The next America's Cup is slowly starting to take shape, although the biggest piece of the puzzle remains unsolved.
On Friday, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and the Defender provided a snippet of the much-anticipated protocol, confirming plans for a new class of boat to be raced in a women's and youth America's Cup regattas.
But with just seven days to go until the host venue is confirmed, there's still no signed agreement in place.
"We haven't decided which [host] it will be yet," Dalton tells Newshub.
"But we will be happy when we make that decision, yes."
The 37th edition of the America’s Cup has gone to an international bidding process, after Team New Zealand, the NZ Government and Auckland City failed to agree to terms for the next regatta.
Ireland's Cork and Valencia in Spain are believed to be two of the current frontrunners.
Dalton was giving nothing away ahead of next week's host announcement but was happy to confirm it will be a multi challenger event, there will be no one-on-one duel.
"That was a bit of an urban myth... we thought it was time to put that one to bed," he notes.
And with the AC75 locked in for the next two America's Cup, the event is looking to the future by introducing a new boat class - the AC40 - primarily to power the next generation.
The boat is essentially a dynamic, scaled down version of the one used in Team New Zealand's defence of the Auld Mug earlier this year.
"After the last cup we decided we needed a feeder and to address the diversity and youth element of our sport," he says. "So, this boat and the regattas and racing will hopefully plug the gap.
"It's basically just a baby sister of an AC75, but because of its power to rate ratio it goes just as fast."
All competing teams must purchase at least one AC40 to be used in build up events, and then made available for the Women’s and Youth America's Cup regattas.
"We want to breed the next generation and keep our eye on the best talent. We are reinventing ourselves."
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