We love highlighting Shore people doing interesting things. We reckon it doesn’t get much better than the past few months of Northcote resident Ian Darby’s life. Ian and his wife Kate – stalwarts of the Wakatere Boating Club – spent three months in the sun in Barcelona. Ian was the skipper of the Emirates Team New Zealand chase boat – one of seven hydrogen-powered boats supporting the teams at the 37th America's Cup that took place in the iconic Spanish city. Channel Mag’s Aidan Bennett caught up with Ian when he returned from his adventure in early November.
Aidan Bennett: What a fantastic adventure Ian. How did you end up getting the gig in Barcelona?
Ian Darby: I was working with Americas Cup Event Limited (ACE), the organisation that was responsible for running all associated America’s Cup events in Barcelona. These included the Louis Vuitton preliminary regatta and challenger series, Puig Women’s America’s Cup and the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup.
ACE activities included hospitality, race management, on-water operations, security, media operations, sponsorship, marketing, communications and safety for all events.
A good friend was already working for ACE from previous events and asked me if I would be interested in getting involved, as they needed someone with a technical background. Of course, I jumped at such an opportunity, and the rest is history.
Tell us about the boat. We could see them during the coverage, they looked to be sleek and quick machines, and we understand powered by hydrogen. What were they like to skipper?
The boats were brand new and constructed in China by an Australian boat-building company. They were modelled on the prototype hydrogen chase boat called ‘Chase Zero’ designed and built by Emirates Team New Zealand back in 2022. These new boats are 13 metres in length and weigh five tonnes. They were designed to take VIP guests out to follow the racing yachts around the course during racing and had to go 50 knots (92km/h) to keep up with the racing yachts.
Each boat contained up to 34kg of hydrogen gas (stored at up to 350 bar) within four tanks that powered the Toyota fuel cells in each hull of the boat. Each fuel cell could in turn provide up to 80kW of electricity to power the boat's high-voltage batteries and electric motors. The boats had a range of up to five hours at a cruising speed of 30 knots once full of hydrogen.
The boats are very different to drive compared to a normal power boat of a similar size, as they are not very manoeuvrable due to the large foils beneath the boats. The confused sea state most days in Barcelona made foiling quite difficult at times.
Understanding the systems and sensors on the boat was important, so it was invaluable to be involved during the commissioning phase alongside the technical experts, to ensure we could interpret any alarms if they occurred.
On face value, this gig looks like a holiday adventure, but I have heard it was pretty full-on work?
Yes, I worked 66 days out of 80 while I was in Barcelona. The first month we spent a lot of time getting all the boats' systems running reliably and from then on there was always an event happening involving guests or when no racing was on, we still had maintenance to do on the boats.
Tell us what a typical race day involved for Ian Darby, chase boat skipper?
The day started with a coffee and croissant meeting at 0730 at our local café to catch up on weather updates of what was happening for the day ahead. We’d then travel to the commercial dock to refuel with hydrogen gas.
Once there we would check all the boat's systems were running correctly and make any adjustments or repairs required to ensure the boat was ready to pick up guests for the afternoon racing.
We would then depart dock with TV crew to film waka and Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) boat dock-out ceremony each morning. Then we would return TV crew to the dock, ensure radio, race management tablet and tracker were on board, as well as drinks and snacks for our guests.
The boat needed to be in pristine condition, so most days the windows were cleaned and decks washed before departure began.
We would pick up guests from Port Olimpic (a 15-minute journey from our dock at Port Vell). We'd take the guests out onto the racecourse and follow the race yachts around the course until the conclusion of racing. Then drop guests back to Port Olimpic hospitality dock and return to Port Vell, wash the boat down and complete all daily post-motoring checks and maintenance schedule. Then, return radio, tablet and tracker for overnight charging. Then lastly, ensure boat secured overnight and follow up with technical team for any issues if required.
Who were the most famous people that you had on the boat?
My personal favourite was Scott Dixon, as I am a big fan of his and have followed Indy car racing for many years. I also had Spanish Government ministers, members of the Spanish royal family, Sir Stephen and Lady Margaret Tindall and many other VIP sponsors.
For the last America's Cup race, I had onboard Bernard Arnault (CEO of LVMH) and Pietro Beccari (CEO of Louis Vuitton), and their wives.
This must have been a great adventure. What were the highlights?
All the amazing people I met were the highlight for me. I had an amazing team around me, and everyone was so helpful and supportive. Also, the number of Kiwis that turned up during the Cup was incredible. Seeing hundreds of Kiwis cheering each day during the ETNZ dock-outs and dock-ins was superb.
You were obviously close to the action. Why do you think Emirates Team New Zealand won so convincingly?
To win any yacht race requires a fast, reliable boat that is sailed well. I think ETNZ ticked all these boxes during this regatta. The ingenuity and level of attention and detail that goes into everything that ETNZ does is incredible to witness first-hand and that is why they are such a successful team.
Was the after-party huge or did you just go home early?
The Saturday that we won was such a great day. Every Kiwi in Barcelona was buzzing, and all the waterfront bars and restaurants were full of happy Kiwis. I went out with my wife Kate, friends and work colleagues to celebrate and we ended up cycling home up Las Ramblas around 2am after a fun and entertaining evening.
Was Barcelona a good venue?
Barcelona was exceptional! It is a beautiful city with so much culture, history and heritage to see. All the locals were warm and welcoming and really turned on an amazing event. Being so central in Europe also made it very accessible to many boats and people to visit. Kate and I loved living in the city and were sad to leave.
How likely do you think we will see the next event back in Auckland where it belongs?
Good question, but I really don’t know. Personally, I would love to see it back here again, but I know it takes a lot of collaborative effort and money to ensure a successful event, so I really hope the “stars align” to make it happen in future…
