'It just wasn't right': Spithill slams Team NZ's treatment of Dean Barker

Oracle skipper Jimmy Spithill. Photo / Dylan Cleaver.

A war of words has reopened between Team New Zealand and Oracle as the teams prepare for the opening regatta of the America's Cup World Series in Portsmouth this weekend.

Oracle skipper Jimmy Spithill expressed his dismay at the way Team NZ handled the exit of its long-serving skipper, Dean Barker.

"I was really frustrated with how Dean was dealt with over these past few months. He's a guy who's given so much for that team," Spithill told TVNZ.

"It just wasn't right in my mind."

Barker is now racing for a new Japanese syndicate after a messy and very public split from Team NZ earlier this year. After news leaked that he had been ousted from a role on the boat in a restructure of the team, Barker turned down a coaching role with the Kiwi syndicate. He was later offered a job as skipper and chief executive of Team Japan - a team being supported by America's Cup holders Oracle.

Spithill said the way Team NZ handled the process was disrespectful, slamming his rivals for leaking the news Barker would not continue on as skipper. Team New Zealand has denied the leak.

"Imagine a guy getting to the end of the New Zealand Warriors and they just leak it out like that without really sending it off or celebrating it," Spithill said.

Spithill's comments follow some light-hearted pre-regatta sparring with new Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Glenn Ashby at a press call in Portsmouth overnight.

As the skippers were paraded before the media ahead of the first AC World Series regatta, which starts in Portsmouth in the early hours of Sunday morning, Ashby presented Spithill with a kingpost, the piece of equipment that could have cost Oracle the last America's Cup.

Oracle was found to have used a kingpost that was too long and had illegal lead weighting, which helped with the rigidity and stability of their AC45. They were not caught by measurers until the America's Cup youth regatta and were forced to vacate their ACWS title and took two penalty points into the America's Cup match against Team NZ.

"This one fits nicely, Jimmy,"Ashby said as he handed Spithill a Team NZ post.

Spithill accepted Ashby's gesture in good humour, replying that he would put it in the trophy cabinet alongside the America's Cup.

"It was a bit of light-hearted fun," Ashby said. At the same time he said it served as a reminder that they did wrong last time and it needed to be a fair contest in the lead-up to the next America's Cup in Bermuda. The points accrued in these world series events count towards seeding in Bermuda.

It will be something of a trip into the unknown for Team NZ this weekend. The AC45s have been configured with foiling daggerboards for first time but the New Zealand team has had little chance to practice on the water, particularly in comparison to Oracle, Ben Ainslie's Land Rover team and Swedish entry Artemis.

It is also Team NZ's first regatta under the new sailing leadership of skipper Ashby and helmsman Peter Burling. The latter's form is not in dispute, with he and Blair Tuke winning the European 49er champs in Porto this month. The pair are unbeaten in 18 regattas since winning Olympic silver in London.

The forecast is for a breezy weekend, which should see the boats on the edge as they race on the Solent.