Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Team New Zealand will challenge for the America's Cup at the next regatta in the United States in 2017.
Enough private sponsorship had been secured to make possible TNZ's participation in the 35th Cup, team chairman Keith Turner said in a statement on Wednesday.
The announcement came little more than a week after TNZ general manager Grant Dalton warned the syndicate might close by the end of this month unless it received New Zealand government funding.
The government, which provided $36 million in taxpayer funding to the team's last campaign, refused to inject more until all sponsorship options were pursued.
New Zealand lost to Oracle Team USA in the 2013 final in extraordinary circumstances, 9-8 after leading 8-1.
"The team has been working towards this moment almost since the day of the last race in San Francisco," Dalton said. "The funding support for the team that has coalesced over the past week means we can continue the design and engineering development, and keep racing, until main sponsorship funds begin to flow.
"To avoid falling behind the opposition, our design and engineering team has been working on the software tools they will need for the challenge."
Entries for the 35th Cup, which continues an event first contested in 1856, close on Aug. 8.
New Zealand last held the Cup in 2003.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
