KEY POINTS:
Back in 1995, Team New Zealand had a gym. Well, a tent, really. At the end of the dock. All it had in it was a few weights and dumbells.
Tony Rae used to stand there, at the team base in San Diego in his little shorts and T-shirt, patiently waiting for his teammates to turn up.
Back then Rae and Dean Phipps, now with Alinghi, ran the team's fitness programme - or, as Rae referred to it, the "come if you feel like it" programme.
"It was really hard to get people to turn up," Rae said. "They just didn't care."
Ross Halcrow, now with BMW Oracle Racing, can't really recall anyone using it much, aside from the odd grinder.
After their workout, it was down the road to a little cafe called Red Sails for a bowl of cereal and a bit of toast and jam. Lunch was sandwiches from a bakery.
When the challengers series final starts in Valencia on June 1, it is likely that several on the men who shared the gym and tuna melts in brown paper bags will line up against each other.
But it is much more serious stuff now.
Of the 16 who sailed Black Magic to victory in 1995, 13 are still sailing in the cup.
Competing in the semifinals in Valencia are Halcrow, Craig Monk and Robbie Naismith (all with BMW Oracle Racing), Tony Rae, Matthew Mason and Joey Allen (Emirates Team New Zealand) and Andrew Taylor and Tom Schnackenberg (Luna Rossa).
The team that goes through to the America's Cup match will take on Brad Butterworth, Warwick Fleury, Dean Phipps, Simon Daubney and Murray Jones at Alinghi.
People have moved on - and so has the game. In 1995, Team New Zealand had around 65 members and an estimated budget of $20m to $30m.
Today, Oracle have 150 team members and an estimated budget of $220m.
"We had a small base in San Diego," Halcrow said. "There was room to put the boats in the shed for modifications but that was about it.
"We had one travel lift and one small sail loft on site. We had to go to Norths Sails San Diego for any big alterations. It was very much downsized but it was an efficient little programme." The 1995 team was assembled in the latter part of 1993. "Russell [Coutts] just picked the crew like he was picking a crew for a normal yacht race," Rae said. "He said we were going to have a go."
The good teams these days are up and running immediately after each cup. 1995 was the second cup under the America's Cup class design rules and, as a result, there were significant differences in boat speed across the fleet - Team New Zealand's NZL32 and NZL38 proved to be the quickest.
"Our rig and sail programme was ahead of the others," Rae said. "That whole boat just clicked.
"We went right through the round-robins with NZL38 knowing that NZL32 was a click quicker again. That was a big boost for the team, knowing we had something in the bank.
"The time and money that is put into the teams now, and with all these pre-regattas, it has levelled out a lot - the standard of the playing field is a lot higher and a lot more even."
Halcrow said now the smallest mistakes can be costly.
"Looking back from 1995 to now, the systems of the boat, everything has improved. The sails go up faster, they came down faster, we have more horse-power, there is less friction, the evolution of sailing has moved on."
As have the sailors' skill levels. "Some of the manoeuvres we are pulling off on these boats, we probably wouldn't have bothered trying in 1995. But now you have to to be in the game.
"Everything is just being pushed more and more in the pre-starts and the whole way around the racecourse," said Rae.
After beating One Australia in the Louis Vuitton Cup final, Team New Zealand went on to beat an ill-prepared defender in Dennis Conner in the America's Cup match. There will be little chance of Alinghi being ill-prepared, come June 23.
"No matter what type of boat you are in, you always seem to be up against other Kiwis that you have sailed with," Rae said.
"It doesn't matter what circuit you are on, the Farr 40s, the world match racing circuit, the TP52 circuit - there are Kiwis everywhere.
"It is great. I think one of the reasons the America's Cup has got so much more tighter, competitor-wise, is that knowledge base is still there and has now grown."
