KEY POINTS:
Maybe there is hope yet. With yesterday's racing postponed, Team New Zealand have valuable time off to recoup and they might also care to consider the story of Australia II.
The seventh race was postponed until tomorrow after officials decided the light and unstable winds would not change
- and that brought the story of Australia II to more than a few minds.
In 1983, Australia II became the first successful challenger for the America's Cup in 132 years. They did so by winning three consecutive races to defeat Dennis Conner's Liberty 4-3. They did that after numerous pauses in racing caused by light airs.
The parallels with Team New Zealand - down 4-2 and needing to win three in a row - are obvious.
Alinghi design chief, Kiwi Grant Simmer, was a on Australia II and he smiled broadly when asked if the situation reminded him of 1983.
"Oh, I've done a lot of sailing since 1983; can't remember much about it," he said, before adding: "We did hit quite a lot of light conditions in 1983 and we did have to win three straight, so it was quite a difficult position."
But he also said Alinghi and Team New Zealand's boats were a lot more similar than Liberty and Australia II - although the Americans reconfigured their boat for the final race so they were a lot more even in design and set-up.
Both camps here agreed with the decision to postpone and Team NZ strategist Ray Davies said: "It is probably good to have a little break at this stage. It has been a long series from the Louis Vuitton through."
He doubted the break would be an advantage to either team as both prepared similarly, although he conceded there could be an argument that the pause might break Alinghi's rhythm.
Simmer agreed, saying it was now a contest of metres. "Metres to create a strong lead bow or metres to get across the other boat. This regatta is so incredibly close that every couple of metres you can gain on the other boat will be significant."
Both teams have made much of the evenness of the America's Cup match. It has been tiny errors or small gains from fickle wind shifts which have made this the most closely fought since that 1983 classic - with both crews straining to find an advantage.
However, many feel Team NZ will benefit most from the break. Their body language suggested after race six, that for the first time, the possibility of defeat had entered their heads. The break will give Grant Dalton time to chase those moths out of the cupboard.
