KEY POINTS:
Here is an earlier selection of Your Views:
valenciasailor
Sure - ETNZ still can win. They will do, if they do better than Alinghi. Over in Europe, we want the best to win and we hope the best team is Alinghi. One thing about NZ sailors being the best: That's probably a true statement. However, ETNZ do not sail a yacht designed by NZ nationals and not use sails designed and manufactured in NZ etc etc. What does this say? It says it doesn't matter were you are from and one should not use this argument to dismiss i.e. the Swiss "who have no clout" about sailing or anyone else's performance in which ever sense this has been given, including putting the necessary money on the table to get the best together.
Chris K
If that Brad Butterworth ever comes around here I'll smash his face in.
Carmen (Madrid, Spain)
Team New Zealand can win. Don't give up.
Neil (Knoxville, TN)
We often see a final scoreline in sport that is not representative of the game that was played. If ETNZ don't win tomorrow, the history books will record a 5-2 result, which would not be a true reflection of the closeness of this AC. Even if ETNZ is not overall better than Alinghi in the end, I really hope ETNZ can win one more race (at least) so that history will remember this great battle more accurately: a final 5-4 either way would be great, but even if we come up a bit shorter than that, 5-3 would remember this contest much better than 5-2. Go K1W1s! Just one more win (for now).
Chris (Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
Yes of course ETNZ can still win the AC!Will they? Only time will tell but the fact is that nothing is a sure thing for either team in this series. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool. People who slag individual team members are cheap and ignorant. This is a team event and no single individual is responsible for a victory or a defeat. Adversity is part of sport and the greatest sporting moments arise from victory in the face of defeat. There is only one rule that matters in sport and in life - Never give up. Never never give up! That rule applies to we spectators as well as our excellent team on the water.How can ETNZ win the AC? By going out on the water and sailing the boat to the very best of their ability each and very moment. Do not look at the odds, the statistics and the pundit commentaries. Do not listen to the disloyal whiners. They are all about yesterday. Tomorrow is yet to be written and nothing is decided yet. It ain't over 'till it's over.
JohnKrijnen
Can the Kiwis win? In my view,yes. Had the kiwis not had the problem with the spinnaker then it would have been all square. I think the key is that the kiwis should concentrate and play their own game, which is what they are good at. Should it be that the kiwis not make it,then it's the boat that came second best. Technology, man power, ability, skill and knowhow remains nr 1 with the kiwis. The opposition knows that and that's the best advertisement money can buy.
Lisa Ahlqvis
I strongly suggest that with some 25 different nationalities in its entire crew if Alinghi ever again sails in AmCup that they do so under the auspices of the United nations because Swiss Alinghi has never been.
JP (Avondale)
I think, win or lose, New Zealand sporting teams such as TNZ have always punched well above their weight. A country with only 4 million, we dont have the leisure of having multi billion $$$ corporations backing our sport teams, as other countries like the Swiss and the US have. We are in a position where we have to look abroad for finance, if we dont then we wont have teams in competitions such as the Americas Cup. Lets face it, if the NZers werent there, who would be watching, because the best sailors are not all on for show. Big money players can build faster boats, pay better salaries for sailors, and invest the latest technology, but NZers are smart people with a "no substitute for hard" attitude, and thats what makes us a special nation. Can I also emphasise, that the Americas Cup was once dominated by the wealthy American and British, now a little country down under, has certainly become a huge heavy weight in this sport, showing money cannot buy passion and kiwi ingenuity. Go team NZ!
LV
To Chirpi and Adam
Sorry but your boy Barker has been outsailed by men like Butterworth and the rest of the Alinghi crew. Hes the skipper and I know its a team game but as team skipper his results are poor.If Rusell Coutts was in the place of Dean Barker Im sure the score wouldnt be 4- 2 Alinghi right now it would have been 5-0 to NZ.Facts are facts in the last 2 Americas cup Dean Barker has had 11 races 2 wins 9 losses . He might be good in the Louis Vitton but thats a totally different boat race.TNZ went to Valencia to win the Americas Cup not the Louis Vitton Cup. If TNZ dont come back with the cup then the whole campaign has been a failure.
Nicolas (Switzerland)
Just to tell to those people who think that Switzerland has no good sailors. Pierre Fehlmann has won the Whitbred as a skipper with his merit team. 2004 Olympics a Swiss team got the 4th place (star class), the best NZ sportsman was a woman 8th (Europe class). And I think, at least our sponsor is not an Arab flight company, but most are Swiss sponsors. So we don't take the money from some rich foreign people. It's strange that you think so national. When Arsenal plays football in premier league and no English player is on the field the fans still come and enjoy. Or Formula 1 Ferrari didn't have an Italian driver since years but they were happy with Michael Schumacher from Germany. By the way, was there any Maori (I mean a real NZ guy) in the NZ team? I think it's just a sport thing and the faster, the better wins.
Tore, Norwegian gone Kiwi (Pukekohe)
Emirates Team NZ is the best team on the water. But SUI100 is slightly faster in most conditions, and having the second best team, they will be hard to beat 3 times in a row. To me it doesn't really matter. I have watched every single race since start of the LV Cup, and never before, in any sport has any other team impressed me more than Team NZ has over these months! The team spirit is very visible, the professionalism is striking and the never-give-up attitude one to admire. Just imagine what these guys have gone through since 2003. The doubts and criticism they had to endure, and look at them now. The most respected team on the water! That is a bigger achievement than winning the Ould Mug. That is to a large degree done by billionaires buying what is considered to be the "best" people. People with a somewhat crooked patriotic sense, for sale to the highest bidder. So, Alinghi will probably win the Cup, because they had the money to develop the fastest boat, and the fastest boat always wins. But to me, Dean Barker and the rest of Team NZ are the TRUE winners, because they won back the hearts of a nation. That is something the kiwis on Alinghi will never do again.
Peter Sutherland
I badly want ETNZ to win. But Butternut is much smarter then Barker. Every time ETNZ gets ahead Butternut finds a way to haul him back. For instance in race 3 ETNZ was 300m ahead downwind. We screwed up the turn and he ate us up to 3 boat lengths. Then he while on a starboard tack forces ETNZ (On port) To tack away and then takes the lead. On the downward race home the only reason ETNZ won that was because Butternut split the race and allowed ETNZ to find a golden nugget of pressure on the far left to bring them home. Had he kept ETNZ close he would've won. The same for race 6. We were ahead and he hauled us back and won. I have not seen Barker do this much at all in these finals. I still visualise Barker holding up the AC though. Clearly.
Chirpi
I figure LV has had very little to do with sailing as he fails to understand it truly is a team game and every player has a vital role, all working to compliment the others. Dean Barker is a great helmsman- 'HELLO' he has just won the LV with the Team. If we don't pull it off (but I keep the faith-grit and kiwi determination is strong on the boat) remember they are the second best sailing team in the world in this event to date. Great to see so many kiwis have embraced the team and here's hoping a billionaire sponsor comes up to retain the sailors and go for it again. They are a 'young' team have done brilliantly thanks to Grant Dalton's commitment. Those guys have done us proud and I hope to enjoy supporting them for years to come.
Trevor
Can we still win the AC? Hell yes! It certainly won't be easy, but things that are really worth fighting for never are. How can we win it? By doing just what we have been doing, by sailing one race at a time and doing just what Dalts, Deano and the rest of the crew are so good at, sailing a very competitive boat in a very competitive race. Can we still win the AC? Hell yes!
Duck Vader (Auckland)
I'm all for New Zealand teams winning overseas, and good luck to Team New Zealand, but should they not win the cup this year then I hope that when it comes around to the next challenger series that the government of the day considers the alternatives $100m could be spent on. Possibly paying our doctors, nurses and teachers at a level that discourages them from leaving their chosen professions, or NZ for that matter? Alternatively, since the cup would have benefited Auckland the most, then how about investing the money on establishing a public transport system that would be worthy of a city the size (economically and geographically)of Auckland? The positive spin-off on the reduction of our ecological footprint wouldn't be so bad either. Just a thought.
Cheryl
Of course we can still win the cup! However, win, or lose our guys are NZ heroes. Well done Deano and Dalts and all the team. I only hope we will still have the tickertape parade - you are the winners of the Louis Vuitton Cup (and possibly the America's Cup). It has been just great - watching in the small hours each night. It must be gruelling out there, tense and tough - I admire you all. As a true New Zealander I am so proud of the whole team. Hold your heads up high - you have been wonderful representatives of our country.
Danielle
I think they can certainly take another race if not all three. Team NZ has a more mature attitude to winning and losing that Ernesto Bertarelli. Team NZ recognises that you make your own luck. They did not have a tantrum over the spinnaker issue, they recognised an error and owned up to it. Team NZ also respects their opposition's ability. In fact a number of sailors on Alinghi appear to as well. It is their owner who blames bad luck, bad wind, bad everything on Alinghi's losses to Team NZ. If Alinghi defends successfully, at least Team NZ will give credit where credit is due - they won't sit in a corner and sulk. At the end of the day, Team NZ has done great things for NZ by being good sports and never giving up.
All of us
Go Team New Zealand, the door is still open, we just need three wins to sneak in! Lomu said "impossible is nothing".
Cheers, A+E+S+V
Bruce
Not a chance. Our winning streak is one race, and we've now got to win three on the trot against a team with a faster boat and better sailors.
Andy
Extremely unlikely. They're about as good as each other, so the chances of NZ winning 3 in a row are about 12 per cent. Maybe it's good if they lose? Keep the racing in a time zone that's good for 400m - not just about 40 million. For the sake of the game, I think they should also have a permanent venue in a good time zone (not NZ - sorry); the venue should be on the ocean because the swells make it more interesting; and boats should be physically strong and totally standardised to remove stupid R&D costs that do nothing for the value of the game, and to bring in more competitors.
Adam
LV. You are ill informed and don't know enough about the sport - it's nothing to do with Dean as to where ETNZ are. He is performing at the highest level.
OK, got that one out, now I can move on! Yes, ETNZ can do it - 'one' 'race' 'at' 'a' 'time'. It's going to be hard, but high level sport is not for the faint hearted. I saw Liverpool come back from 3-0 down to beat Milan in Europe. That was MUCH tougher. Go for it ETNZ, get into them with your heads high. Give it everything.
MC
The thing is luck has nothing to do with winning a boat race. You make tactical judgement on the prevailing weather or wave condition by the weather stats provided by your own team and data gathered from the buoys around the course.
Race 5 was the result of bad timing by the Team NZ crew and race 6 was lost due to bad call at the end of leg 2 - if you look at all the results from the beginning of Louis Vuitton, the right side has always been favoured and still the team picked to go left, was a bad call but you cannot change what's done - so hope they have learnt a big lesson.
I agree with one comment about the commentators being one-eyed. I have met Peter Montgomery and used to admire him a lot, but I think because he has been held in such high regard by sailors and officials that it has gone to his head. Who wants to know about Dean Barker's mother and why she does not like sailing. It's just like Keith Quinn doing a rugby or tennis commentary - how big Jonah's shorts are or etc etc.
On a positive note - no matter what happens - Kiwis are the best sailors in the world and come next cup no matter where it is - sponsors will be all keen to associate with this team.
Daz
Honestly, the cup lost it's charm when a rich ego tripping Swiss guy spent his money on a boat and a team due to the fact the Swiss have no idea how to sail. How can any Swiss citizen be proud of what amounts to be nothing more than a purchased bunch of Kiwis sailing in a country outside of your own. Used to love it, not any more.
LV
After watching the America's Cup live for the first time in this series I have a couple of observations to make. Firstly the camera work by the TVNZ camera crews and the producers is first class the images are awesome, but they are let down big time by the presenter's who are jingoistic one-eyed, with no objectivity. All through race 5 and 6 all the TVNZ commentators could go on about was how good Team NZ Crew are, how happy the Team NZ crew are, how much better team work Team NZ have than Alinghi, how the Black Boat is as good if not faster than Alinghi, how the Team NZ afterguard is so much better than Alinghis, how Team NZ luff, jive, tack, and generally do everything better on the boat than Alinghi, how Dean Barker is the best skipper since Christopher Columbus.
I have one question for the one-eyed blind Team NZ cheerleaders: If Team NZ is that much better in terms of crew tam work and boat speed then why are Alinghi 4-2 ahead?
Luck, I can hear the cheerleaders say, maybe but the score is 4-2, TNZ got lucky in Race 3 with a huge wind shift. At the end of the day the wind is the same for both teams and the team that reads the conditions better will win. The luck will even out itself over the course of a series. I think the skipper needs to be held accountable. I'm sure he's a nice guy and a good father and husband etc, and will still be able to sell a good story to Women's Day (this isn't a personal attack on Dean Barker, the person), but as a skipper in America's Cup he is a failure. The results don't lie.
If you look at the head-to-head record of Dean Barker in America's Cup finals (11 races, 2 wins, 9 losses - a less than 20 per cent win loss ration) it's just not good enough.
The image after he lost race 6 with him alone at the helm the look on his face showed him for what he is - a boy doing a man's job. Would an All Black coach/captain keep their job with a 9 loss 2 win record?
How about the media in this country actually giving Alinghi credit for having a better boat, a better skipper, a better crew, and better team work.
Frank
Whether or not New Zealand wins or loses, it is gratifying that Ernesto Bertarelli will definitely lose. The day after this all-New Zealand final is over, Ernie's mercenary antipodeans will jump ship and join Coutts on Larry Ellison's boat, trading one billionaire who can't sail to save his own life for another. That's the trouble with hiring traitors, Ernie, they tend to be, well, traitors.
Anna
Yes, I do believe Team NZ still has the chance for the cup. It's said in Chinese "I am not going to cry unless I see the coffin" So before Alingi holds the cup, God gives us the chance. Take this chance carefully as no more left -- Go Team NZ!
Jaso
There are so many Kiwis on Alinghi's team that we can celebrate either way. If Team NZ win I'm sure we'd adios several of the team to Alinghi and other billion dollar syndicates any way. I can see it now, our poster boy Dean Barker - skipper for Oracle.
Crusty the Clown, (Palmerston North)
Whole heartedly agree - stop the racing and make it fair for all. With this much at stake, to take the boys out there and risk it is just burning money really! I wish the boys all the best and hope they use the extra days now to regroup and focus. It has been done before. They have shown they have the steel and ability to make the right calls and deliver against Alinghi.
Kim H (Sydney)
I doubt it, but always hopeful.
Bubbles1995
I wish you all the luck in this world ETNZ - bring home the America's Cup - you are such a strong team and I know you can do it
Franke
No question Emirates Team NZ can pull this off! And just watch Butterworth's mouth as Alinghi's protest is dismissed and we go on to win the next race! Incidentally, the latest rumour going around Valencia is that the fatal 'round hole' pointed out by Grant Dalton - the one that suddenly appeared at the top of Team NZ's spinnaker, was caused by a bullet fired from the silenced rifle of a sharpshooter onshore. Big stakes - dirty tricks. Makes you wonder specially when we were doing so well
Pain ex-Kiwi living in Australia, we don't get coverage
Get your finger out! Get in their face. They like to run so stop them, you are quicker when it comes to turning and up set them setting up to run. They only want to get away from you because they know they are weak at this. Stop being so nice, kill something. We won't go into what I think about the other team (pack of @#$ per cent^&*). I know these sentiments are not very lady-like but I'm no lady - the boat is, so you don't have to be nice.
Goforbroke (Auckland)
Throw caution (and Alinghi) to the wind, boys, and go for broke. Sportsmen are at their most dangerous when they have their backs to the wall, nothing to lose and everything to gain. Sail by the seat of your pants and do everything Alinghi wouldn't expect you to do. Throw the sailing manual out the window and get the steely glint in your eyes. Remember, you've got a score to settle, be quick on the draw and plug them between the eyes. Make them nervous, and they'll make mistakes, because they'll be desperate to win, and now is the time to go for the throat! Best of luck,boys. The worm will turn, believe me!
Aquarius (Gladstone, Queensland)
How do we know what's going on in Valencia regarding the protest put by Team new Zealand about the mainsail. The European nations want to keep the cup there so I believe there's a possibility justice is not done in this matter.