KEY POINTS:
Alinghi's design team are "way above" their rivals, Kiwi sailor Dean Phipps believes.
While the challengers have been locking sails in the Louis Vuitton Cup, the defenders have been sailing on their own off the Valencia coast and Phipps said although his team were focusing more on racing, they still had a few new things to try on the boats.
It was widely believed the Alinghi boats were half a generation ahead of the challengers going into this America's Cup. And although the design rules mean it would be hard to maintain such a gap, the experience and talent in the Alinghi design team, headed by Grant Simmer and Rolf Vrolijk, mean it is not impossible.
"Our design group is way above the other teams' designers," Phipps said. "You look at Oracle and they are fighting about who designed the boat.
Rolf [Vrolijk] and Grant [Simmer] do a great job at assessing the boats and coming away with a lot of strengths and weaknesses."
With speculation that one of the teams are doing something clever with their keel, Phipps was coy about whether Alinghi were that team.
"I think it happens all the time [an interpretation from the measurer comes out], some look at it oddly and some will jump to conclusions that it is someone else. We are confident in the path we have taken in design."
Competing in his seventh cup, Phipps' career began in 1983 with Britain's Victory.
He is part of the core group of Kiwi sailors, known as Russell Coutts' tight five, who were successful in winning the cup three times - twice for Team New Zealand and then with Alinghi.
"I think people are our strength and has always been our strength. If you look at all the teams we have had, there is a nucleus of people there who have been the backbone of the team."
As part of that group, Phipps felt the wrath of the Kiwi public after they left Team NZ for Alinghi following the 2000 defence.
"You don't hear anything about the All Blacks going away to play in Japan or the UK. That is sport," Phipps said.
"In some ways, it encouraged us to take it [the cup] out of there because New Zealand didn't deserve to have it if they thought like that."
However, Phipps is still happy to fly the New Zealand flag - something that does not fit with the Alinghi media strategy, which states the European market is the syndicate's priority and, in terms of importance, New Zealand rates well down, just above Australia to be exact.
Part-Maori, Phipps decided to fly a Maori sovereignty flag from the team's base when a Maori group were in Valencia as part of a Tourism New Zealand promotion.
"It was to show respect to the Maori here," Phipps said.
"We are just New Zealanders. Grant [Dalton] likes playing the New Zealand card but let's have a look where he is from; that could be interesting. I am probably more New Zealand than he is, being a native, being part-Maori."
As for his assessment of the challengers, Phipps said they had made huge gains through the pre-regattas and had "caught up to where we were".
Dean Phipps
* Born: April 8, 1964.
* Position: Runner/pit.
America's Cup history
2007: Alinghi.
2003: Alinghi.
2000: Team New Zealand.
1995: Team New Zealand.
1992: New Zealand Challenge.
1987: Australia IV.
1983: Victory 83.
