Grant Dalton

Grant Stanley Dalton OBE (born 1 July 1957) is a New Zealand sailor who has competed in five Whitbread Round the World Races and currently manages Team New Zealand.

Dalton is a professional sailor who started sailing at the age 8 in the P Class and soon started racing as a member of Maraetai Sailing Club. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1995 New Year Honours, for services to yachting.^[1] He was shortlisted in 2001 by the International Sailing Federation for the ISAF World Sailor of the Year Awards.

His other passion away from sailing is motor racing; as an avid F1 fan and with life with Emirates Team New Zealand more settled than a round-the-world campaign, he can now race on the New Zealand motor racing circuit.

Grant Dalton has raced around the world seven times; the first five as part of the Whitbread Round the World Race later to be called the Volvo Ocean Race. This race has evolved through this time from a race of adventurers to a grand prix yachting event. Dalton has participated in the following major events:

• 1981–82 Whitbread in Flyer II
• 1983 Southern Cross Cup
• 1985 Admiral's Cup
• 1985–86 Whitbread in Lion New Zealand
• 1987 Admiral's Cup
• 1989–90 Whitbread in Fisher & Paykel a Maxi Ketch designed by Farr Yacht Design
• 1991 Fastnet
• 1993–94 New Zealand Endeavour
• 1997–98 Merit Cup – Volvo Ocean 60
• 2001–02 Amer Sports One – Volvo Ocean 60 designed by German Frers

He then skippered and won The Race, a sprint around the world on maxi catamaran Club Med. The race started on 1 January 2001 and finished on 3 March. Club Med broke several records along the way including the distance sailed in 24 hours (656 nautical miles) and the fastest circumnavigation (62 days and 7 hours).

He was called in to restructure and revitalise Team New Zealand after its loss of the America's Cup in February 2003.^{[citation needed]}

• 2017 35th America's Cup Team New Zealand CEO Winning Team
• 2021 36th America's Cup Team New Zealand CEO Winning Team
• 2024 37th America's Cup Team New Zealand CEO Winning Team

In 2014, at 57 years old, Grant entered the Manx Grand Prix as a newcomer, and also the F1 Classic TT, saying 'I’ve done seven laps around the world and a few America's Cups, but this is the most extreme thing I’ve ever done.'^[2]

Dalton's 2014 Classic TT could perhaps best be described as a baptism of fire, given his lack of relevant experience; his best lap in qualifying in 2014 on his F1 Suzuki was 87.799 mph^[3] and he did not finish the Classic F1 TT, which was won by fellow Kiwi Bruce Anstey at a race average speed of 121.597 mph, but he was back in 2015 and this time qualified for the F1 TT with a lap of 100.047 mph.^[4] He gained a coveted finishers medal for the 2015 Classic F1 TT, with an overall race average speed for the four laps, which includes the time spent stationary in the pits for a gravity-fed refuelling stop, of 97.047 mph.^[5]

• Grant Dalton at World Sailing
• ISAF World Sailor Microsite
• Team New Zealand Website