Keeping it Kiwi in ValeNZia

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May 6th 2007

Published: August 10th 2007

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The view from the Estrella Bar

Team NZ beats China

Fitch

Now that's impressive!

Sand sculptures on the beach at Valencia.

Valencia - the Lonely Planet will tell you that Spain’s third largest city is a “cosmopolitan city of designer boutiques, architectural splendour and very much a party town that sizzles on Spain’s Mediterranean coast”. However since April it has been the battlefield for international sport’s oldest trophy, sailing’s America’s Cup. For 8 years it was our cup, and right now we’re doing a great job of taking it back home. The locals with their thick Spanish accents refer to their home as “Falenthia”, although given that so many Kiwis are making the pilgrimage to support Team New Zealand, perhaps they should change the spelling to ValeNZia.

A group of us had planned a trip of some sort to support our boys and with the first weekend of May being a long weekend and coinciding with the conclusion of the Louis Vuitton Challenger Round Robin, it was the perfect time to be there when all the teams were still competing and the bars humming. Headlining the cast were some usual suspects in Lucy, Sean, Spam (Tim), Caroline, Bev and myself, with a two special guest stars in Sean’s mate Andy and Lucy’s friend Jane.

Bev, Andy and I formed the

Start box duel

Team New Zealand and China Team sparring for position during the pre-start manoeuvres.

vanguard and arrived in Valencia mid-afternoon with Lucy, Sean, Spam and Caroline arriving later that evening. Flying is thirsty work, especially when you place yourselves at the mercy of EasyJet, so our first instinct was quite sensibly to settle in to a good pub down at the port while we waited for the rest of the team. We didn’t have to look far either, with the welcoming allure of a cold beer at the sunlit Estrella Damm bar in the centre of the port proving irresistible. The open air Estrella Bar (pronounced as a Bill Lawryesque “Straya”) was to become our home away from home during the next few days, as it occupies pole position facing the team bases and adjacent to the canal that the boats sail up . The bar is also really popular with the sailing teams too, and it quickly filled up with Swedes and Italians from Victory Challenge and Mascalzone Latino (aptly translated as ”Latin Rascals”), who were amongst the most social of the teams.

Each race day there is a procession of the teams and spectator craft out the canal and out onto the course for the day’s

Check it out!

We lads enjoying ourselves at someone else's expense at Estrella Bar

racing, so we got a prime position (which incidentally also happened to be in the aforementioned Estrella Bar) to salute our boys and wish them luck. With two big screens in the Port, you certainly don’t need to be on the water to watch the racing, and we headed for the grassed area in front of the northern screen to take in the televised action. As sailing had been cancelled the previous day there were two flights being raced and we got a good spot to see Team NZ comfortably dispatch both the Spanish (Desafio Espanol) and the South Africans (Team Shosholoza).

The Spanish are night owls (with siesta in the afternoon of course) so the evening meal doesn’t get eaten until much later, especially in Valencia. Restaurants don’t even open their doors until 10pm, and most nights we didn’t even start eating until 11.30! Valencia is known for its seafood paella dishes, and we would share an enormous paella for the table along with a few Spanish reds.

Sunday was undoubtedly the highlight of our trip as that was the day that we had arranged to take in the action from out on the race course itself.

Do you think they will miss it?

Me having a closer look at the Auld Mug itself. Surely Ernesto won't mind if we borrow it.

We secured some great seats on the top deck of our boat and made our allegiances known by tying Jane’s NZ flag to the railing in front of us. It was a perfect day to be out sailing, with the sun shining and a light sea breeze cooling the Valencia heat. As we made our way out to the northern course, buckets full of mussels were handed around and with beer and wine also in ample supply, we were certainly well equipped for a great day out on the water.

A huge spectator fleet of perhaps 100-150 vessels had assembled, ranging from small launches to large corporate hospitality yachts and even a cruise liner. As we cruised through the fleet it wasn’t hard to tell that perhaps half of the spectators were Spaniards, and when their country won the first race of the day against the Germans, the intercom blared out “We are the Champions” as the Spanish danced. Next up was Mascalzone Latino vs Shosholoza with the Italians needing a win to stay in contention for the semis. Unfortunately for them and their supporters, the South Africans turned it on and won a close race by just 6

It's a dirty job ...

But someone had to do it! Enjoying the afternoon sun and a beer at the Estrella Bar

seconds. And then of course was the match of the day between Team New Zealand and China Team. The Chinese were competing in their first cup and it showed, with the black boat pumping them to win by over 3 minutes - the rugby equivalent of about 80-0. As Team NZ crossed the line a large roar erupted across the spectator boats, announcing to the fleet that the Kiwi supporters were out in numbers too! .

As we entered the port we experienced the quite awesome sight of the masses of people lining the edge of the canal to greet the boats and cheer the teams. Our spectator boat was just in front of the Chinese team, and it was great to see the whole crowd applauding them as well. Now sheltered from the sea breeze the Valencia sun had us feeling parched, so recognising the importance of hydration we headed straight back to the pub to down a few cold ones and celebrate the win. The bar was packed but we got our normal position in the sun and joined in the revelry in for what was to be

Sunset from Estrella Bar

our last evening in Valencia.

Because we were there while all of the other countries were still competing, we found that the fans congregating in Port America’s Cup each day were from all sorts of countries. The Italian fans were high profile and passionate, with three different syndicates to support (Luna Rossa, Mascalzone and +39), and of course the Spanish were right behind their home town heroes on Desafio Espanol, proudly wearing the Desafio team colours of bright green. There weren’t many Aussies around though, but I think they are sticking to their swimming after the One Australia sinking debacle back in 1995.

However we couldn’t go far in Valencia without coming across our fellow Kiwis. Whenever the black boat headed out to race and then returned to base, they were cheered on by the NZ fans. They line the canal decked out in black and a smattering of beige, cheering and waving to Dean and the boys as they go past, with some even wearing the flag as a cape and holding good luck banners. Many Kiwis are ex-pats based in the UK, in fact our flight back to London on Monday was full of Kiwis, while

Black Magic

The mighty NZL 92 powers down the race course.

some are even coming from as far as home. And it’s a long way - NZ is on the exact opposite side of the world from Spain (hence our nickname antipodeans), and in fact Valencia itself corresponds diametrically to Gisborne, further justifying the name ValeNZia.

It’s hard to say why we are so obsessed with winning the America’s Cup. Right from the beginning we’ve passionately been behind our challenges, from the plastic fantastic KZ-7, Dirty Dennis and Sailing Away in 1987; Black Magic, Peter Blake, red socks and tickertape parades in 1995; and then in 2003 the dark days of the attacks on Russell and Brad, the misplaced “Loyal” nationalism, and that broken mast. The corporate extravagance and exclusiveness associated with the event doesn’t normally sit well with New Zealanders. However perhaps it is the New Zealandness of punching above our weight and putting together a strong but inexpensive campaign, without subscribing to the extravagance and pretentiousness of the event, that keeps us coming back for more.

This number 8 wire approach is reflected in the money spent on the bases. Of the big boys, Alinghi splashed USD $22 million just building their sprawling compound, while BMW Oracle

Getting ready for the big day out

The team (minus cameraman Sean) in their seats on the boat before leaving port to see the racing. Left to right from back: Andy, Bev, me, Spam, Caro, Lucy and Jane.

and Luna Rossa both spent $20 million on theirs. Team New Zealand spent a miniscule $1 million to build their base, largely thanks to NZ industry stepping forward to donate building materials and even labour. With a budget a fraction of these other teams, they rightly decided that the money would be better spent on designing and sailing a fast boat, rather than on a palatial headquarters. Perhaps the only indulgence for Team NZ’s black and silver shed is a giant buzzy bee out the front!

A couple of days after we left Valencia, Team NZ recorded vital wins against Luna Rossa and Oracle BMW to qualify top of the Round Robin. We have gone on to beat Desafio Espanol 5-2 in the semis and then recently pumped Luna Rossa 5-0 in the final to win the Louis Vuitton Cup and earn the right to challenge Alinghi for the America’s Cup. The match starts on June 23 and it is of course a rematch of the 2003 America’s Cup match with the roles of Defender and Challenger reversed. Except of course this time we enter the match battle hardened and ready for a hell of a scrap. And if

"You better not take that photo Fitch"

Sean (an Aussie) showing his respect for the Shaky Isles with a Team NZ hat. Nice work by Andy in getting the Kiwi in frame too.

Dean Barker, Grant Dalton and the rest of the team pull it off, dare I say it, but I think that it will be a bigger achievement than the historic win of 1995.

C’mon lads - bring it on home!

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