The commodore of the Royal NZ Yacht Squadron - the yacht club behind Team New Zealand - was fuming last night at what he said was a calculated snub by the America's Cup Event Authority, the body set up by Oracle Team USA to run the event.
No matter what happens in the first two races in the America's Cup this morning, this isn't just a regatta - it's a watershed.
A Kiwi boatbuilder who has been thrown out of the America's Cup regatta for cheating insists that he did not put lead in the boat.
Larry Ellison's book The Billionaire And The Mechanic opens with a powerful chapter about Ellison, his yacht Sayonara, and the 1998 Sydney to Hobart yacht race when six sailors died and 55 were rescued by helicopter.
Team New Zealand were last night left wondering why only 17 tickets came their way to an 800-person America's Cup cocktail party do at Pier 19.
Landmark speeds upwards of 50 miles an hour are on the cards when the America's Cup finals get underway tomorrow morning.
James Spithill is tired. He's got a big zit erupting out of his ginger stubble, he looks drawn and it's not hard to see the pressure is telling on him.
Team New Zealand is a remarkable organisation. It ought to have disappeared, quietly, years ago.
Wynyard Quarter and a wharf extension to Halsey St are shaping up as the preferred waterfront locations should the America's Cup come back to New Zealand.
Hanging precariously off the side of his 30ft sloop as it bashes upwind through the agitated seas approaching the Golden Gate Bridge, Mike Peterson is in his element.
Despite all the drama and controversy that has marred the build-up to this America's Cup, there has never been so much expectation and intrigue attached to an opening race.
They couldn't be more different in personality, but America's Cup skippers Dean Barker and Jimmy Spithill have one thing in common according to Team New Zealand and former Oracle trimmer Glenn Ashby: "They both want to kill each other."
In the six years since Team New Zealand's last America's Cup campaign, their family support contingent has more than doubled in size.
For Kiwis who give a damn about the pursuit of one of sport's most tainted, yet highly prized trophies, it would be easy to cast multi-billionaire Ellison as the villain to Team New Zealand's state and corporate-sponsored heroes.
Just when you thought we were ready to go racing, yet another America's Cup jury hearing is under way in San Francisco.
Defiant Oracle Team USA skipper Jimmy Spithill promised his team would "never give up" and called for US fan support as pre-race preparation enters its last hours.
Sailor X was the anonymous sailor who also appeared likely to be excluded from the event but whose case was dismissed by the jury.
It's hard to imagine there will be many Kiwis cheering on Sir Russell Coutts' Oracle team as they begin their defence of the America's Cup against Team NZ.
The sole upwind leg in the short, five-leg sprint course accounts for 30 per cent of the race, and is where we're likely to see some intriguing tactical battles playing out between Team New Zealand and Oracle.
Trying to pick the winner of the 34th America's Cup is like opening a jar of coffee beans, picking two out and trying to decide which is tastier. Without tasting them.
The eagerly awaited "Coutts v Dalts" pre-America's Cup showdown doesn't look as though it will eventuate.
Oracle's CEO Sir Russell Coutts says he's 'astounded' the whole team has been penalised for the actions of a few crew members.
Lydia Jenkin says we need a new tune to soundtrack the America's Cup.
Many judicial inquiries are sparked by a whistle-blower.
Oracle skipper Jimmy Spithill insists his team will now enter the America's Cup match against Team New Zealand as firm underdogs.
Three years ago, Dirk de Ridder was in the White House meeting President Barack Obama after helping to return the America's Cup to the USA.
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.
The America's Cup has never seen anything like it. Lies, deceit, cheating, ignorance of the rules and ineffective management - Oracle is a wounded team.