"Pretty relaxed": Why spirits are high for Team NZ ahead of America's Cup defence

Two Kiwis, two Brits and the America’s Cup walk into a room, it’s not even slightly funny, but Emirates Team New Zealand skipper and helmsman Peter Burling still will find a couple of reasons to let his patented chuckle escape during the course of this final press conference.

The Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup is one sleep away for those in Barcelona (Sunday 1am NZT) and for this version of Team NZ and the blossoming INEOS Britannia, their long and expensive journey to this point will be defined on the waters of Barcelona.

To the credit of Sir Ben Ainslie and Dylan Fletcher, the men charged with steering the British challenge, they really do seem comfortable in their narrative they are underdogs and it’s a superb achievement to earn the right to challenge the Kiwi juggernaut.

“As sailors, we love to race, so the more opportunities we get to race, the better, but in terms of who's got the advantage, I would say for sure Team New Zealand. Being able to take three weeks to look at the configuration of their boat to get the data of the competing boat," Ainslie said.

“So, there's one team here who really knows the line-up of the competition. It's Team New Zealand. It's not us. So, yeah, that's what we're up against.”

For Peter Burling and Nathan Outteridge, the chance for their outfit to become a sporting dynasty is tantalisingly close. No team has won three straight America’s Cups in the modern era, and since a 26-year old Burling wrestled The Auld Mug back for New Zealand in 2017, he hasn’t looked like handing it back.

When the first-to-seven match begins it will have been 40 days since Taihoro (the New Zealand flying machine) last faced race conditions, but defying any thought of race rust, Burling oozed confidence when speaking about his boat.

“It will definitely be quicker than when they last saw us, but I'm sure Ben and Team INEOS will be exactly the same, they'll be quicker than when we last saw them.”

“The Americas Cup I think very famously is a race to win the last race, one of the few sporting events where you have to win the last race to actually win it and our team knows that all too well and we're just looking forward to continuing to develop right to the end.”

It’s no secret the modern America’s Cup with the beastly foiling monohull AC75s are incredibly dependent on technology while pushing the boundaries of what is possible on water.

It means decision making with the setup of the boats can be race defining, a point which ETNZ co-helm Nathan Outteridge hammered home.

“That final 10, 15 minutes before the start is when the weather team works really hard to try and predict what you're going to have for the 20 minutes or so of the race and make sure you get the right sail up and nail that one.”

“So, yeah, we're pretty relaxed about it right now. But wait till 15 minutes before the start, there'll be a lot of numbers being crunched, a lot of people trying to decide what is the correct sail to use.”

With weather permitting and ideally winds befitting of a final, the suspenseful build up will all come to an end tomorrow as the two powerful nautical nations sail their prized science projects into the pre-start.

For all of the words, confident and humble and for the chuckles and wry smiles, there will equally be critical equipment decisions and the highest of pressure maneuvers.

The sailing will ultimately do the talking that matters and the prized Auld Mug will belong to the crew who best handles the unparalleled sailing gauntlet of The America’s Cup.

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