Faith and skill now, not hula

By JULIE ASH

Prada tactician Torben Grael knows exactly how Team New Zealand feel being down 3-0 in an America's Cup match.

In 2000, Prada were beaten by Team New Zealand 5-0 and, speaking from experience, Grael said it was going to be extremely difficult for Team New Zealand to fight back.

"It is getting harder and harder for Team New Zealand to bounce back," he said.

"We had a different situation. Team New Zealand are quite close to Alinghi in speed. They are just being outsmarted and Alinghi are just sailing so well."

Grael said it was well documented before the match that if the boats were even in speed, Team New Zealand would probably struggle against the more experienced Swiss lineup.

"Nobody is perfect - but Team New Zealand are going to have to sail very well to beat those guys. They are very good."

Asked if he saw any advantages in Team New Zealand's innovative hull appendage, Grael replied: "Not really. It has sailed in all conditions now - light, medium and heavy - and I haven't seen any big advantages up or downwind."

Grael said he had not expected to see Team New Zealand 3-0 down.

"Nobody expected this. To be honest, before that first race I didn't know what to expect.

"It was hard to make a prediction when the boats had never sailed together.

"Seeing the boats have very similar speed is good. It makes the match nicer to see and the races are better."

But despite the scoreline, Grael believes Team New Zealand can still hold on to the cup.

"They can, but it is not going to be easy. They have to start winning starts and picking up the first shifts."

Grael said the first thing Team New Zealand had to do was back themselves.

"They know they can come back but they have to believe it. It does get very hard to reverse the situation, just because of the mood the two teams are in.

"Alinghi are very confident and very happy to have the boats with the same speed, while Team New Zealand's confidence won't be so great right now and they are probably not very happy that the boats' speed is the same."

nzherald.co.nz/americascup

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