Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

In 2013, I was living in the U.S and charged with covering most of North America as a reporter for TVNZ. I remember ringing my manager early in the year and asking about our plans for the San Francisco America’s Cup.“No one really cares about the America’s Cup.” She said. “If it was here in New Zealand, maybe we’d do a bit more. We’ll have one reporter in San Francisco but that’ll be more than enough.”To be fair, my manager at the time was from overseas and had only been living in New Zealand for a year or two. Subsequently, I felt obliged to push back a little bit.“Ummm…” I said. “I think you’re underestimating what this competition means for New Zealanders. “I get it… sailing’s a bit off-Broadway. But there’s something about this competition in particular that Kiwis just LOVE. Between events, sure everyone’s a bit ambivalent. Some of us moan about the court battles and the politics. But just wait! Just wait. When the America’s Cup rolls around, every New Zealander is suddenly a match-racing, hydro-foiling,