KEY POINTS:
Dean Barker remembers Team New Zealand's America's Cup victory in San Diego in 1995 well.
Then aged just 22, Barker was having mechanical problems with his Kombi, which broke down in France.
"I had just done a Finn regatta at Brest in France," Barker recalls. "I was on my way to Denmark for the next event and the engine blew up.
"So I got stranded in a little place called Boulogne. I was sitting there for 10 days waiting for the van to get repaired and watching all the races."
Twelve years on. Barker has become the first skipper to earn a clean sweep in the Louis Vuitton Cup final.
At his first attempt.
Barker defended the Cup in 2000 with Team New Zealand and lost it in 2003.
But it hasn't been all plain sailing for the 34 year-old in Valencia.
He has copped plenty of criticism in round one for his starting efforts.
That's something his tactician Terry Hutchison yesterday said was unfair.
"All those comments about Dean in my opinion were crap," he said.
"For anybody who knows him, like I have grown to know him over the past three years, the guy is a competitor to the nth degree.
"In a lot of ways we complement each other well because I am high anxiety all the time and he is very calm and cool. We bring each other a little bit towards the middle."
Drenched in champagne and celebrating with his team in Valencia yesterday Dean Barker was a vastly different man from the one New Zealanders remember hunched over the handle bars beaten and broken in 2003. This Dean Barker is much more confident and is a man on a mission.
"It was a terrible loss for the country," Barker said of the 2003 defeat.
"I think the nice thing for us is that we have been able to turn that around and we have put together a very, very strong team and we are looking forward to the next step."
When asked about the difference between his team now and then Barker said the fundamental difference was they were completely different under the leadership of Grant Dalton and Kevin Shoebridge.
"As to what will happen in the America's Cup? It is anyone's guess.
"We have got a lot better since the start of the first round-robin. I have a huge amount of confidence in the guys and the boat.
"We managed to step up a level for the final, which is always very pleasing to see.
"The challenge for us is to stay focused and take another step forward going into the America's Cup.
"We have a huge amount of respect for Alinghi. What they have done, the way they have prepared, how they have developed.
"They have good equipment, they'll be fast, they will be very competitive around the track.
"We will have to sail well to give ourselves a chance of beating them.
"We have a lot of confidence in the way we are sailing and we are looking forward to the challenge."
Full coverage of the America's Cup from nzherald.co.nz/americascup and desktoptv.co.nz
