KEY POINTS:
Barry "Bazza" Reynolds just wanted his cancer to stay at bay long enough for him to see New Zealand sail away with the America's Cup.
On both those fronts he knew the odds were long.
The melanoma diagnosis was not good, and for three years doctors gave him only a 40 per cent chance ofliving.
That was in 1987, the year New Zealand challenged for the Auld Mug in a boat labelled the "plastic fantastic".
"The cancer was like a little nipple on my breast and they cut it out. Every three months I'd have to go for a check and it was like going for your warrant of fitness. The doctor would say, 'Come back in another three months."'
With KZ7 beaten by Dennis Conner that year, Bazza was determined to hold on as he counted down each three-month cycle.
Fast-forward 20 years and the Whitianga yachting enthusiast is still drawing inspiration from New Zealand's America's Cup exploits. His illness is a distant memory.
"Each time we race I think of the melanoma.
"The America's Cup kept me alive because at first I just had to see Conner get beaten, then I had to stay around to see our boys get it, and so on."
Among his favourite moments are the red socks campaign in San Diego and the Black Magic defence in 2000, but any race involving Dennis Conner has always been a highlight.
"Like the one where he didn't cover the boat in front. Everyone loved to hate Conner. To me he was like Muhammad Ali, he made sailing in a way because he actually put his money where his mouth was."
Bazza, 68, has a strategy for coping with the tension the current series is bringing out in him.
"It's on a bit late to stay up. I go to bed, but in the morning I turn the radio on to hear the result. I hear it and go, 'Yahoo, that's good."'
Knowing the outcome, he pushes play on his video recorder and proceeds to lap up every second of the race.
"I call out to Montgomery, 'Don't worry, mate, she'll be all right.' It's good when you know the result."
At the very least, Bazza, it's a sure-fire way to beat the odds.
