Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - We chat to the America's Cup!

Episode Date: August 13, 2024

We’ll have the chance to meet the legendary America's Cup and his security team! They fill us in on the involvement of Formula One, how the race dynamics are always evolving, and the exciting new technologies making waves. We also reveal how you can get close to the cup!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Hits, with the Jono and Ben podcast. Cheers to Dilma, making the world a better tea. Lovely to have you in here. You and the America's Cup, which is, we can't stop saying, it's a lot bigger than you think it would be. Yeah, it is. No one's ever said that to me. No, sorry.

Do you find that people do say that about the America's Cup? They're surprised with the size of it? Everybody says that. Yeah. It is a spectacular trophy. It is. I would say the size of a everybody says that yeah yeah it is a spectacular trophy it is i would say the size of a four five-year-old kid yeah but if you want to use the child measurement system yeah for a five-year-old kid yeah so how heavy is it because i imagine we are we're mere mortals we can't we haven't won the america's cup so how heavy is this thing

17 kilograms do you whip that down to mr Minute in the mall And they do the engraving Or is there like a process When someone wins The America's Cup That goes to a special engraver It goes to a very special engraver That's right Yeah

So am I right in saying That 1848 or something When it was first made Or something like that So the trophy Was first competed for The first race Was 1851

Right Okay so it's been around The oldest trophy in sports Oldest trophy in sport over 170 years ago. Wow. Really, it's a sight to behold. And you're going to be taking it around the country. That's right.

So with our friends from Toyota New Zealand, we're taking it to 40 destinations around the country, from Kiti Kiti in the north to Invercargill in the south, visiting sailing clubs, schools, Toyota stores, the length and breadth of the country. That's very cool. So people can get up close to it and get a photo near it? Oh, awesome.

Now, you've got a wonderful gentleman here with white gloves on. Now, it's his job to carry it around. That's Norm? No, Norm. Is he a safe pair of hands, Norm? Norm is a very safe pair of hands. Hasn't dropped it? Haven't dropped it once?

Not yet. Not yet. That's a huge responsibility for you, Norm. Norm looks like he could kill a man, too. Don't mess with Norm. Don't touch the cup. Wow. And many people will be aware that it's not going to be held in New Zealand this time.

Whereabouts is the Next America's Cup? The Next America's Cup is in Barcelona. And why'd they take it to Barcelona? Yeah. Because Barcelona offered to host it for us. And by doing that, the team was able to raise enough money to be able to hopefully successfully defend it. Nice. So that's a little bit different this time.

So this is effectively the Cup going on its OE. And we're doing something different. But it's still a home race for us. We are still defending it. And so are there new teams, new countries entering this America's Cup that haven't been there previously? Yes, there are. So there's teams from France, Swiss are back with a Lingi.

They had a Lingi. Yeah. Yeah. And what is different this time is they've brought in the muscle of some of the Formula One teams. What? A Lingi have? A Lingi have.

So they've got the Red Bull Formula One team. Ineos have brought in The Mercedes Formula 1 team So they're putting Enormous resource And horsepower And Team New Zealand Are working incredibly hard

To make sure That they can defend Because it's changed so much I remember The early times That I would watch it The boats would seem to go out It felt like

They were out there for days It probably wasn't But now it's like They've gone missing for six hours We'll find out who wins When they come back They're tagging They're driving

but now it's like Formula 1 on water isn't it they had the little trampoline thing they had one stage pedalling with their feet and legs as well

so many innovations have happened over the last few years and the cyclers are back this time but what will be unique this time is the event

will be literally sailed off the beach in Barcelona the design of the boat changes dramatically between one America's Cup to the next The design of the boat changes dramatically between one America's Cup to the next. Do all of the teams competing have to go, okay, this year we're going to allow the cycling technology? Or could you have one boat that's got cycling technology, one boat that's got a Formula One engine strapped to the bottom of it? Could you have different

boats or they all have to be of the same? They're all subject to the same rule. And this time, it's a second generation of the boats we saw here in Auckland. There are some minor modifications like the Cyclores are back. So all the teams will have those. But I think a lot of the smarts are the stuff that you and I won't notice, which is what's going on within the foils and

inside the boat and the systems they're using to sail the boat. I think that's where the refinement will be this time. Is it going to be fast? How much faster can these things go? Well, the feedback we're getting is a lot faster. Really? Than last America's Cup. A lot faster than the last America's Cup.

Because there's always a secrecy too, because no one wants to sort of play their hand too early and the technology and stuff. So how does all that happen? Do they sort of sail when other people aren't watching? As I say, a lot of the technology and the sophistication is what we can't see. It's inside the boats. They can only build a certain number of foils so they can see each other's. But they'll all be careful. Actually, the preliminary

regatta for the America's Cup starts at the end of this month. And that will be the first time that we'll see all the boats racing together and actually start to get a feel for who's fast and who's not well. That's very exciting. Are there mixed crews out there? Are there females aboard any of the boats? Not for the America's Cup itself, as I understand, but what is different this time is there's two lead-up regattas. One is the Youth America's Cup,

and the other is a Women's America's Cup. And they've got the same technique. They've still got the cycles. So they're one-design boats. Yeah. And that's designed to build depth in the sailors that will ultimately be able to sail in the America's Cup boats in the future. And so do they look to like Olympic athletes and things?

Because I'm like, have you got cyclers? We just won gold multiple times, the women did in France. That's right. You know, in fact, Team New Zealand has ex-Olympic cyclers in their team. Oh, wow. It's really interesting. It's a crazy sport, isn't it? And there's so much money behind it.

It's wild. There is. And I think, you know, that's an important point. It is actually more than a sporting event. It's creating a team. It's the technology. It's the innovation. It's the engineering, as well as sailing a boat.

Because I guess in New Zealand, you know, we do such a great job of it, but there's probably other teams with more money. What makes us so good at it? I think it is that innovation. So one of the remarkable things about what Emirates Team New Zealand have done over 40 years, with less resources than anyone else has got, is being able to be consistently successful. And that is by

thinking differently being innovative being creative coming up with ideas that no one else has and and and that's something that i think we can all be very proud of and i think that's something that we aspire to as as new zealanders on on the bottom of the world competing on the world stage yeah is that ability to be innovative and creative and come up with a smarter solution do we have a big hand in making the rules for this America's Cup given that we're the current cup holders?

We do, but we have to agree it with what they call a challenger of record, which is a club that acts on behalf of the challenging clubs. And in this case,

it's the Royal Yacht Squadron out of England. Because I'd be like, hey, by the way, no Formula One dudes. No Formula One, keep those in and allowed. Yeah.

And you'd start five minutes after we start i don't think they could do that no oh well thank you so much for bringing that and it's really an honor to have america's company yourself in the studio where can people if they want to see it as you see it's going from the top of the north to the bottom of the south how can they find out where it's going to be yeah the best place to go is our website which is kiwicup.co.nz and and that has all the details for the trip. And look at it now. We're not overselling it.

It's a remarkable sight, isn't it? You're absolutely right. I mean, it is a spectacular trophy, and people can come and have their photo taken with it, get up close and personal, and actually just see how much detail there is on the club. And I don't know if you've noticed there, but it's got the result of every race over 170 years engraved on the trophy.

It's a pretty small engraving going on here it's a nightmare to get the old silvo out on that thing isn't it we got through a whole bottle polishing job yeah really remarkable so you definitely go out and see this thing have a photo with it uh before it heads off when does it go overseas uh it goes to barcelona towards the end of september yeah carry on-on luggage? How does it go? First class. First class? I can imagine it would be first class. We've got a first class bike.

Well, thank you so much for coming in. We really appreciate it. Pleasure.