As Emirates Team New Zealand prepared for two weeks of
intense racing, the team’s greatest supporter Matteo de Nora slipped into Auckland.
Matteo is the team’s quiet man. He is a
businessman with interests in many countries; yet to him New Zealand is a very special place and Emirates
Team New Zealand is a very special team. He
has been involved with the team since Grant Dalton took over in 2003.
Matteo, who has raced offshore power boats and cars and
sailed around the world several times, rarely goes yacht racing. With the team,
he’s content to take part in training and planning and sail occasionally as 18th
man although he did sail a couple of races last year on the team’s TP52.
He’s happy to be in the background in public and with the
team he shares the highs and the lows that are experienced by all sports teams
competing at a top international level.
Without his help, the team’s struggle to stay viable during
the legal wrangle over the America’s
Cup would have been much more difficult, if not impossible.
In fact, apart from the litigants Alinghi and BMW Oracle
Racing, Emirates Team New Zealand is the only team from the 2007 America’s Cup
to survive intact.
Matteo, along with the team’s very loyal sponsor family and
more than 100 team suppliers, ensured that the team would not only stay
together but ready to mount a credible challenge when details of the 34th
America’s
Cup are announced.
When the team is racing he’s never far away. More often than
not, he’s right there on the water in a chase boat for a close-up view of the
action.
He attends each morning’s team briefing, sitting
unobtrusively on the floor along with boat builders, sailors, administrators
and sail makers.
At other times the team leans on Matteo for his business and
technical expertise. His influence is immense.