America’s Cup 2021 has a master, he is New Zealander Grant Dalton

He is the owner of Emirates Team New Zealand, the America’s Cup holder. Luna Rossa’s next opponent in the finals starting March 6. Grant Dalton, 64, rules the New Zealand boat with an iron fist as he defends the victory he achieved in 2017 when he also won thanks to an innovative pedal-powered energy charging system, an idea passed to him by the Luna Rossa team.

Patrizio Bertelli, 75, the Luna Rossa boss, has had excellent relations with the New Zealand team to date. But now that the going gets tough and Italians and Kiwis are competing for the America’s Cup, relations are not what they used to be. Of course.

Bertelli himself states this in a recent interview, “We helped them in Bermuda, we agreed on AC75s, we sponsored the Prada Cup . What more do they want? It all seems a bit exaggerated to me, excessive. When the leader of the Kiwis was Tom Schnackenberg he used to come and eat spaghetti at our base. Everything is more difficult with Grant Dalton“.

It’s been since last October that, as has always been the case since 1851 in the America’s Cup, the challenger of record (the one in charge of all challengers) Luna Rossa and the defender (those defending the Cup) Team New Zealand, have been at each other’s throats.

They argued about race courses, Prada Cup rules, and constant prodding. Grant Dalton tries everything in anticipation of the final confrontation to put the Italians in trouble.

THE “BAD GUY” GRANT DALTON

Dalton is famous for always being a sportsman who uses all possible weapons, including verbal ones, to get to his one goal: winning. And in his long sailing career, which began when he was 8 years old, he has brought home many winning battles at sea. His resume includes seven round-the-world sailing appearances as well as a 2017 America’s Cup victory over the Americans of Oracle in Bermuda.

Few people know that Dalton is also a great motorcycle enthusiast. At 57, he participated in the most dangerous motorcycle race, the Manx Grand Prix held annually in late August and early September on the Isle of Man, England. On a 60-kilometer circuit with four total laps. His comment after arrival was, “‘I’ve done seven laps around the world and a few America’s Cups, but this is the most extreme thing I’ve ever done.'”

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