Dubai: Emirates Team New Zealand Managing Director Grant Dalton has refused to get embroiled in a verbal spat with former teammate and fellow Kiwi Brad Butterworth.
"It's a shame really that he [Butterworth] has something not so nice to say after such a hugely successful America's Cup," Dalton told Gulf News from Valencia.
"This was the closest America's Cup for a long time and Alinghi beat us fair and square, and I was the first one to acknowledge this."
Alinghi's tactician and skipper Butterworth had launched a blistering attack on Dalton in The Daily Telegraph accusing the legendary Kiwi of "limiting the potential" and running Emirates Team New Zealand in "an autocratic fashion".
Butterworth further stated that in contrast, Alinghi had always strived "to be smarter and not tougher".
Butterworth, who defected to Alinghi along with another Kiwi legend Russell Coutts following Team New Zealand's wins in 1995 and 2000 claimed that at Alinghi they had managed to carry forward the ethos of sailing on an open forum where the experience sailors shared their knowledge and the younger members were encouraged to develop.
Dalton stuck to his guns that he has a superb set of sailors at Emirates Team New Zealand. He also insisted that he held Alinghi and its crew in high regard.
'Superb team'
"Team New Zealand is a superb team and we hold Alinghi in the highest regard. They were the standard that we had to match up to. We tried our best and came very close, but at the end of it, they beat us fair and square," Dalton said.
"Now, I see no benefit in some personality clash."
Dalton will be in Dubai shortly for talks with Emirates airline in carrying forward their sponsorship of the team for the next America's Cup.
"We've had such a fantastic relationship with all at Emirates Airline over the past three years. We have benefitted from their support, and I assume Emirates have got something too," Dalton told Gulf News from Valencia.
Team New Zealand nearly ditched their efforts to challenge Alinghi after their dismal 5-0 loss to the Swiss syndicate led by Ernesto Bertarelli in 2003. But Bertarelli himself offered the Kiwis a $10 million loan even as Dalton toured the world urging sponsors to step in and help the Kiwis set up a challenge for the just concluded 2007 America's Cup.
Emirates Team New Zealand officially announced a challenge for the America's Cup on June 14, 2003 with Emirates as the naming rights sponsor. At that time, Toyota New Zealand a long-time supporter of New Zealand America's Cup teams, announced that it would be on board for the fifth time.
New Zealand with a population of 4 million, had neither the financial nor people resources to launch a credible America's Cup challenge against the resources of the billionaire campaigns.
'Ideal sponsor'
"Emirates have been an ideal sponsor and we could not have asked more from them. They have been simply brilliant. They have supported us from the word go and they have shown a keen interest in our progress through the challenge," Dalton said.
Emirates airline's sponsorship to Team New Zealand coincided with their first flight to Auckland in 2003.
The New Zealand Government has been one of first to assure the team that they are willing to back Team New Zealand for the next edition - to be held sometime after 2009. "The Government has pledged us an amount and we are committed to going forward as a challenger for the next America's Cup," Dalton said.
The New Zealand Government had also supported their campaign with a $NZ33.75 million investment. The previous two editions reportedly brought in an estimated $NZ1 billion.
