America's Cup: Why Auckland is already reaping the benefits of Team NZ’s defence

[padding] [If you are unable to view this message correctly, click here]( [padding] [stuff header]( [spacer] [padding] Hi {NAME}, For half an hour or so I felt I had stepped into the future. I was travelling at 40 knots, foiling across the Waitematā Harbour in a comfortable boat that was not only well short of its top speed, but also emission-free, thanks to hydrogen-powered engines. The next day I headed to work on the ferry as usual, a big, loud, diesel-emitting vessel. My futuristic outing was in [a carbon-fibre hulled chase boat,]( designed and built in-house by America’s Cup defender Team New Zealand, with state-of-the-art fuel cells. Having proved the concept, the team has required all challengers in the 2024 Cup to [run a similar zero-emission vessel,]( cutting the climate-harming gases pumping out by traditional petrol-fuelled chase boats. It’s another example of the team being at the [cutting edge of the country’s important boat-building industry,]( and a reminder it is simply one of Aotearoa’s highest-tech design and manufacturing operations. Many people’s views of the America’s Cup and New Zealand’s 35-year history in it are based on a perception that it is rich boys and their toys, and that the [decision to stage the 37th cup in Barcelona,]( not Auckland, has severed its meaning to this country. The reality is that until the racing begins, Team New Zealand campaigns are about high-tech manufacturing which has changed the marine sector. For 2024,Team New Zealand will use its in-house expertise ranging from an [F1-level design chief,]( to bright graduate engineers from a local university. Most of this is funded by offshore sponsors, and while budgets in the Cup are always secret, past economic assessments of Team NZ’s campaigns show most of that money is spent locally. Team New Zealand closely guards its race-winning edge, but remains part of an eco-system of high-tech, high performance. Its designers carried out analytical work for Panmure-based EV Maritime’s development of electric ferries, two of which have been [commissioned for Auckland commuter routes from 2024.]( EV Maritime itself, an offshoot of long-established boatbuilder McMullen and Wing, was involved in discussions with the team about the hydrogen-powered chase boat. In the flow of expertise and personnel in the industry, links extend to Auckland-based Seachange, which is working on a hydrofoiling car ferry, initially for the Cook Strait run. Down the road from Seachange, Zerojet, has developed a battery-powered jet propulsion system for small runabouts and dinghies. In Warkworth, a firm owned by Larry Ellison’s Oracle racing, and which built components of the foiling catamaran which beat Team NZ in 2013, is now called Sail GP Technologies and builds the fleet used in the global series. Ironically, the staging of the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona could provide an ideal platform for marine and other export sectors to promote their wares globally. Trade show and promotional activity by New Zealand firms during the 34th America’s Cup in San Francisco, in 2013, was estimated by the government to have contributed nine months later to deals worth $200 million and a further $120 million of new sales opportunities and investor interest. The racing ignites public interest, but Auckland is reaping the benefits of Team New Zealand’s defence of the America’s Cup already. [padding] [user profile pic] [padding] Todd Niall [padding] Senior Stuff Journalist [padding] [spacer] [padding] [See more Auckland news]( [padding] [spacer] [padding] [Privacy Info]( [spacer] [Privacy Info]( [padding] [spacer] [padding] [spacer][Watch this video now]( [spacer] Joseph Day's family speak on cameraman's UK death [spacer] The family of a former TVNZ cameraman found dead in the UK [believes his death was an accident.]( In the early hours of May 3, Joseph Day’s body was found at a spot [15 minutes walk from his home in Bristol.]( The 31-year-old’s death has led to [an outpouring of grief among his former colleagues]( who described him as a talented an honourable man, who added “so much beauty” to the stories he worked on. [Day’s family]( said in a statement to media on Sunday that a celebration of Joseph’s life for family and friends would be held at the Auckland Town Hall on May 26 at 11am. 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