Well, kia ora guys & girls (G'day), it is Whetu again here, & welcome to my last blog of the year of 2024, but first, the giants of world sailing of Emirates Team New Zealand have done it! The America's Cup is still ours after our epic win in race 9 against the true challenger of record INEOS Britannia (Who made many gains towards our Taihoro boat there in Barcelona, Spain, but it wasn't to be as they didn't get the result, although there had been a delay for 40 minutes earlier in the day due to a lack of breeze, then in all of a sudden that race 9 of the Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup is all good to go, but I wonder the headlines say: BARCELONA MAGIC FOR EMIRATES TEAM NEW ZEALAND or more like: KA PAI: TEAM NEW ZEALAND DEFEND AULD MUG IN STYLE, or especially: THE DEFENDERS STILL REMAIN AC HOLDERS AFTER BRILLIANT RACE 9, or more likely: TNZ RULE ON THE WATERS OF BARCELONA AGAINST GREAT BRITAIN, or more appropriately: SWEET AS BRO: ETNZ CAPTURE AMERICA'S CUP GLORY ONCE AGAIN IN SPAIN ("What a disappointing end for INEOS Britannia (And what a nice way to finish for Emirates Team New Zealand to end an America's Cup campaign like this), what a race for our viewers right around the world, it's all happening" As retired cricket commentator as of today of ex-Aussie cricketer Bill Lawry would always say) in a heavyweight sailing contest for the ages with Team New Zealand made it onto the record books as we became the first foreign syndicate during modern times to win the Auld Mug 3 consecutive times (And it's 1,312 days between Team New Zealand's rentention of the Auld Mug on home waters in Auckland, New Zealand which was during St Patrick's Day on the March 17th 2021, until then in which Emirates Team New Zealand (The most successful America's Cup team in recent history in which our reign as the master of high-speed yachting stays intact as Britain's long, long wait goes on (And talk about the tension, the buzz, the drama, the atmosphere! "As they brought in the razzle dazzle (Yes boy), me oh my, boomfa!" As former All Black Justin Marshall (Who used to play for Southland, Canterbury, the Crusaders, Leeds Tykes, Ospreys, Montpellier & Saracens throughout his rugby career, but he currently works as a rugby commentator for New Zealand pay TV broadcaster Sky) would always say) who made history to complete the historic first ever threepeat on foreign waters in Barcelona during the modern era of AC racing for which I was stoked about the result, unlike our failed attempt that we had in 2003 in which we lost the Auld Mug in the hands of the Swiss syndicate Alinghi in Auckland) after we won it twice (In both San Diego 1995 (The America's Cup, is now New Zealand's cup!) & Bermuda in 2017 (Once again, the America's Cup is...New Zealand's cup!), then defended it twice (In Auckland not once but twice in 2000 (The America's Cup, is still, New Zealand's Cup!), then 2021 (The America's Cup, remains New Zealand's cup!), so let's recap the live updates provided to Stuff.co.nz (For which I have not been doing live updates of the America's Cup since 2021):
1:47 AM: Race 9 is live! The winds have picked up enough for racing to resume. There are shifting winds from one side of the course to the other.
1:50 AM: We're into the duel for the start line and Team NZ are leading Britannia towards the boundary edge. The Brits come across them to block their path and are using their circling tactic again, trying to tangle up the Kiwis. Here they come (This is where the fun begins), approaching the line (Just seconds away until the start, stand by), and the race is underway (And away we go! The America's Cup is on the line here on the waters of Barcelona. Let the party begin! Brace yourself ladies & gentlemen, it is showtime!). It's close in the start.
1:51 AM: Team NZ seem happy enough despite appearing to lose that start to the Brits. The Kiwis have the slenderest of leads for the first cross between the boats, but it's changed again so Britannia are in front. Nothing in it, with six legs due in this race.
1:53 AM: The two boats are heading towards the far side of the course from the start, where there were lighter winds, and the turn around the first mark will be interesting. Team NZ do have the lead after shifting towards the right.
1:56 AM: Team NZ hit the first gate almost 200m ahead and have the clear advantage in the first of six legs. Britannia are 19sec back but hit greater speeds in turning the mark. The Kiwis were more than 35 knots, the Brits touching 40, but it's Team NZ in control.
1:58 AM: The flatter waters appear to favour Team NZ and in the light air, too. Britannia can see the Kiwis in their sights, albeit trailing by more than 300m through the second leg.
2:00 AM: Team NZ pass the 2nd gate and are in a position where faultless sailing will surely retain the Cup. Britannia have fallen back, by 22sec, but they looked sharp for the start of leg three. Can they catch the Kiwis? We don't see much overtaking in match racing.
2:03 AM: The two boats are split across the course and Britannia divert to switch over to Team NZ's position on the left-hand side. The Brits are gaining on them (They're just punishing Emirates Team New Zealand right there, they've dug in the trenches). The deficit has narrowed massively! Team NZ will have to work to defend their lead. You can hear Sir Ben Ainslie telling his crew, "come on, let's go".
2:05 AM: Wow, this gap has closed up. The Brits can see the helmets of the Team NZ crew, the difference down to about 20m. That's so tight (Now, straight out drag race, can you answer this Kiwi charge?!). They approach the third gate and the Kiwis only lead by... well, they don't. It's split of 0sec (We're through the halfway point, & it is even Stevens at the moment).
2:07 AM: Britannia coach Rob Wilson says they got a route back in to catch Team NZ and the conditions have been tricky because of the building breeze, as well as the shifts around the course.
The Kiwis have restored a greater lead and have made gains in taking their path down the right-hand side of the course for leg four.
2:10 AM: Team NZ have showed through the match race that they possess greater speed in the second half of races.
The Kiwis have brushed the water in a shaky manoeuvre around gate four and have extended their lead to more than 100m.
Kiwi coach Ray Davies says the nerves are "not bad" and the Brits are not letting them get away easily. He believes they will be okay in the race that might decide the America's Cup (Well, this could be the difference between winning the Auld Mug, or nothing).
2:12 AM: Britannia won't go away. We're into the penultimate leg and Team NZ are still ahead despite the Brits pursuing. This is as close as they've been in the match.
2:14 AM: This is the last mark. Team NZ are executing their last turn of the race and are through the gate with a lead of 17sec for the final downwind leg. Britannia will need the Kiwis to blunder to keep their hopes alive. Team NZ have pulled further away to lead by more than 300m (Keep a passionate heart and a cool head).
2:16 AM: Team NZ win the America's Cup again! (And it's going Kiwi, in 2024! For the 3rd time in a row! And for the 5th time ever! Emirates Team New Zealand, is still, champion, of the America's Cup!) They doubled their lead down the final leg and have retained the Auld Mug, beating Britannia 7-2 by 37 seconds in race 9 (But it's over! It's over! It's a 5th America's Cup for Emirates Team New Zealand!).
You can hear laughter and cheers from the Kiwi crew as they cross the finish and the party can start (Oh what a race! Haha, we got him. Oh yes!). The Cup is theirs and the sailors are out of the cockpit congratulating one another (The America's Cup, is yet again, New Zealand's Cup! And I've got to stop...Because I've got a lump on my throat).
2:20 AM: Team NZ helmsman Peter Burling says it's still just sinking in and that it's an amazing feeling.
Nathan Outteridge, the team's Aussie sailor who wins the Cup for the first time, says it's pretty special and is looking forward to the celebrations tonight.
2:22 AM: Sir Ben Ainslie says Team NZ are the best ever in the America's Cup and pays enormous credit to the Kiwis.
He says he can't thank his team enough for their efforts in Barcelona.
"The best team won," he said.
Ainslie says they are getting closer each time and seems determined to keep going.
And what do I think of the race? Wow! Unbelievable! How cool is that! Tremendous (Terrific), that is glorious! As we crossed the line to win race 9 (In which the race that I watched was the key highlight for me in the Louis Vuitton Cup 37th America's Cup because not only I was over the moon & getting goosebumps once more just like in 2021 when I watched the race again that I've recorded on TV) & to win the series 7 - 2 in what is by far, my best sporting moment of this year for our country of New Zealand along with the record 10 gold medals that we won at the Summer Games in Paris (While race 9 of this years edition of the Auld Mug would have to be the best America's Cup race that I have ever watched on TV, & it was better than race 10 in 2021 in which Team New Zealand had beaten Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli to retain the Auld Mug on St Paddy's Day (And just after 2:16 am (New Zealand time), on the early hours in the morning of Sunday, October 20th (Saturday, October 19th in Spain), the current day voice of yachting Stephen McIvor told it like it was to a world-wide TV audience: "The threepeat is complete! And Emirates Team New Zealand, win the Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup!" But the latest boat Taihoro (For which for me would have to be by far, my fave Emirates Team New Zealand boat of all time along with Pops, out of the 4 winning boats that we previously had such as NZL 32 long ago in 1995, NZL 60 way back in 2000, Aotearoa back in 2017 & Te Rehutai in 2021) was every bit as superior as the famous Te Rehutai that lifted the cup again in Auckland. Back then Jimmy Spithill twice could do nothing about it (So too is Francesco Bruni who was with Spithill in 2021). This time INEOS Britannia faced the same predicament) which was 4 months ago (+ Lydia Ko winning the AIG Women's Open in the UK fresh off from her Paris Summer Games triumph before adding another one in the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G at TPC River's Bend as she blitzed the field by 5 shots to claim her 3rd LPGA Tour championship of this years season for I haven't mentioned it up until that point), & this years triumph of the Auld Mug was better than the ones that we previously won in 1995, 2000, 2017 & 2021, & Peter Burling (The GOAT of modern day sailing & one of my favourite sailors because it used to be Russell Coutts, now it's Burling (Who was able to continue where he left off since his debut AC triumph in 2017 where he took over from Barker (And he has never put a foot wrong since he first burst onto the scene in 2017 in Bermuda. Oh hell yes! How good! How about that), before defending it for the 2nd time in 2021 & now he's done it & his syndicate for his unprecedented 3 in a row in which he has never experienced failure before), oh my word! He'll be a hero of our country that cements New Zealand's iconic sporting folklore (And how appropriate about that the best team had won indeed quite frankly, & that's what's happened throughout a Kiwi point of view, but the quality of racing on the waters of Barcelona reminds us of racing SWers straight out of Takapuna in Auckland as said by Burling during a post-race interview after one of our races, & what a beauty it was, but the partying has just started throughout the country about our heroes who triumphed on the water in Spain, while they'll be celebrations across in key New Zealand cities such as Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington, Dunedin, Hamilton & Tauranga (And my last thoughts before I sign off to wrap things up in the AC department? Emirates Team New Zealand have made history again, & man was it so sweet once more).
And in rugby news in the NPC competition here in New Zealand such as the top of the table Wellington (Who haven't won since 2022 (A year after Waikato had won the title in 2021 & a year before Taranaki became champions of the NPC last year) will host Bay of Plenty (Who'll appear in their debut full NPC final where they'll look to win the title after 48 years where they last did it in 1976 (That was the year that the NPC competition began, but there was no final back then until it was introduced long ago in 1992) at Sky Stadium in Wellington for the final (And it has been 11 years since Welly had last hosted a full NPC final back in 2013 where Wellington got defeated in the hands of Canterbury) after both sides recorded victories over Canterbury (BOP) at the Tauranga Domain in Tauranga, & Waikato (Wellington) at Sky Stadium in the Wellington (Including a yellow card from Wellington second-five of Riley Higgins that nearly derailed their aspirations of reaching the final) province in their respective semifinal games on Saturday, October 19th (Same day that the Auld Mug had gone in the way of Team NZ for the 3rd straight time in Barcelona, Spain, as well as for our 5th overall).
And onto the cricket stuff as the Black Caps (Who had Rachin Ravindra (Who is the next big thing in New Zealand cricket) scoring a century as he posted 134 in the 1st innings in which he was awarded standout player of the game) have won as they beat India (Who were bowled out for 46 runs in the 1st innings) by 8 wickets in the first test in Bengaluru to go 1 - 0 up in the series as well as ending a 36 year drought which goes a long way back to 1988 when we won in Mumbai in which the team was captained by John 'Wrighty' Wright, but continuing onto much better news as the White Ferns finally becoming champions of the world in the women's T20 format as well as our first major limited overs women's cricket tournament win since 2000 & our first for the country in cricket's shortest format, either men or women following our epic victory in the final in Dubai in the UAE against the tournament favourites South Africa (Who had beaten the defending champions at the time of Australia in the semi before we beat the West Indies in the other semifinal to reach our historic first ever final of the women's T20 World Cup) by 32 runs (Including Amelia 'Mellie' Kerr who had a great tournament she is having as she was the standout player of the final as well as the tournament (And what a player, what a women's T20 World Cup she's having), in a farewell game for our captain Sophie Devine (Who was part when New Zealand last played in the women's T20 World Cup final in 2010 along with Suzie Bates in which we didn't get the result in the end against Australia, & what a tournament that was, how good's that, how good is that!) as she bowed out in style in her final swansong to cap off a perfect sporting weekend here in our country of New Zealand on the 19th to 20th of October such as the America's Cup success in which Emirates Team New Zealand finally successfully complete a hat trick of America's Cup series wins (And that's the first time ever during modern times of the Auld Mug) along with the Black Caps ending a 36 year wait of beating India in India & the White Ferns (Who went into the tournament off the back of 10 straight defeats (Well, that's something I never heard of before) becoming the women's world champions in the T20 format for the first time against South Africa in the final that took place in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
And finally in motor racing news in the F1 department such as Monaco's Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari, secures the win in the United States Grand Prix at COTA in Austin, Texas as the 3 time defending world champion Max Verstappen's winless streak extends to 8 (His last win came in Spain this year, before the tide was turned as George Russell in the Mercedes-AMG won in Austria after both Norris & Verstappen (Who went downhill since after his win at the Spanish Grand Prix) collided during the Grand Prix as they both got together, then Russell's teammate Sir Lewis Hamilton at his home Grand Prix in Britain which was an ever popular victory for the multiple world champion, followed by Aussie Oscar Piastri driving for McLaren in Hungary for his first career win in F1 which was embroiled with controversy whether Lando Norris should've won the Grand Prix at the Hungaroring Circuit, before Hamilton won in Belgium in the aftermath of his teammate Russell getting stripped of his race win as a result of an underweight car which resulted in a disqualification, then Britain's Lando Norris as he spoiled Max Verstappen's homecoming in the Netherlands in which he surged back into championship contention, then Leclerc in Italy in which they sent the tifosi into a frenzy when Ferrari won at their home race in front of their adoring but passionate home fans cheering them on throughout the course of the Grand Prix, followed by Piastri who won it again in Azerbaijian as his constructor of McLaren that he races for, had taken over from Red Bull as leader of the constructors championship in Formula One for the first time since 2014 (And they have maintained their constructors championship lead since), before Norris won it in the dark on the streets of Singapore in the Singapore GP which was marred by Verstappen getting penalized by the race stewards for his erratic driving, in Daniel Ricciardo's last ever race in F1, & now Leclerc in the United States for which he hasn't won since Italy) which was overshadowed with Kiwi Liam Lawson (Who replaced the departed Aussie Daniel Ricciardo, but they have made security arrangements to safeguard him for the next race in Mexico (Which is Sergio Perez's home race as if he fails to finish strong, he may potentially lose a ride next year) due to the F1 fans becoming hostile towards Lawson (And my message to the fans who bear hatred towards him: "Leave our Kiwi alone") in the RB who finished a creditable but solid 9th to grab both points in the championship in his return to Formula One since last year in Qatar after starting from the rear of the field due to a grid drop, but continuing on to another sport which is football as the new Auckland City FC club get their highly anticipated first win in their A-League debut match with a 2 - 0 shutout victory over Brisbane City FC at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland.
So that is my 576th blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 52nd of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine (And you have a very happy new year, so best wishes & thank you for all of my support covering my blogs this year, bring on 2025! (And my last thoughts before I wrap this blog up? Until next time it is bye from us).
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