JUST DO IT and positivity

September 17 was the drop-dead date by which, according to previous statements emanating from Team New Zealand, the venue for the next Defence of the America’s Cup (AC37) from the short list chosen of Cork, Valencia and Jeddah would – indeed must – be announced.

Well, September 17 has been and gone and it seems it wasn’t a drop-dead date after all. According to news reports Team NZ has decided on a delay, for an unspecified period. That may be because the Irish Government has said that it would need six months to undertake due diligence on the event. And a [recent] report from the Irish Business Post suggests that a new analysis, just completed by the Irish Department of Tourism and Sport, has found deficiencies in EY’s original 150 million euros cost estimate for infrastructure, holding the event and payment of a host fee to Team NZ and that a more realistic figure is 400 million euros.

The TNZ spin on the deferment decision is that “the process had been complicated by the difficulties presented by the global Covid pandemic that had made it impossible for team members to visit the venue options.” But all is not