(WAVES CRASH) (DETERMINED MUSIC) The America's Cup, it's got absolutely everything ` great characters; it's totally unpredictable; it's got drama on and off the water. It's everything you could want in a sport. - The America's Cup is a total war, and you fight it on a lot of different levels. - There's probably a million ways to not be successful and only one way to get it right. - BROADCASTER: An extraordinary moment in Australian sporting history for the day that David beat Goliath. - REPORTER: Australia, too, has done the impossible. It's won the America's Cup. They outsailed the Americans, four races to three. Bob Hawke led the nation in celebration at the Royal Perth Yacht Club. - I was a kid watching it on TV. I can remember watching the boat cross the finish line, and, you know, it was amazing scenes. The New York Yacht Club had held the America's Cup for what seemed like an eternity. To finally see them getting beaten in the end was amazing to me, as a young sailor. Of course, as a kid, you dream about being involved one day. - REPORTER: With superb theatrical timing, Alan Bond stood like Moses, parting the waves, and the keel became public property at last. - The Australians winning the America's Cup was a massive opportunity for a country like New Zealand. We just went, 'Hey, we can have a crack at this.' www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2021 (UPBEAT MUSIC) - Most people would have thought it was unlikely that New Zealand had the expertise to mount a challenge, when you look at all the facets that it takes to win. - I didn't think there was any way that anyone in New Zealand could put together the money needed to compete. - REPORTER: Michael Fay announced today he will back New Zealand's first America's Cup challenge... - ...sweated over the expensive undertaking is summed up... - ...a sailing race which seems to have more to do with business than yachts. - Michael Fay was a merchant banker, which is a modern term for a pirate. (CHUCKLES) He wore a shirt and tie and, you know, a well-cut suit, but he was out to make as much money as he could, as quickly as he could, as easily as he could. - Thank you very much. - Fay and Richwhite, in those days, were sort of positioning themselves as major business influences. - They knew where the money was flowing from in New Zealand and how to tap into the tens of millions needed to fund America's Cup campaigns. (DING! OVERLAPPING CHATTER) - The 1980s, particularly from the mid 80s, it was the champagne era. (POP!) (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - We have a prime minister. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - When Lange came to power in '84, the whole New Zealand economy was just completely, almost overnight, transformed by him and Roger Douglas. - The need for a change in direction has been acknowledged. - REPORTER: Roger Douglas is the economic architect of this government. - This election is pivotal to Roger Douglas. Douglas already has an agenda. - ...of the Douglas budget, how it affects the economy as a whole, as well as the more... - ...of this government is that you have a bigger and better market. ('80S ELECTRONIC MUSIC) - All of a sudden, one element of New Zealand society started making a fortune. You know, for the first time, you had some decent-quality restaurants, nightclubs. They were the maddest three or four years I've even been through. It was party time. Michael Fay and Doug Richwhite became very, very wealthy men. It was only by freeing up the whole New Zealand economy that you began to get the kind of cash you would need to do something like an America's Cup challenge. - Once we decided to become involved, we thought the New Zealand effort was worth it, the talent was there, the design is good. We thought, you know, if we're going to do it, let's do it properly. (GROOVY MUSIC) - In the early 1980s, sailing in New Zealand was very amateur, in its approach, in its just lack of professionalism. - BROADCASTER: Right at the end of the line. He looks as though he is trapped and nowhere to go. Oh no! Into the committee boat. - A lot of us were novice sailors in those days. I didn't know anything about sailing big boats. - They go across the line, and Chris Dickson takes the gun. Nine straight wins ` magnificent. - I was out there as a professional sailor competing on the world circuit, and at the time, the only Kiwi to be out there doing that. - Chris Dickson was elected skipper. Chris was definitely New Zealand's top sailor at that stage, no doubt. He was making a big name for himself internationally. - For such a young person to be given that responsibility was a risk, but, you know, with a possible reward if they could get the job done. - The whole New Zealand team was quite young. In the early part of the campaign, at least from the outside, it looked a little bit ragtag and a little bit loose. But New Zealand's America's Cup campaign, they were always going to do things differently. (CONTEMPLATIVE MARIMBA MUSIC) - Boat, design-wise, Bruce Farr was at the forefront. He was at the peak of his powers, in terms of what he was achieving in boat design. - Bruce designed the best boats in the world, for sure, at that time as the leading designer of offshore boats by quite a bit. - The rest of the world built boats out of aluminium, but in New Zealand, we built boats out of fibreglass. That's what we did. We didn't build boats out of aluminium. - New Zealand plastic boats were very different from what the rest of the world was doing. - KZ 7 was built out of (CHUCKLES) fibreglass, which was pretty revolutionary at that time. The construction of the boat and the 'plastic fantastic' tagline that it had was certainly, you know, a big talking point. (JAUNTY MUSIC) - Our New Zealand America's Cup team in Fremantle first went there as a new team assembled for the first time with two brand-new 12m yachts that had never been sailed before. - Five, four, three, two. - Hello again from Fremantle. It's great to be back into the racing. It was really exciting to be a New Zealand journalist over there, because you felt like you were part of a real international sporting event. The vibe, there was this huge carnival atmosphere right from the beginning. For New Zealand, because it was all new, those who could afford it could jump on a plane and get there and enjoy and soak up some of the atmosphere. It was... just so exciting. (LOW, BASSY MUSIC) - As a new team that no one knew, the international competitors, the international media, didn't give us a hope of anything because they didn't know anything about us. - We haven't been to the America's Cup before. We're the new kids on the block. There's no doubt about that. We haven't had the boats in the water very long, and our crews haven't been on them very long. So a steep learning curve, but one that we're approaching fairly confidently. - Michael Fay created a real discipline around the team. He put a structure in place, in terms of the way the team was preparing, and I think it was a massive step forward for New Zealand sailing. It was the transition from being an amateur sport to moving into the professional ranks. - There were a lot of teams in Fremantle, with multiple teams from the US, multiple teams from France, from Italy. But Stars & Stripes, Dennis Conner, were the biggest competition. - Dennis Conner paved the way in professional yacht racing. - Mr America's Cup, most professional yacht-racing skipper, team manager in the world ` it was clear that Dennis Conner and Stars & Stripes were going to be tough. - REPORTER: Dennis Conner, heir to a San Diego drapery business, king of the America's Cup. - Well, he is a bit of a legend in the sport ` an incredible figure, you know, an incredible competitor, driven too. - Thank you very much. (SPLASH!) - So at that stage, Dennis Conner was the only man to have won the America's Cup and lost it, and he wanted it back desperately. (MAN WHOOPS) (SUBDUED MUSIC) - By the time the racing really got close to happening, the New Zealand team had all turned into a very tight, very disciplined team. - Three, two, one. (GUN FIRES) - BROADCASTER: There goes the gun now, and New Zealand is racing for the first time in the America's Cup. - So from what we had at the beginning was certainly the makings of a great team, but six, eight, nine months later we were a very slick, well-oiled professional team across the board, because if you weren't up to that standard, you got spat out very quickly. So we gave ourselves a real shot at winning. - New Zealand's moved out to a big advantage as they go around the top mark. - They've got an advantage of 300m. (SUBDUED MUSIC CONTINUES) - The first few races we did were pleasantly surprising that we had not just a good boat, but a really good boat. - In the medium wind conditions, it was, I'd say, definitely the best boat out there. - The big news is that the Kiwis continue on their march to victory. - New Zealand has really dominated today's racing, and here's our little beauty, KZ 7. - Oh, through the Louis Vuitton Cup, they just absolutely nailed it. KZ 7 was just unbeatable. - And at that point, the world sat up and took a little bit (CHUCKLES) of notice. - Everybody knew that New Zealand had something special. - REPORTER: They're the new boys of this form of sport, yet they've already beaten every other challenger. - ...described as the fittest team of Kiwis ever to represent... - New Zealand is going to be difficult to beat. (INSPIRING MUSIC) - BROADCASTER: Oh, New Zealand now coming up to the mark. What a long way they've come. This will be their 37th win out of 38 races. Coming up to the line. They've crossed the line. There's the gun! What a marvellous performance, and New Zealand is now through to the Louis Vuitton Cup final. - We've got a lot of racing to go through, but from where we are, from what we know, from what we've got, we can win. Dynamo Professional stain experts are testing the toughest stains to develop our best-performing stain removal. New Dynamo Professional Oxi Plus removes stains for a superior clean. Try new Dynamo Professional. * - # One people on the water. - # One people on the land. - # It's New Zealand altogether. - That Sailing Away video was fantastic. You know, you had every celebrity in New Zealand singing (SINGS) sailing away. - ALL SING: # Sailing away. # Sailing away. - Yeah, every famous person in the country was in that at that time. (CHUCKLES) - # Take it away. - It's embedded like an earworm. (LAUGHS) - A song that really just galvanised the New Zealand public behind the team and behind the passion that is behind the America's Cup for New Zealanders. - REPORTER: New Zealand in the Louis Vuitton final. What a marvellous moment in New Zealand's sport. - It's the big race on Thursday when KZ 7 meets Stars & Stripes. - New Zealand as a whole has produced a remarkable number of good sailors for the number of people. It seems to be bred into their blood that they're good sailors. - PATRONS CHANT: Kiwi! Kiwi! - To be a Kiwi and to get this far on our first challenge, boy, I'm proud. (CHUCKLES) - Yeah, me too. Me too, me too. - Even if we lose now. - Yeah, me too. Even if we` Even if we lose. (NEWSCAST MUSIC) - The big news here today is that Dennis Conners' Stars & Stripes syndicate is said to have a go at the Kiwis' fibreglass yacht. - The New Zealand boats, they were the first yachts to be made of fibreglass. But a lot of the other syndicates did not like that, especially Dennis Conner, who protested. REPORTER: Conner confirmed it. His syndicate had asked race organisers for tests on KZ 7, and USA skipper Tom Blackaller, backed him up. - You can't build a boat in fibreglass that's light enough and strong enough to compete. Something's screwy in here. - If you want to build a glass boat, why would you do it, unless you wanted to cheat? Whoa, whoa-oh. I don't think he should have said that. - I think every New Zealander, rightfully, took that quite personally. - Dennis' whole fibreglass, cheating and stuff was all in part of the total war of disrupting the competition. He knew that the Kiwis are a threat and he needed to disrupt them, and that's what he went about doing, and that's the complexity of the America's Cup. That's part of the game. - REPORTER: Dennis Conners' attempts to rattle the New Zealanders by protesting against their fibreglass boat has not succeeded. The Kiwis will go on to the final and face Stars & Stripes later this week. - And we have a lot of professional respect, if you like, for the talents on board Stars & Stripes. - But as a man, do you like him as a man? - No comment. My job is to go yacht racing, not to judge people. - Going into the Louis Vuitton Cup final against Stars & Stripes. a lot of the pundits were saying, 'Hey, these Kiwis are going to go all the way.' But it doesn't take much of a condition change to really turn the competition on its head. (DETERMINED MUSIC) - We're getting tough conditions, we're heading up towards limit conditions. This is going to be a tough race on people and on gear. - Really heavy weather out there, heavy seas, and the wind building. - Pretty dangerous stuff starting in these conditions now. Massive waves, well over 2m. - Chris Dickson under pressure. This is interesting, indeed. They must be pretty confident to do that. - New Zealand has dipped behind Stars & Stripes. And boy, oh boy, in 27 knots out here, this is tough, hard work. So now Stars & Stripes in front of New Zealand. - When you're getting the absolute best out of the boat, as we were with KZ 7, and someone alongside you in exactly the same conditions is going faster, it's a... Oh, be blunt about it. It's an 'oh shit' moment. (CHUCKLES) - Great confidence in the Star by Chris Dickson, good sailing. Dennis has put together a pretty formidable boat, and very hard to look clever when the other boat's just a wee bit quicker. - Oh, genoa gone on Stars & Stripes. Now we'll see an expert crew reacting. - The New Zealanders really challenging hard there. - KZ 7 closed the gap to three boat lengths. - It's do or die for New Zealand, the boat behind at the moment. New Zealand must win to keep their hopes alive. - At the last turning mark, the New Zealanders got into an incident at the top mark. - We have a problem. We have a problem. New Zealand has hit the mark. - Yes, I think so. They're re-rounding. - Oh, that's tragic. Absolutely tragic. That's got to be the boat race. Well, what a disappointment for New Zealand. - It would seem that the battle is lost. (SOMBRE MUSIC) Stars & Stripes defeat New Zealand in the final for the Louis Vuitton Cup. - New Zealand is out of the America's Cup. - How do you feel about it? - Well, obviously upset about it and disappointed about it, you know? - There were no tears on your pillow? No, there wasn't. (CHUCKLES) - Yes, the team was gutted, but I think when you looked back on having a go, the first go, and doing that well, they had to be incredibly proud. - It wouldn't have taken much more, in actual fact, for them to win that. And I think a lot of them that were involved would look back and say, 'Wow, if we just had had a little bit more knowledge at that stage,' then they could have actually... they could have actually won. (BIRDS SQUAWKING, BONGO DRUMMING) Excuse me, where am I? You're lost in the procrastination place. Yeah, right. That makes sense. MAN: Slap yourself out of it. Whoo! * - The economy, recovering or collapsing? Declining gross domestic product, including a big drop in manufacturing output and record numbers out of work, point to an economy in its terminal stages. - What do we want? - CROWD: Jobs! - What do we want? - Some economists say Roger Douglas has saved us from another 1930s-style depression, but others warn we could still be heading for one. - There was a feeling that New Zealand had gone too far, too fast, and there was a hangover left after the (CHUCKLES) 1984 to '87 party. - What say we sort of have a little breather here, (CHUCKLES) and then we'll set off on the road again after we've sort of picked up the casualties and had a cuppa? (CLAMOURING) - The economy started bottoming out. We were in big trouble. That was the beginning, really, of that division in New Zealand between rich and poor. (PENSIVE PIANO MUSIC) - Sadly, I would sum up the 1988 challenge as an ambush challenge by New Zealand. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - This boat deserves an America's Cup match. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - 1988, that was controversial at that time, because Sir Michael Fay had figured out that 132ft is the maximum boat length, and it was game on for the 1988 Big Boat Challenge. (CHEERING) - Dennis Conner, king of the America's Cup, unveiling a new weapon, a 60ft by 30ft wind master cat that will run like a jaguar. - What on earth would make anyone think that Dennis Conner was going to play the game that we wanted it played? You know, of course he was going to lawyer up and choose to race a catamaran, a faster boat. I mean, of course. Hello? - The New Zealand camp says it's ready for the racing, modifying the boat and getting faster all the time. It's time for the sailors to have their day. - Chris Dickson was told today that he's not wanted, and it's understood that David Barnes will be confirmed as skipper when the squad's announced on Monday. - They know I'm available, and if they don't choose to have me, then that's their decision. - That was Michael Fay's team. I didn't get on very well with Michael Fay by the end of the campaign, so we went different ways. That was disappointing for me, because in the prime of my career at 25 years old, you know, I felt quite let down. - The truth is Chris probably deserved to be the skipper beyond '87. But there clearly wasn't the chemistry with some of the other people that actually worked, you know, as a team. - I think, like a lot of really intense, talented sportspeople, Chris could sometimes rub people up the wrong way. - What has been described as the strangest America's Cup ever is underway. The winner will be the best of just three races between New Zealand and the US in completely mismatched boats. - There is no contest, no match. At any win, at any speed, in any water, New Zealand has no chance. (DETERMINED MUSIC) - We are watching the winning of the America's Cup 1988, the easiest win in the 157-year history of this cup. - And here he is at the finish, taking Stars & Stripes 88 across the line, and Dennis Conner has won the 27th defence of the America's Cup. I mean, they say it's not over till the fat lady sings. In this case, it's not over till the fat boy's had a drink. - The light-heartedness at the dockside vanished later when the Kiwi and American yachtsmen got together at the news conference. - None of the yacht designers who have criticised the boat have had the guts to come out and design one to race against it. - There was quite a lot of friction at that table, and it really came to a head where you could see that this thing was a powder keg, and it could go off. - I heard that. That stinks. - It does stink. - That was a despicable performance. They arrived 30 minutes late, they arrived drunk, and then he took cheap shots at Bruce Farr, probably the top yacht designer in the world. - So at that time, the term Dirty Dennis, it just went ballistic. - Dennis Conner, he was a very good sailor. His mouth was the problem. He became a hate figure, which is one of the reasons why Paul Holmes, in his first-ever Holmes show programmed on air, demanded that he apologised. (UPBEAT MUSIC) - You said, at the time, Bruce Farr was a loser. You said New Zealand, the team, was full of shit. Do you think those were things that need some apology to the New Zealand people? Have you had cause to, Mr Conner, regret your behaviour? - I respect the... reserve the right to disagree with you, and I have to run now, so I'd like to thank you very much for having me on your show. I would like to wish you luck in the future, and thank you very much for having me. - Would you be interested in apologising to Mr Farr in public, Mr Conner, for that incident that happened last year? (SUBDUED PIANO MUSIC) - So, Peter Blake in 1992 was fresh off the back of absolutely blitzing the Whitbread. The Round the World Race was something that he had really tried to win. In fact, it took him five goes to win that Round the World Race. - A 17-year commitment is over for Peter Blake. He was done it. He was won his first-ever Whitbread. - Peter Blake, he was kind of a classic mould of New Zealand heroes, like Ed Hillary. - Blake was a great leader, and he had a huge following and a huge amount of respect from the New Zealand public. And so, you know, it was a natural progression for Peter to then come in and lead New Zealand's effort in the America's Cup. When I was asked by Sir Michael Fay ` would I become involved? How can I not get involved? I mean, what a terrific thing to be asked to do, to sort of take on the America's Cup campaign. - It was a turning point for New Zealand America's Cup. - Now, today comes the launch of the new challenge. With it, a new approach and a feeling of absolute determination - The New Zealand challenge has a problem ` too much talent, they say. They have 35 chaps here, competing for 16 places in the final crew that's due to be announced next month. (AIR HORN BLARES) - '92, they selected Rod as skipper. - We had trials to who is going to skipper, and I prevailed in those trials. - I was disappointed when the decision came out. I was competitive, you know, and wanted to helm the boat. They'd asked me to be a tactician, and I hadn't been training as tactician. And I think my reaction was I was so disappointed in not being selected skipper that I turned them down. - I was the trial helmsman, so the trial horse, if you like, for the A-team to practise against. - The '92 campaign, the boat was designed by Bruce Farr. The sailing team really worked mostly for Bruce in developing his ideas for the boat. - The philosophy was very much design driven, and the sailors were the jockeys. So here's your boat. This is what you're dealing with. You get on and get it round the track. - It's relatively big, it's very fast, and our boat will look different, and that will cause some controversy, for sure. - It was radical. It didn't have a rudder, and they also put a bowsprit on the boat, which was a first. The bowsprit actually became really controversial. That turned out to be a bit of an Achilles heel for New Zealand. * - Unemployed rights workers took their protest to the home of one of the country's richest men today. About 40 set up a shanty town on the terrace in front lawn of Sir Michael Fay's home. They said Sir Michael was targeted because of the money being spent on the America's Cup challenge and his company's links with the Business Roundtable. - BOTH: We will smash the BRT! - That protest was about the government giving a million dollars towards the America's Cup challenge. It was a legitimate complaint that the government would be putting money into a 'rich man's' sport. - The unemployed are really angry about how the government supports Michael Fay and his yacht and how they get all this free publicity and government funding. At the same time, you see some unemployed people get no benefits at all. - People at the bottom end of the New Zealand society, you know, the socio-economic scale, were getting pounded at the time. - This is going to be the mother of all budgets, as they say. - By '92, you were talking Ruth Richardson, Ruthanasia. As Finance Minister, she brought in some really tough budgets that screwed down on the bottom end of New Zealand society. (SUBDUED ELECTRONIC MUSIC) - Good morning from San Diego. Here are the highlights from the first day. - Now they're coming up to the first cross. - It's a very good start by Rod Davis and his team. - Clearly ahead. So far, so good, for New Zealand. They're going to have a substantial lead. - Excellent tactics, and also the lethal New Zealand weapon, NZL 20. - Through the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series, the round robin stage, NZL 20 was quick. The boat had pace. It was a radical concept, and they looked like they had it right. - And it's looking pretty good for NZL 20. Well, this is what we all want to see ` is the New Zealand boat ahead. - That's right. They've opened out to about 220m now. - We were pleased. We were going well. We had some weak points in the boat in its ability to attack and stuff, but still improving all the time. - There had been fears that the choppy seas wouldn't be the right condition for New Zealand 20. But the little red rocket surfed through the worst of it. - And the end result is that New Zealand has come from behind to take a dramatic win! (SOFT ELECTRONIC MUSIC) - Good morning from San Diego, where the two finalists in the Louis Vuitton Cup have been decided ` New Zealand against Italy. - We were always paired up as the strong two challengers. So, yeah, there was always going to be a good bloodbath (CHUCKLES) between those two teams. - It's been a great beat by the Kiwis. They won the start. Well, this looks like it's an absolute huge lead. (GUN FIRES) - There it is, and New Zealand crosses the line. New Zealand really looking very comfortable now. (GUN FIRES) The gun to NZL 20! The options for Il Moro di Venezia are running out. - We were 4-1 up, one race from winning, and, dammit, the Italians protest. - NZL had a bowsprit, and the bowsprit was controversial from the very beginning. The Italians led the charge of protests, tried to get the bowsprit made illegal. - The Italians saw an opportunity to have a crack at the New Zealanders, in terms of the legality of the use of the bowsprit, and that protest turned out to be an Achilles heel for New Zealand. - The Italians may be trying unsettling tactics because they're the underdogs. - I think they're trying to stir up something like what was stirred up in 1987 with the glass gate. - It's all political, and I think it bloody well stinks. They're trying to shaft us at every turn because we have the fastest boat at the moment. We're looking a threat to them all. - From the sidelines, this whole business looks unpleasant, unfair and quite dirty. - At the end of the day, if you can take the pressure and if you can get out and sail on the water, that's ultimately always where the regatta will be decided. (LOW MUSIC) - The mood was pretty subdued at the Kiwi dock tonight. It's a day the challenge would like to forget. - It's demoralising when you lose at a protest decision like that. We felt as though we shouldn't have lost it. - The America's Cup is a game of hardball, and we didn't... cope with that. We didn't keep our nerve as much as we probably could've. - Rod Davis on board NZL 20 has his problems again today. - The New Zealanders were wounded, and their pride had been hurt. And Cayard and Il Moro di Venezia took that opportunity. - The Italians, all of a sudden, they started to get on a roll, and they started to win races, and they got more and more confident in their boat. New Zealand was leading 4-1 in the Louis Vuitton final, and how things have changed. And now Il Moro di Venezia coming down to the line to tie the Louis Vuitton final. The challengers in the America's Cup at 3-all. - Anxiety in the Kiwi camp over two days' losses in a row prompted urgent action. Russell Coutts has been waiting in the wings as backup helmsman. He was originally asked to be tactician, but turned down the job because he wanted to be skipper. Yesterday, his moment came. They hope Coutts' aggressive starting style will throw Italian skipper Paul Cayard. - Once the score was three to three, they made the decision to put Russell in and take myself off. It was quite devastating. I mean, the war is supposed to be on the outside, not on the inside. You know, honestly, I think, you go to replace somebody at the end, it's a big call. There's a lot of downsides and not much upsides. - A huge call, but they were on a losing streak. They felt they needed to take a risk. - It was a drastic call, with just days to go in the final. Should they have been thrown into the fire at the last minute? - I was nervous, but definitely excited by the challenge. I remember thinking, 'Oh, this is a great opportunity.' I thought we could win. - Coming up to the first mark, and there is absolutely nothing in this. Well, we knew Russell Coutts was going to be aggressive, and there's the sign of it. - We started the race well. We were winning. - NZL 20 is keeping the game tight, and they're trying to put the pressure on Il Moro. - These are the manoeuvres that could be a little bit tricky for Russell. He hasn't been racing the boat a lot. - But then made some mistakes, you know, further up the course. - The Italians have just found an incredible new lease of life, and you've gotta take your hat off to them. - We started to second guess ourselves and question various things. - The Kiwis round now. 1.13 behind. I was a little surprised, I'll have to admit, to see the speed at which the Italians went up that beat. - It probably showed a lack of experience, to be honest. Once they got ahead, it was pretty hard to beat them. - I think nothing short of a miracle is going to save us now. - I thought I'd be talking about a New Zealand victory at the start of the Louis Vuitton Cup. But Italy are doing the job. Coming from 1-4 down, they are now going to beat New Zealand. (SOLEMN STRINGS MUSIC) - We ended up losing the series 5-3. - I felt pretty deflated. You know, clearly, I didn't come out of that looking... and feeling particularly good. - It was a difficult time, so, yeah, I wouldn't say that Russell and I were the best of mates. - Five days ago at 4-1 up, the Kiwis were convinced they had it in the bag. None had pictured the Italians tonight claiming the Louis Vuitton trophy and the right to challenge for the America's Cup. - I think all of us learnt through that campaign that we really had to have the right chemistry of the team from the get-go. They were tough days, but there were some very, very valuable lessons. - It was absolutely gutting to lose again. And for Michael Fay, who'd had three goes at it, I think that was enough. * - David Tua. - O for oven. - O, a vowel. I'm sorry. No vowels. (BUZZER RINGS) - (GROANS) - The Oscar goes to Anna Paquin, The Piano. (PHONE RINGS) - It's Spot! - By '95, New Zealand was on the comeback trail really strongly. The money was beginning to come back into the economy. We felt more secure. The unemployment rate was coming down. We started actually trying to figure out what we were doing, where we were going, how we're going to do it. You know, the country had grown up a bit. We were beginning to actually really get a handle on the world. (SOFT ELECTRONIC MUSIC) - Sir Peter Blake announced that there will be a challenge in '95. He got a taste in '92, and he saw how difficult it is to win it, but he got the bug. - I don't think he ever really loved the America's Cup, but he did love winning. And that's why he went back, I think. - You know, he was probably one of the true visionaries of the day that actually could see the big picture. Quite a few of us were saying, 'Wow, how the hell are we going to put this together?' Peter Blake, I think he mortgaged his house and paid the entry fee. - What Peter Blake brought to the table was the ability to get to the corporates. You know, he's a big guy, good-looking. Sponsors loved him. - Right from the start, Blake was confident that he would get the money, Not as much money as what we'd had in the past, but enough money to put together a winning campaign. - It comes down to this guy here and his ability on the helm and his ability to focus on really what makes the boats go faster. - Coutts got named to be the skipper of the programme, which is fine. So I went off and sailed with the Australians on One Australia. - Russell Coutts got the nod ahead of Rod Davis because his backers say he's the best match racer and the best team man. - It doesn't come every day in your life, and it's a great day for me. I was really amazed that they were considering me again, you know, because we didn't finish the previous campaign well. You know, I thought I'd blown my chance. - Coutts, at that time, was hot property, and then it was a matter of the crew members that Russell wanted to bring on to the boat. - We needed to be much more connected with the technology of the programme. This was going to be a design collaboration. We tried to get Bruce Farr. We put it to him that we wanted to have a greater say in what the design was, and in some ways I think he probably took offence to that. He rejected us because we wanted it to be a design collaboration. (EXCITING MUSIC) Tom Schnackenberg was absolutely key because he had the knowledge to put all of the aspects of the design together. - Doug Peterson and Laurie Davidson will head up the New Zealand America's Cup design team. Despite having one of the lowest budgets of the competition, they are determined to come out firing with a bold new design. - Dougie and Laurie used to argue a fair bit, but that, of course, created this creative tension that was sort of all managed by Tom Schnackenberg, that the results ended up being really, really good. - New Zealand's famous for innovation, and when you're a bit short on budget, you're forced into being very creative. - We didn't have the money. We had to do it ourselves ` that number 8 fencing wire trick that they always talk about with New Zealand. And we did it well. - We felt we had to be bold because we didn't have the money to hedge our bets, you know, if you're pushing the boundaries, trying to find out where the limits were. I definitely knew it was a radical departure from what we'd had in the past, but I must admit, when I saw the boat in reality, even though I'd seen the boat many times on paper, it was a surprise to see just how radical it was. It was extremely narrow. Pretty scary, in a way, that it was that radical. And I did wonder at the time ` had we gone too far? Sailors are pretty superstitious about various things. And the christening of the boat is one of the things, you know, where you break the champagne over the bow. (CHEERING) But if the champagne bottle doesn't break, it's a bad omen. - VOICE ECHOES: I name this yacht Team New Zealand. May God bless her and all those who sail her. (APPLAUSE) (CLANG!) - When they were christening NZL 32, the champagne bottle didn't break, and it was horror, you know? (CHUCKLES) (SMASH! APPLAUSE) - It was a thrill to see the boat revealed. To see that it was black, what better sporting image could you have for New Zealand? - When our boat came out and looked so radical, there were quite a few people, journalists and so forth, that were quick to jump to, 'Well, this boat, you know, it looks like a bit of a dog.' OK, let's go. If the people want to believe it was a dog, then we felt ` let that attitude prevailed and even encourage it. - Who is our best bet to win the America's Cup? It's the Win New Zealand Team. Our skipper is Mr KZ 7 Kiwi Magic himself, Chris Dickson. He's hungry for it. Can we win it? You bet. - Chris Dickson in '95 put together a Tag Heuer challenge. He still had the America's Cup bug and the dream that he could win the America's Cup. Fremantle probably was still nagging away in the back of his head, what might have been. - We had Bruce Farr, world's number-one yacht designer, sitting on the sidelines We had a huge depth of New Zealand talent that wasn't part of Team New Zealand. - He put his own hand in his pocket and the family to make it happen. - My mum christened a Tag Heuer boat. In a time when you probably needed 25 or 30 million to have a competitive campaign, we did it for under $10 million. - The biggest competition for New Zealand in San Diego was the Australians. They had the resources and the funding, and they had two very good boats. - And they had great commercial backing. They had some of the key designers from the American team that had won previously. We definitely felt that the Australians were our top opposition, that's for sure. - We're about to go up against the best in the world. We have the ability to beat them all, the whole damn lot of them. It's going to get tough, mentally and physically. Taking that piece of silver back to New Zealand, with everything it's going to mean to New Zealand, is what they're after. - We always knew the Kiwis, they're going to come out with something good, and they did. (SOFT ELECTRONIC MUSIC) (GUN FIRES) - We were expecting to be pretty fast, but we were a lot faster than what we even expected to be. And we were racing in our second-fastest boat. - Team New Zealand look as though they're going to just march away with this. - So coming to the line, and a very easy victory. - The first time we sailed against New Zealand in the first round robin, they cleaned our clock. They absolutely slaughtered us. - The Australians were pretty shell-shocked, I think, and they were realising at that stage, 'Wow, these guys have got a real weapon here.' - Team New Zealand in the familiar position. As they have been at every mark in every race, they're in front. - Chemistry of the team was really strong. We just lived for this result and we worked together really, really well. - So a huge winning margin for Team New Zealand today. - ...black boat's made a splash off San Diego. - New Zealand held the edge throughout, and they took the gun for their 13th straight victory. - I think people had a sense of that real team spirit this time. - Team boss Peter Blake has joined the Kiwi crew. Till now, he's vowed to stay ashore, but he says skipper Russell Coutts wanted him aboard. - Blake, he was an amazing leader, but he wasn't there for his sailing talent. He would be the first to say that there were plenty of people that were better sailors than him. By being on the boat, he was connected with all of the decisions, the reasons why things were right and wrong. He was there, seeing it with his own eyes, every day. (LOW MUSIC) - The wind is now starting to pick up over 20 knots. I think that could mean problems with some of the boats. A mast has gone overboard. - In big trouble here. This is very dangerous. It's rough, rugged sailing, and the seas are getting bigger. - The forecast was big windy day. - There were fairly big waves, and it's a lot of things that can go wrong in the boat. The harder you push the boat in those conditions, the more likely you are to do damage. So we were very, very nervous about being out there on that particular day. - Dangerous work here in America's Cup racing. - The race committee said, 'You're out there,' and so out the teams went, and we lined up on this day against the Australians. They had lined up in the newer of their two boats. - I gave a talk before we left the dock, and I basically explained it's not a do or die race, and what we just have to do is make sure that we don't do something stupid and damage ourselves for the rest of the campaign, not knowing that (CHUCKLES) those words would haunt me later on. * - Now about halfway up leg number three. 18 knots, gusting 20, and the seas are getting bigger. This is becoming quite a tough test now. And Team New Zealand comfortably in front of One Australia. - We were, I dunno, 20 seconds behind Team New Zealand around the bottom mark, and we came off a wave. We've seen bigger ones and landed harder than that. But at the... soon after the landing, there was a big bang, like a massive bang. - Now, there seems a problem on One Australia. There is definitely a problem aboard One Australia. Their rigging has gone slack. Why? - We were ahead of them, and all of a sudden, wow, the Australians have stopped. (LOW MUSIC) - (CLICKS MOUTH) What the heck? what's going on? It's like a giant was just whipping a phone book really slowly. (CLICKS MOUTH) And the crack went down across the cockpit. Oh, this isn't good. Iain Murray, who is one of the designers and the engineers, was on the boat, and I asked Ian at that point... I said, 'Ian, you know, what's going to go on here? Do you think this boat might sink?' And he just never answered. He just jumped overboard and started swimming away. - The structure's given in. It's taking on water. The crew are jumping overboard. They've got to get clear of that rigging. They could be in real danger. They've got to get off fast. - I went off the back end and swam back to the Team New Zealand chase boat ` my ex-team. (LOW MUSIC) - The boat is being sucked into the Pacific. Look how quickly it's going down. The boat is just disappearing. They'll have to do a head count to make sure they've got all 17. - You know, I never saw it sink. I was swimming away from it when it sank. - When I saw that mast disappear, there was a stunned silence on board our boat. It went down so quickly that we were definitely thinking, 'Wow, hopefully there's no major injury or, you know, worst case, loss.' - They are doing a head count now. They're shouting out the names to make sure they've got them all. Someone working below on the boat could have been trapped. - Never seen anything like it in my life and probably never will. - The crew are safe. A tragedy has been avoided. - We were motoring in. That's where it all set in. We just sank a boat. We sank a boat. (SOLEMN STRINGS MUSIC) - I can't tell you why it broke in half or where it started to break, but the boat broke in half. - You don't know what happened? - Don't know. - Just went over a wave or what? - Not particularly. We went over a bad wave down the bottom and... - You hit a bad wave? - Anyway. - You hit a bad one down the bottom of the course? - Dunno. - You do push things to the limit, and it could have been any number of reasons for the failure of the Australian boat, but they obviously didn't have a boat that was strong enough. - It was a dangerous situation. The water out there is very cold, and the yacht was going down very quickly. - That night was a... come-to-Jesus meeting of 'OK, now what are we going to do?' So let's get the old boat out, and then we'll figure out what we're going to try to do from there. - So they took their old boat, really made some major modifications to it. In actual fact, they took a pretty significant jump forward. (SOFT ELECTRONIC MUSIC) - One Australia leading at the first mark, and they've held off a ferocious attack and challenge from Black Magic. - They came out, and they were definitely more competitive. They'd closed the gap significantly. - Four teams out of seven left ` Nippon, Team New Zealand, One Australia and Tag Heuer. - We made the semi-finals. And although we didn't have the money to do a lot of the things the other teams were doing, we still felt that we had enough to make it into the finals. - All was going to plan for Dickson's crew on the first beat. They had an edge over the Aussies and were sailing in their preferred light winds. - So as the regatta went on for Chris, the responsibility and the psychological aspects gets heavier and heavier. He's an autonomous manager. And when the heat's on, Chris is probably quite tough on the team. - Gear failure just after the start put Chris Dickson's men on the back foot. - It's not moving, guys. (BLEEP)! - Worse was to come when David Brooke was hit by the spinnaker pole. - David Brooke has taken a real whop to the head. - The crew rallied to stem the flow of blood, but Brooke was stoical. - How is he? - He's all right. - I'm still with ya. Still with ya, boys. - But despite the heroics, Dickson couldn't catch Team New Zealand, giving Russell Coutts his third win over the rival Kiwis. So that appears to have been the death knell for Dickson's final hopes. Only a major upset can now prevent the Aussies from taking that final spot ahead of him. - It's always disappointing to be eliminated. Bowing out early is not a good feeling. Team New Zealand, they had the legs on us as the regatta went on. They were a notch above, and hats off to them. We did a great job, and they did a better job. - Team New Zealand was winning pretty much non-stop, and then one day, Peter Blake is not on the boat. (LOW MUSIC) - Team New Zealand, (CHUCKLES) they're always tough customers, you know? So, you know you're in for a big fight when you go against 'em. - So here comes Team New Zealand now. They're on starboard. - They're late. This is terrible. - Team New Zealand do seem to be late. Definitely, so One Australia are looking in very good position at the moment. Too late, Team New Zealand, far too late. - So we ended up doing a poor job of the start, and they got in front of us and just kept a really tight cover on us. - The New Zealanders have got to get out of this fast. One Australia really in the commanding position. For the first time, the black boat is fighting from behind. (SUBDUED MUSIC) - You know, sort of on the back foot, and we couldn't get around. - And coming down to the line, One Australia get the gun and Team New Zealand are beaten on the water for the first time. - The Black Magic boats have lost only one race on the water and won 36 others. That record similar to KZ 7's back in 1987. In the past, Kiwi teams have fallen apart at this stage. But Kiwi supporters hope they won't choke when it counts. - All of a sudden, the Australians realised that they could actually win this. - You were missing the red socks? - The red socks, yeah, that's an issue that we are considering. And I think the Red Sox might make an appearance again tomorrow. Blake was superstitious. He wore these red socks every day. Of course, the day that we lost, the red socks weren't on board. - The Kiwi challenger is running short of cash. Then TVNZ hit on the idea of using Peter Blake's lucky red socks as a fundraiser, and New Zealanders ran with the idea. - Well, the fantastic thing about the red socks campaign is that it wasn't planned. - Take it down here. It is believed to be the biggest knitted red sock in the world ` 40m of sock, this is, Carrie. - Go, New Zealand! - The '95 campaign, it wasn't hugely well-funded like some of the other syndicates. Having a campaign where New Zealanders could buy red socks and contribute to the campaign was genius. - Made it a New Zealand team. The fact that big business, the key sponsors of the boat and the challenge got together with a broad mass of public in New Zealand who wore red socks. You know, they all worked as one and drove that boat as fast as it did, I think. It was certainly off the water, probably on as well. - Well, the New Zealand crew is fired up and humming now. Starting to sail on confidence. As they come down to really comprehensibly beat One Australia. - Team New Zealand it's just constantly sailing closer to the mark, getting there quicker. - Team New Zealand is just one win away from challenging for America's Cup '95. - Australia and New Zealand have been fierce competitors in this America's Cup campaign, but it's clear now New Zealand could finally win the Louis Vuitton Cup. - To win the America's Cup, first win the Louis Vuitton Cup. And that's what Team New Zealand has done! New Zealand is the 29th challenger for the America's Cup! - For New Zealand to win the Louis Vuitton Cup, it was the first time. It was a milestone. - We were thrilled at our performance to win that Louis Vuitton Cup. We did enjoy the moment, I think, but the big goal was to win the America's Cup. * (ROCK MUSIC) - In America's Cup finals, we were confident. But the previous New Zealand campaigns had all looked quite good and then somehow stumbled at the end, so there was... a realisation that we had a long way to go. - The atmosphere as we got to the final was just this building excitement and, um,... a little bit of fear. - Russell Coutts, Peter Blake and the crew took on all the other challengers and won their way through to the Louis Vuitton Cup finals. Their opponents, the famous Dennis Conner on a new boat, Young America. - So New Zealand, we're going to sail against Dennis Conner, the old enemy. And, of course, Conner had another enemy on board, or so-called, in Paul Cayard, who was a helmsman. - To race Dennis Conner and Paul Cayard, two of the names that have beaten New Zealand in the past, was the perfect scenario, in a way, you know ` want to compete against the best. - Conner approached us off camera at one stage today, and he seemed pretty chuffed about the fact that right now he's one of the most talked about men in New Zealand. But today, at least, Conner's doing all he can to win friends down under. - God loves New Zealand. - Dennis Conner taught us ` don't show all your cards at once. Keep some tricks up your sleeve, keep some goodies in the shed, and you can use them later on. (LOW, TENSE MUSIC) - Well, we had been not using what we knew was our best boat. We were really excited about bringing out a faster boat. What the opposition didn't know is how much faster it was. (EXCITING MUSIC) - The atmosphere out here is absolutely electric. - The support for Team New Zealand here on the waters off San Diego. - America's Cup finals, and there was a massive fleet of spectator boats, and, you know, you're obviously nervous, but we felt well-prepared. - Coming up to the start of race one of the 29th defence of the America's Cup. - Pressure time. - Young America looking good from where they are at the moment. - The moment we came off the starting line in the first race, they had the better start than us. - Team New Zealand behind. - To the first cross of America's Cup 95. So here goes New Zealand, going through the eye and attacking right in their face. - But we just absolutely were quite a lot faster, and more so than what I pictured we would be. It was a significant edge. - This is looking good. - They're starting to lift off, Young America. Look at the power of Team New Zealand. They've hit the elevator. - I do remember distinctly that day the boat came out, and it was so fast. - They blitzed it, absolutely blitzed it. The America's Cup community and the media were quite shocked. - This has been very, very good. - And Young America are a minute behind at least, and it's a sombre mood on board Team Stars and Stripes. Dennis Conner, hands on hips, full of despair, maybe. (DETERMINED MUSIC) - That was the most confident that any of us had ever been that New Zealand was at last going to get to win this thing. - It's almost as if all of the lessons from the past had come together, and we finally had created a winning combination, so, yeah, pretty satisfying. (CROWD CHEERS) - Team New Zealand is just destroying Young America. - ...in Dennis Conner's backyard, kicking sand in his face again. - ...winning this race today, 4-0 up, Team New Zealand. - That final would have to have been the most-watched programme ever in New Zealand. 92% of the country sat down and watched that final. I was glued to it on television, no doubt about that. And it just shows you how New Zealanders had bought in in such a huge way into the America's Cup. - Team Stars and Stripes continue to play 'follow the leader'. - Who would have thought the Americans would have been given this stumping? - Young America have blown a halyard. Right now, this is very good for the Team New Zealand. - Whoa! And Dennis Conner grinding. - RUSSELL: We just kept pushing right to the end. Putting the nail in the coffin here. - We didn't feel sorry for anyone. If we could beat them badly, then we would beat them badly. - Black Magic is about to sail to an unprecedented 5-0 win. The America's Cup is now New Zealand's cup! And for only the second time in 144 years, international sports' oldest prize leaves the United States, this time to a different down under, New Zealand! (CHEERING) Joy and delight for Peter Blake, Russell Coutts and the team. - It was just pure joy. Yeah, it was fun times. - The journey had started in Fremantle. The disappointments through the campaigns had been gutting, and so a huge amount of relief and pride by winning in San Diego in '95. - Go, Russell, go. (CHUCKLES) - Team Stars and Stripes sail alone across the finish line. - DENNIS: I'm proud of you. Never quit. - And they are 5-0 losers. - Thank you! - Dennis Conner rises as to the winners and farewells the America's Cup again. - He got his comeuppance, and Peter Blake and the boys gave it to him, and New Zealanders just loved that. - It was, I guess, justice for New Zealand, that finally we could beat him. - Standing proud, but beaten ` gracious loser, there, Dennis Conner. The Kiwis were too good. - New Zealand, little old New Zealand, I think that no one thought would get anywhere, has just won the America's Cup. It's only the second time in history that it's left America. I think that's pretty damn good. - It's a marvellous atmosphere out here, like we've never experienced before. This really is a once in a lifetime. - RUSSELL: Being towed in, there was a big celebration as we were going into the harbour, people on boats, waving New Zealand flags. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - I've never seen you smile so much, Russell. Congratulations, the America's Cup. (CHEERING) - The moment when you first see the cup was monumental, really. It was just pure joy. It was all just like a whirlwind. - Watching Black Magic finally win for New Zealand was so rewarding. Oh God. (CHUCKLES) Those guys had worked so hard for so long and so desperately wanted it and deserved it. - There it goes, an unexpected dunking for Russell Coutts. And will he pull hard on Peter Blake? Paul Cayard lends a hand! (CHUCKLES) - I'd rather it was my Kiwi team bringing that America's Cup back to New Zealand, but thank God it's coming back. (APPLAUSE) - It is just a seething, massive, tumultuous sea of people. - It was just huge, and it really brought it home how much the cup meant to people here, what joy it just gave people and the support and the aroha. - Oh, it was probably the biggest moment in New Zealand sport. It gave us a sense of identity. It gave us a sense of success. It gave us a sense of achievement. - It was pretty incredible, the crowds that were lining the streets. Everyone was massively surprised, including Blake, that there was that support for the team back here. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - New Zealand, home of the America's Cup. Thank you. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) (GENTLE MUSIC)