breakages. In August 2013, Team New Zealand won the America's Cup challenger series (Louis Vuitton Cup) by defeating the Prada Luna Rossa Syndicate 7–1 and in September 2013 Team New Zealand challenged the Oracle syndicate for the America's Cup. The race series was very dramatic, with a number of incidents including Oracle Team USA being docked two points (meaning they started the competition on −2 points) and having two main crew members banned – one for the competition, the other for 4 of the races. In Race 8, Team New Zealand nearly capsized the boat due to a lack of hydraulic pressure which caused the boat to move, but the sail to stay in the same place. By 19 September 2013, Team New Zealand led Oracle Team USA 8–1 needing just one more win to take the Cup. In Race 13 Team New Zealand were minutes away from winning the cup when the race time limits came into effect, causing the race to be cancelled. The race was then replayed and Oracle Team USA won – and went on to win all last eight races to come from behind – and take the Cup. This win was facilitated by the American Syndicates ability

Hydrofoil A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...

upwind. It had been the longest-ever event by both number of days and races, and the first since the 25th America's Cup to feature a winner-take-all final race. Emirates Team New Zealand ruled out any post-racing legal challenge, with ETNZ syndicate head Grant Dalton stating that Oracle's automated stabilisation system had been checked and approved by the official measurers before the start of racing, and that taking legal action would be "an incredibly bad thing to do."

35th America's Cup

In January 2014, Emirates Team New Zealand announced the signing of 2013 49er World and European Champions and 2012 Olympic Silver Medalists, Peter Burling and Blair Tuke. CEO Grant Dalton first said that the team would campaign two AC45's in future America's Cup World Series. On 25 June 2014 Team New Zealand confirmed their intention to challenge, as they had gained sufficient private financial backing to need no further government assistance. In the challenger series, Team New Zealand finished second in the round-robin stages behind America's Cup holders

Oracle Team USA Oracle Team USA is an American yacht racing syndicate initially formed to compete for the 2003 America's Cup. They competed again in the 2007 event before winning the 33rd America's Cup regatta in 2010 – representing the Golden Gate Yacht Cl ...

– the first time a Cup defender had participated in a challenger series. As the leading challenger, they chose to face Land Rover BAR in the first playoff round. Despite suffering a capsize in race 4, the outcome of the series was a 5–2 series victory for Team New Zealand. In the finals match against Artemis Racing, Team New Zealand secured a second 5–2 series win, and therefore progressed to the America's Cup series against Oracle Team USA. Having won the challenger series, Oracle Team USA was able to impose a penalty point on the eventual challenger for the 35th America's Cup. Therefore, Team New Zealand started the 35th America's Cup racing with minus one point and would need to win eight races in order to get the 7 points needed to win the America's Cup. After five days of racing, which included nine races, Team New Zealand beat Oracle Team USA by eight races to one, or by 7 points to 1, and thereby won the Cup.

36th America's Cup

The Prada cup series was sailed 15 January – 22 February 2021 to decide which challenger should race Team New Zealand;

Luna Rossa Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, originally named Prada Challenge, then Luna Rossa Challenge, is an Italian sailboat racing syndicate first created to compete for the 2000 America's Cup. It won the Louis Vuitton Cup on its first attempt in 2000, but t ...

, New York Yacht Club American Magic or INEOS TEAM UK. It was a round robin format over 16 racing days. Ineos was the first to qualify, going into the final undefeated. The American boat Patriot suffered hull damage and the onboard electronics were likely damaged due to water in the hull. After concerted efforts to get the boat ready again, with their competitors rallying to help, the boat met Luna Rossa but it became obvious there were still problems onboard. The Italian team won every race to proceed into the final to race Ineos. Luna Rossa defeated Ineos 7 – 1 and faced Emirates Team New Zealand in the 36th America's cup from 6 – 18 March 2021. Emirates Team New Zealand was successful in their defence of the cup, winning 7 – 3.

37th America's Cup

Emirates Team New Zealand is currently preparing to defend its title in Barcelona in 2024. It suffered a setback on 29 August, 2024 when its boat was dropped 7 meters from a crane in an unexplained accident. Following repairs overnight, the boat was expected back in the water two days later.

Results

Yachts used by Team New Zealand

* ''

'' – "Black Magic I"

International America's Cup Class The International Americas Cup Class is a class of racing yacht that was developed for the America's Cup between 1992 and 2007. These yachts, while not identical, were all designed to the same formula to offer designers the freedom to experiment ...

. 1995 America's Cup winner * ''NZL 38'' – "Black Magic II" International America's Cup Class. 1995

winner * ''NZL 57'' – "Black Magic III" International America's Cup Class. Training boat for 2000 defence * ''NZL 60'' – "Black Magic IV" International America's Cup Class. 2000 America's Cup winner * ''NZL 68'' – International America's Cup Class. Training boat bought from Illbruck Challenge (formerly GER 68) * ''NZL 81'' – International America's Cup Class. Training boat for 2003 defence * '' NZL 82'' – International America's Cup Class. America's Cup defender in 2003 but defeated 5–0. Used for Louis Vuitton Acts in preparation for the

2007 America's Cup The 2007 America's Cup was the thirty-second challenge for the America's Cup and was won by Alinghi in the 7th race. The Cup is the most famous and most prestigious regatta and '' Match Race'' in the sport of sailing. As per the Deed of Gift ...

and won the 2004 season * ''NZL 84'' – 2007 generation International America's Cup Class. Launched in 2006. Won 2006 Louis Vuitton Season * '' NZL 92'' – 2007 generation International America's Cup Class. Launched in October 2006. Won the

2007 Louis Vuitton Cup The 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup held in Valencia, Spain, from April 16 to June 6 was the event used to select the challenger for the 2007 America's Cup. Eleven potential challengers competed in the competition which consisted of two round robins, two ...

. Lost the America's Cup 2–5 * '' CAMPER'' – 2011 generation Volvo VO70 –

Volvo Open 70 The Volvo Open 70 (sometimes referred to as a Volvo Ocean 70) is the former class of racing yachts designed for the Volvo Ocean Race. It was first used in the 2005–06 race (replacing the Volvo Ocean 60 yachts which were first used in 1993). ...

. Launched in April 2011 for the 2011–2012 Volvo Ocean Race, which they finished in second position overall. * Other boats related to the 2013 America's Cup campaign: two SL33 catamarans, one AC45 catamaran * ''NZL 2'' – "New Zealand"

AC72 The AC72 (America's Cup 72 class) is a class of wingsail catamarans built to a box rule, which governs the construction and operation of yachts competing in the 2013 Louis Vuitton and the America's Cup races. The class was subsequently replaced ...

. Training boat for 2013 campaign * ''NZL 5'' – "

Aotearoa ''Aotearoa'' () is the Māori name for New Zealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference only to the North Island, with the whole country being referred to as ''Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu'' – where ''Te Ika-a-Māui'' means N ...

" AC72. Race boat for 2013 campaign. Won the

2013 Louis Vuitton Cup The 8th Louis Vuitton Cup was held during July and August 2013, in San Francisco, California, United States of America. The three contenders were Artemis Racing (Sweden), Emirates Team New Zealand (New Zealand), and Luna Rossa Challenge (Italy). ...

. Lost the

2013 America's Cup The 34th America's Cup was a regatta, series of yacht races held in San Francisco Bay in September 2013. The series was contested between the defender Oracle Team USA team representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club, and the challenger Emirates Team ...

8–9 * ''NZL '' – " RNZYS" AC50 "The cyclor boat" Race boat for 2017 campaign. Won the 2017 Louis Vuitton Cup. Won the 2017 America's Cup 7–1 * ''NZL '' – "Te Aihe" AC75. Training boat for 2021 campaign. * ''NZL '' – " Te Rehutai" AC75. Foiling Race boat.

2021 America's Cup The 2021 America's Cup in March 2021 was the 36th staging of the America's Cup yacht race. It was contested on the inner Hauraki Gulf off Auckland, New Zealand, between the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and Circolo della Vela Sicilia of Italy ...

Winner * ''NZL '' – "Te Kakahi" AC40. Training boat for 2024 campaign, also used for the 2024 Women’s and Youth America’s Cup * ''NZL '' – " Taihoro" AC75. Foiling Race boat. 2024 America's Cup Winner

References

External links

Official Website of Emirates Team New Zealand

Peter Lester
NZ yachting commentator , - , - {{Authority control 1993 establishments in New Zealand America's Cup teams The Emirates Group Waitematā Harbour