16 Dec 2016

Five times winner joins Team NZ

3:43 pm on 16 December 2016

Team New Zealand have bolstered their ranks by signing five-times America's Cup winner, Murray Jones, to help guide them to next year's event.

Murray Jones.

Murray Jones. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Jones, who won the Auld Mug with Team New Zealand in 1995 and 2000 was identified by Team New Zealand as one of the key figures behind Oracle Team USA's comeback victory in 2013 because of his understanding of what makes both a boat and team work to its optimum.

An America's Cup Hall of Famer, Jones is excited to be back with the team he first won the America's Cup with early in his sailing career.

"It's great to be back, it has been a long time since I was part of this team. I have a lot of friends in the team and a lot of people that I have respected over the years and obviously a really great sailing and design team."

Jones says he was initially keen to stay uninvolved but he was convinced to join the team.

"Up until now, I had stepped out of the cup this time around. But as the teams progressed in their campaigns I obviously started to get a bit more interested in what is going on and missing it a little bit and coincidentally Glenn Ashby called up and asked me if I was interested in helping out so he talked me into it."

Sailing team director Glenn Ashby said having someone of Jones' calibre and experience would be a huge asset going into the vitally important final six to seven months of the campaign.

"Already some big decisions have been made, certainly there are a few more ahead but we are coming to the stage of the campaign where refinement and focus on the final push for the cup in 2017 are most important, and coming in at this stage Murray can provide a fresh perspective on progress and knows better than most where priorities should lie from here."

-RNZ