KEY POINTS:
It has taken time for the national pulse to stir. Valencia's fitful wind and Team New Zealand's stuttering early shots were not the stuff to stimulate interest in the America's Cup challengers series. Nor, in a more fundamental sense, were the scars remaining from the ignominious loss of the trophy on the Hauraki Gulf four years ago.
But now there is growing evidence of the excitement New Zealanders have associated with this event since KZ7 started making waves off Fremantle 20 years ago. With mastery over Desafio Espanol finally confirmed, people are talking again of the America's Cup, and Team New Zealand's prospects against Luna Rossa in the final of the Louis Vuitton Cup.
Victory against the Italians in the best-of-nine series beginning on June 1, and the right to challenge the holder, Alinghi, is far from assured.
If New Zealanders have learned one thing about the America's Cup, it is not to take anything for granted. The demise of Oracle at the hands of Luna Rossa in the semifinals merely reinforced the unpredictability of the contest.
Oracle, with a $220 million budget - the biggest among the fleet of challengers - had been strongly favoured to qualify for the Louis Vuitton final.
On that basis, some might consider that even if Team New Zealand progress no further, they have achieved an acceptable result. Such an assessment would recognise the giant steps taken by managing director Grant Dalton to repair an utterly demoralised unit. It is worth recalling that after the loss to Alinghi in 2003, most New Zealanders opposed Government spending on a challenge to reclaim the cup.
Later, some derision greeted Team New Zealand's success in pre-cup regattas. Fears of further embarrassment off Valencia held sway. Such worries have evaporated. They have been replaced by a breeze of optimism which suggests that, for many people, only a tilt at Alinghi will be acceptable. Revenge in the shortest possible order no longer seems such a hopeless dream.
That, in itself, speaks volumes for the performance of Dalton and skipper Dean Barker.
Speculation about the cup returning to Auckland is premature. Luna Rossa have to be beaten before the Swiss syndicate can be contemplated. That will not be easy. The Italians did not so much defeat Oracle as blitz them, leading the Americans at every mark in all six races.
Australian helmsman James Spithill has become the star turn on a boat that may be stronger in its tactical nous and teamwork than its speed in the water.
But it is tempting to think that Team New Zealand, having beaten Luna Rossa six times out of nine over the past three years, are less daunted by the prospect of racing them than were the Chris Dickson-led Oracle.
Team members of the ultimate foe, Alinghi, many of whom are New Zealanders, have been happy to talk their yacht up, reckoning it to be half a generation superior to the boats in the challenger fleet.
Some commentators have bought into this, and predict an easy victory for the holder when the cup is decided between June 23 and July 4. But similar forecasts were made about a supposedly revolutionary Team New Zealand boat in 2003. It is easy to forget that while the defender must prepare essentially in a vacuum, the challenger enters the contest race-hardened.
Team NZ have got steadily stronger as the challenger series has progressed. So have Luna Rossa. Alinghi's status remains largely guesswork until the first of the cup races is sailed.
The scene is now set for an encounter that will rekindle this country's passion for the America's Cup. It is good to have it back.
