"Incredible day, incredible campaign": Team NZ completes historic America's Cup defence

On a sunny Saturday afternoon off the bustling shores of Barcelona, Emirates Team New Zealand wrote an incredible piece of Kiwi history into the story of the oldest sporting event in the world.

The America’s Cup three-peat has been completed, an incredible feat not seen before in the modern era of an event which is notoriously hard to win.

The 37th edition of the Cup eventually settled 7-2 in favour of the defenders but not without challengers INEOS Britannia constantly pushing harder and faster, doing everything they could to threaten Team New Zealand’s crown.

In the development race, it’s hard to argue the New Zealand vessel Taihoro wasn't the ideal boat for the seasonally challenging Mediterranean waters.

From a sailing and personnel perspective it is impossible to not marvel at the cohesion and execution of the Kiwi crew. Skipper Peter Burling himself became the most successful America’s Cup skipper of all-time during the course of The Match.

The enormity and scale of Team New Zealand’s record breaking achievement was only beginning to dawn on Burling as he faced a long line of media before he could hoist The Auld Mug once again.

“It’s a pretty surreal feeling for me, it hasn’t really sunk in yet,” he admitted.

“What an incredible day, an incredible campaign and just to see it all come together in such a tight race like today, to be able to get another one on the board and round out that match point, it’s something we’re incredibly proud of.”

Chief Operating Officer and stalwart of Team New Zealand, Kevin Shoebridge shared Burling’s sentiment, detailing the intensity of a campaign this ambitious.

“It’s been a pretty torrid four months and to be able to finish it today in that sort of fashion we are really thrilled about," Shoebridge said.

“We came to Barcelona and there’s been a really strong group of challengers here and everyone was sailing particularly well, and although we did well in preliminary events and round robins, we knew that we had to step it up, which I think we’ve achieved.”

“I think we’ve come a long way in the last five weeks. We’ve got a boat that’s probably quicker and a team that’s sailing particularly well as you’ve seen over this regatta they didn’t miss too many tricks,” Shoebridge proudly explained.

It was not certain that Team NZ would get the chance to put the full stop on their campaign on day six. It took patience and a warming afternoon before enough wind filled in to green light race nine of the final series.

Once the wind limit was reached in the deciding duel it was hard to fault Ineos Britannia’s pre start, they made life hard for Burling’s crew and hit the start line ideally.

Much like a pivotal day five though, it was the first shift on the first leg where Taihoro started gaining momentum and ended up clearing out to a 19 second lead at the first gate.

It was a lead that proved to be invaluable as the shifty conditions created a great opportunity for Britannia to gain plenty of ground in later legs.

“We had a good battle in the pre-start again you know we’ve had some pretty dynamic prestarts,” Burling said.

“I think we got a lot better trigger pull than them off the line so we weren’t quite the tack behind that we maybe should’ve been.”

“Got a little right shift and then you know really just got the boat in a good groove to get a good lead but later in the race it felt like we couldn’t buy a shift for a while so they definitely swing in roundabouts.”

While Brittania chased hard again today, unfortunately for them, sailing from behind in all of their losses proved too large of a mountain to climb.

Co-helm and first time America’s Cup sailor Dylan Fletcher has no doubt they were trending in the right direction however and is already raring for another opportunity to claim the Auld Mug.

“We showed the greater trajectory during this America’s Cup, we’ve been learning all the way through it.

“I certainly think making boats go fast, especially foiling boats is something I’m strong in, the other guys though as well of course, but I am looking part of being an integral part of that,” Fletcher confidently asserted.

The discussion about what the 38th America’s Cup looks like has naturally already begun. What sort of boats, where in the world, who is competing. The routine queries will only start to bank up from here.

If you asked those who travelled to Barcelona for the purpose of this America’s Cup though, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who thought this pulsing harbour city didn’t play it’s hosting duties perfectly.

The marina was magnificent, the support was raucous and fulsome, the storylines were plentiful - ultimately 2024’s edition ended with the New Zealand defenders making history in the Mediterranean.

It was a bold but calculated mission from start to finish and they made Barcelona a winning home away from home.

To a reasonable foiling fan, their famous victory shouldn’t leave any questions surrounding where these sailors sit in the pantheon of all time crews. The better pub debate from here lies in how long their reign continues.