Ineos Britannia and Emirates Team New Zealand. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The fever of the 37th America's Cup in Barcelona has Kiwi fans yearning for the world's oldest international competition to return to New Zealand shores.
Team New Zealand hold a 4-2 lead over British Syndicate in the first to seven series, after dropping both races on Wednesday.
The America's Cup has returned to Spain for the first time since 2010, with only one event held in New Zealand since then - in 2021.
But as Sir Ian Taylor told Nathan Rarere on First Up, the Auld Mug is more beneficial for New Zealand to be contested offshore.
"I've been doing this since 1992 and the biggest and best event for New Zealand was in Valencia, the second in San Francisco," he said.
"If you see the high rollers and the people here that are looking at New Zealand and what New Zealand can do, it is really remarkable.
Sir Taylor said he was invited out on a boat and it did not take long for him to be introduced as 'this is the guy whose company does all of the graphics, his company is from New Zealand'.
"I was able to spend time with them and tell them what else is happening in New Zealand," he said. "They had no idea that only two countries in the world fired more rockets into space than we did off Māhia Peninsula last year.
"That's the story we should be telling. I'm looking out [on my balcony] and the people are still everywhere. I don't know why we didn't have a New Zealand facility here with a region of 450 million people showing Rocket Labs, Xero, all of the amazing things that New Zealand is doing in the international market, rather than tucked away back in New Zealand.
"We think on a small scale back there [in New Zealand], it is just another step up. You've just got to decide, do we want New Zealand's story to the world, or do we want to sit back in New Zealand and just be happy that we can watch them sailing in front of us?"
Team New Zealand's defeat on Wednesday has Taylor pumping the breaks on expectations, and praised the outfit for their performances against such rich resources.
He also hailed team chief executive Grant Dalton's influence in creating the spectacle for those back home in New Zealand, as well as those in Barcelona.
"We shouldn't even be in this leg, it is amazing," he said. "We've already polished off Alinghi Red Bull, all of those have gone, and now we've gone head-to-head with the Mercedes Formula One team, that's what we're up against.
"Name one other sport you get to go to, look at, watch on TV - all for free. What Grant Dalton has done has made sure nowhere in the world do you have to pay to watch the sport event.
"You don't have to book boats that go out, you don't have to pay on the shores, you don't have to buy tickets to sit in the sand. The stand runs all along the beach and they're all free."
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