Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

It was December 17th that we first saw the America’s Cup AC75s racing in anger. Three months to the day from the first race on the Hauraki Gulf, to the race in which Emirates Team New Zealand tied up the Auld Mug.I’ve been in the viaduct for almost every single race day over those three months. So, while the powers-that-be squabble over where to host the next competition, these are my Good and Bads from the 36th America’s Cup. Let’s start with the bads: -It really hurt not having foreign tourists in Auckland for the competition. It obviously affected retailers and hospitality. Over three months, I had a lot of lunch breaks at the fantastic Pantry Cafe at the gleaming new Park Hyatt hotel (I Highly recommend the portuguese custard tarts). It’s maybe the closest cafe to the Team NZ base. But until the last few days of the cup, it didn’t come close to being full. And more than the economic side of things, no foreign visitors hurt the atmosphere of the America’s Cup. Nothing against Kiwis but we generally aren’t