Standing side-by-side on the main stage in the America's Cup village ahead of the opening day of racing in the Louis Vuitton challenger final, Peter Burling and Nathan Outteridge did a poor job of following the plot line.
As the announcer talked up the fierce rivalry between the Team New Zealand and Artemis crews and what was at stake in the series, the laid back Kiwi helmsman and Outteridge, the Swedish team's Australian skipper, were having a good-natured chat.
Before them sat the Louis Vuitton trophy - a piece of silverware they are both desperate to get their hands on - but the pair looked like they could have been standing around a barbeque talking about the weather (which is looking a little marginal for racing later this week, by the way).
In an event that is known for its bitter rivalries between the combatants, Burling and Outteridge break the mold.
For them, the 35th America's Cup is just another chapter in long history of intense, but friendly, competition.
The pair have been facing off on the water for the past eight years in the 49er Olympic skiff class. They've taken turns at edging one another out - Outteridge and crew mate Iain Jensen, the wing trimmer on board Artemis, took out gold at the London Olympics in 2012, with Burling and Blair Tuke claiming the silver.
Four years later the result was reversed as Burling and Tuke, who also plays a key role aboard Team NZ as the foil trimmer, produced one of the most dominant performances in Olympic sailing history.
Now Burling and Outteridge find themselves going head-to-head for a chance to take on Oracle Team USA in next week's America's Cup match.
But those elevated stakes don't appear to have elevated any tension between the pair. Outteridge, who estimates he would have raced against Burling more than 1000 times, said ahead of yesterday's opening races it is a rivalry he relishes.
"We love racing Pete and Blair, they are great guys - so is Glenn [Ashby] - and we have a lot of respect for them," the Artemis skipper said.
Nathan Outteridge leads Artemis.
"But the America's Cup is much more than just some people on boats. It's a big team against another big team. It means a lot to our whole sailing team, our whole design team, our whole shore team."
Tuke agrees the 49er class connection between the two boats is a fun aside to what is something much bigger.
"Pete and I have had a lot of good battles with Nathan and [Jensen] over the years as a team. It's a new challenge now we've got some more people around us, but we've got that little rivalry still going on the inside," he said.
"We've raced so many big regattas against them, so it's exciting to have another one now."
Sailing in his first America's Cup, Burling has had the edge on Outteridge in the racing so far, but the Swedish team might argue they have been desperately unlucky.
Artemis would have won their opening round robin match-up, had it not been for a (later acknowledged) umpiring blunder. Outteridge also firmly believes his team should have gone into today's second day of the challenger final with a 2-1 lead, rather than the other way around.
Artemis were forced to retire late in the third race after Outteridge slid off the back of the boat as he transitioned between hulls. With the high-powered catamarans already seriously undermanned, losing a man overboard made it virtually impossible for Artemis to complete the course.
Team NZ lead Artemis 4-2 after the second set of three races this morning and could wrap up the first-to-five series tomorrow.
