Well, happy new year ladies & gentlemen, welcome to 2019, I hope I enjoyed a lovely day yesterday on New Year's Day but this is my 1st ever blog of 2019 but my 1st blog is about the book that I've got for Christmas, which is exactly a new copy that I've read before of The Team New Zealand Story 1995 - 2003 (But this book is about Team New Zealand's history at the America's Cup leading up to the events of the 2003 America's Cup) with the next America's Cup set to be held in Auckland (And 6 challengers have announced they will take part in the 2021 America's Cup with Malta Altus Challenge (New Zealand used to be the smallest country to compete in the America's Cup but it is the Maltese now) confirmed their place along with the return of the famous Stars & Stripes name for the 1st time since 2002-03 competing under new management which is Stars & Stripes Team USA & a Dutch syndicate along with the already confirmed challenger of record Luna Rossa Challenge (Representing the Circolo de la Vella Sicila club), INEOS Team UK & the New York Yacht Club's American Magic with the winner of the newly christened Prada Cup will challenge the defender Emirates Team New Zealand representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron) in 2 years & 2 months time, so here is the 1st chapter of the book:
The Team New Zealand Story
The Second America's Cup defence
'Black on the Road Again'
First came the campaigns to win the America's Cup. Three times up and three times down.
Then in 1995 Team New Zealand produced the moment that mattered most - taking the Auld Mug off the Americans and bringing it back to a new home in Auckland
If winning it was seemingly a breeze - a 5-0 blackwash - then defending it for the first time was just as emphatic when on March 2, 2000, the Kiwis made it 5-0 again ... in trouncing Prada.
In 1995 Peter Montgomery, 'the voice of yachting', told the world: ''The America's Cup is now New Zealand's Cup''. And on that March afternoon in 2000 he needed to change just one word in another unforgettable commentary: ''The America's Cup is still New Zealand's Cup''.
New Zealanders like the sound of that, and no one's in any hurry to see the landscape change when the America's Cup again goes on the line in 2003.
This special publication sets the scene to mark the onset of the 2003 America's Cup defence.
One week the world was mourning the anticipated but still achingly sad loss of a man who'd help write the musical soundtrack for hundreds of millions in lives.
The music didn't go with him, not after the role he'd played in a revolution generated by a matchless phenomenon.
Just a week later there was more outpouring of global grief. This death wasn't simply sad. It was stunning for its mindlessness, brutality & unexpectedness.
Everywhere there was mind-numbing disbelief over the assassination of a man who redefined yachting. He too was a phenomenon, leaving a legacy that won't be forgotten.
The unrelated deaths of these two world figures on the American continent ensured the week from November 30 to December 7, 2001 must rank as one of the darkest of this lifetime. The double dose of grief within sight of Christmas shook & shocked millions around the globe.
It started with George Harrison finally losing his battle with cancer in Los Angeles, the news breaking late on Friday, November 30 (New Zealand time). For a generation, it was the end of another phase for musicdom's greatest & most influental band. Now The Beatles are down to just two survivors.
Harrison affected people everywhere, not least New Zealanders. But this country was collectively more profoundly upset when it awoke to even more shocking news the following Friday, December 7.
It seemed so unimaginable in its simplest form - Sir Peter Blake was dead. Gunned down by pirates on the Amazon River.
Sir Peter didn't connect with as many people & cultures as George Harrison did through The Beatles or later in his solo career. Harrison's musical contribution transcended all manner of divides, races & creeds. In any assessment, The Beatles will always be ranked among the elite musical influences of at least the last 100 years & probably much longer.
But, in his special world of yachting, the Kiwi giant was a legendary figure, even before the senseless & horribly premature end to his life. Sir Peter wouldn't even care for it but in death he was destined for something almost touching on sainthood.
After the devastating events of early December, countless tributes were paid to the man. Thousands upon thousands of words were written about him.
But as is often the case at times like this there were some earlier quotes that suddenly meant just as much, if not more.
Like the comment Sir Peter's fellow ocean racer Grant Dalton made about him in Champions Under Sail in 1995: ''He wrote the book. All we're doing is developing the chapters.''
In the same book, published before Team New Zealand won the America's Cup that year, Blake said of himself: ''I'm not finished with the sea yet. I'm not decrepit but I'm looking at having a change away from the sea eventually. I'm not too sure what that'll be. I'll wait & see.''
Now no one will ever know but it makes no difference to the Sir Peter Blake story. It's etched in the Kiwi consciousness through his varied round the world sailing feats, his America's Cup deeds & his sadly truncated bid to help save parts of the planet through his crusade with Blakexpeditions on his boat Seamaster.
Beyond Sir Peter's environmental cause, the next America's Cup was shaping as another special time for him. Having won it & then defended it he passed on the baton, wanting to see someone else emulate the 2000 success.
So his death means the 2003 defence will now become hugely significant for his old Team New Zealand & the nation as a whole.
Sir Peter was regarded as New Zealand's America's Cup godfather after bringing the famous trophy back to Auckland. That was only half the job for him. He then wanted to ensure the city benefited from it, that the 1995 win was going to be the start of a long tenure.
He had a vision to transform Auckland's dilapidated Viaduct Basin into the best facility in America's Cup history & no one could say he failed.
Having put the framework in place, he & his team then ensured the defence itself was also one of the most compelling & convincing ever witnessed. No one could accuse him of failure there either.
All of this means Sir Peter's spirit will hang over the entire regatta when it starts later in 2002.
It will consume the newlook Team New Zealand syndicate as Ross Blackman, Tom Schnackenberg, Tony Thomas & Dean Barker et al strive to add another chapter to the famous contest's long-running story. The trick will be to use Blake's legacy as a motivating force, to bind the team & the nation.
The displays of grief & sorrow after Sir Peter's death were overwhelming just before Christmas 2001. The memories of those times are as sad as they are unforgettable.
Sir Peter Blake would never want his demise to weigh down emotionally Team New Zealand's 2003 defence. He'd expect everyone to move on & pay attention to the business of keeping the Auld Mug in New Zealand for another three years.
But there won't be many dry eyes as the Team New Zealand crew leaves the American Express Viaduct Harbour for race one of its second cup defence early in 2003. That morning Sir Peter Blake's legacy will be encapsulated as never before.
Sport is laced with poignant moments; that will be one of them. Sir Peter Blake's spirit will be palpable that day.
So that is my 261st blog of the year 2019 (MMXIX) & my 1st of this year.
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