Every good race needs an avid audience of dedicated fans to spur the competitors along and the 36th America’s Cup, which starts today, is no exception.
But current protocols are a far cry from the event’s rarefied and remote origins in Britain. For most of the cup’s history, the race was sailed on offshore courses away from the viewing public, under the auspices of elite yacht clubs.
Times have changed. Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton specifically sited the opportunity of racing in the enclosed waters of Auckland’s Waitematā Harbour as a way to maximise the public’s ability to view the event from land.
A year ago, who could have even imagined 2020 would turn out the way it did? A pandemic, closed borders, lockdowns, economic crisis, a delayed election … but here we are at the end of a year like no other.
So, if New Zealand were to receive a report card for its performance in the year of COVID-19, measured against members of the global community, how might that look?
On the pandemic
We take gold at being the best in the world at confronting the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Foreign Policy publication.
Global business leaders agree, report The Guardian and others, citing a Bloomberg Media survey that looked at a number of factors including political stability, the economic recovery, virus control and social resilience.