Team New Zealand or TNZ is a sailing team based in Auckland, New Zealand representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.
Team New Zealand became a household name in their home country following their consecutive wins in the America's Cup in 1995 and 2000, under the leadership of Sir Peter Blake, when becoming the first team from a country outside the United States to win and successfully defend the America's Cup. Branded as Emirates Team New Zealand at America's Cup competitions since 2007, they won the 2017 America's Cup, skippered by Glenn Ashby. They are the winner of the 2021 America's Cup.
History
Three challenges were launched before the founding of Team New Zealand, all of these backed by Michael Fay. New Zealand Challenge competed in the 1987 Louis Vuitton Cup, the 1988 America's Cup and the 1992 Louis Vuitton Cup.
Founding
Following the 1992 competition, Michael Fay withdrew from backing the New Zealand challenges and a new effort under the leadership of Sir Peter Blake began putting a team together, raising funds and gaining support for the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. Team New Zealand Limited was established as a registered company in 1993.
1995: Black Magic
In 1995, TNZ beat Team Dennis Conner 5–0 in a major upset off San Diego, California after winning the right to challenge in the Louis Vuitton Cup. Their boats were fast, they had an experienced crew led by skipper Russell Coutts, and they were ably led by Sir Peter Blake. As NZL 32 approached the finish line on the last race, sailing commentator Pete Montgomery made the now famous line "The America's Cup is now New Zealand's cup!"
The winning yacht, NZL 32, was shipped back to New Zealand and given to the Te Papa Museum, and is now housed in an extension to the northern end of the National Maritime Museum in Auckland as part of a permanent exhibition, Blue Water, Black Magic, about Sir Peter Blake.
2000: "Still New Zealand's Cup" TNZ (NZL 60) beat Italy's Prada Challenge (Luna Rossa) 5–0 in the 2000 match held on Auckland's Hauraki Gulf. On crossing the finish line in the final race, commentator Peter Montgomery exclaimed "The America's Cup is still New Zealand's cup!!" – echoing his comment in 1995 America's Cup. A notable feature was Russell Coutts handing over the helm to Dean Barker in the final race.
2003: "Loyal"; Defeat
In 2003, Team New Zealand's eight-year reign ended after they were defeated 5–0 by Swiss-based challenger Alinghi. TNZ dubbed their campaign the "Loyal" campaign, featuring a Silver fern flag with the word "Loyal" and an existing song of the same name by New Zealand musician Dave Dobbyn. This was largely due to the Swiss boat featuring many of the afterguard members from TNZ's previous campaigns (notably Russell Coutts and Brad Butterworth) which, along with a fast boat and a lack of reliability aboard TNZ's NZL 82, contributed to the win.
2007: Emirates Team New Zealand
In 2007, the re-branded Emirates Team New Zealand won the Louis Vuitton Cup and advanced to the 32nd America's Cup against defenders Alinghi. Team New Zealand lost the series 2–5 to Alinghi, the last by a single second.
Valencia
In late 2003, TNZ announced their intention to challenge Alinghi at the 2007 Valencia America's Cup, with Emirates on board as title sponsor, and Grant Dalton as Team Boss. Dean Barker skippered a more international team than ever before. TNZ were among the "big four" syndicates leading up to the 2007 Cup. The big four consisted of TNZ, Alinghi, BMW Oracle Racing, and Luna Rossa.
In the Louis Vuitton Cup 2007 to select the challenger to face Alinghi, TNZ lost their first match to Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team, a team who they had beaten in each of their five encounters in the Louis Vuitton Acts. They then won their next 7 races, before losing the final two in round robin 1 to Luna Rossa and BMW Oracle Racing which put them in third place at the end of the first round robin. In Round Robin 2, Team New Zealand were undefeated throughout, taking first place from BMW Oracle Racing. They won their semi-final series 5–2 against Desafío Español 2007 and qualified for the Louis Vuitton finals against Luna Rossa. In the finals, they defeated Luna Rossa with a whitewash victory of 5–0, winning the Louis Vuitton Cup and the right to challenge Alinghi for the America's Cup.
On 3 July 2007, Emirates Team New Zealand lost their final race to Alinghi bringing Alinghi's race wins to 5, successfully defending the 32nd America's cup.