America's Cup 'vultures' circling to sign up Team New Zealand talent
America's Cup challengers eager to sign up talent from Team New Zealand
Team New Zealand's design and sailing team are under siege from rival challengers keen to snap up their expertise before the next America's Cup, syndicate head Grant Dalton has said.
New Zealand were beaten by defenders Oracle Team USA, backed by software billionaire Larry Ellison, in a winner-takes-all final race on San Francisco Bay last week and the future of the syndicate has come under scrutiny.
Team New Zealand's campaign, put in excess of NZ$120 million (HK$637 million) was partially funded by a federal government injection of NZ$36 million, and politicians have wavered about committing more cash from the public purse.
"Really the priority is the guys and securing the guys because it's just a cycle of the America's Cup and the poachers are out hard," Dalton said hen he returned to New Zealand from San Francisco yesterday.
"There's plenty of billionaires out there that would like to strip us bare quickly.
"We've really got to hold onto the guys, then all of us can plan our own futures. But you've got to hold the guys if there's any chance of keeping the team together.
"So that's a priority. Once that's done, we then think about the next step."