Normally a yacht club AGM comes and goes with a few changes like flag officers, maybe a constitution change, and ongoing chats about what the annual subscription fees will be. But the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron AGM is one that was on everyones radar, because a guy named Mark Dunphy was always going to drop his 2 cents, and offers of millions, to the listening crowd of financial members.

We all know the name Mark Dunphy. He’s attempted to fund Emirates Team New Zealand on their quest to defend the Auld Mug at the 37th America’s Cup, but the team, and Grant Dalton, firmly shut the door on the offer, and the deal.

And then former Team New Zealand director Jim Farmer QC lodged a petition, with the support of some RNZYS members, “that the America’s Cup be defended in the waters adjacent to the City of Auckland”. Mr Farmer’s petition saw RNZYS call for a Special General Meeting to address his concerns, but just a few days ago, that meeting was withdrawn. Meanwhile, Mr. Dunphy pushes on, emailing members of the RNZYS with his plans.

On the 8th December he stated that it seems “increasingly obvious that the current leadership of the Squadron are unwilling to make any effort to hold the next America’s Cup Defence in 2024 here in Auckland. This is despite sufficient funding clearly being available in New Zealand to host the Cup.”

Some of the Live Sail Die crew are members of RNZYS and know first hand that the club wants nothing more than to have the 37th America’s Cup held in Auckland. They understand the economic impact that the event has on the city of sails – so for Mr. Dunphy to think that they are unwilling to make any effort just seems like a stretch to far.

So we sat down and spoke with Commodore Aaron Young, who at the end of the day is just a yachtie like the rest of us, to fill you all in on what really happened at the RNZYS AGM. Take a listen to our latest podcast as we chat about the money, the venue, the teams and just sailing in general.