KEY POINTS:
It's quite reassuring to hear Team New Zealand strategist Mark Mendelblatt say he has perfect eyesight. Even more reassuring to hear he has it on good authority. His dad and older brother are eye surgeons and his mother does the book-keeping in their St Petersburg clinic.
As strategist, Mendelblatt's eyes are his main tool. It's his job to relay to his team, sometimes from up the mast, what the wind is doing. Not the easiest of jobs in Valencia, famous for its fickle wind.
"It's a really hard place to pick the wind," Mendelblatt says. "The wind is very fickle and phasey and will pop up where you least expect it.
"You always have to have your eyes open and try to identify the trends and where the pressure is. All you can do is tell them what you see."
Mendelblatt joined Team New Zealand in October as backup for regular strategist Adam Beashel. But Beashel seriously injured his hand in the final cup pre-regatta and Mendelblatt was promoted to the race crew.
"Luckily I was able to do a lot of in-house racing days and some other race days with Dean [Barker] and Terry [Hutchinson] and the race team, so it wasn't completely foreign when I was thrown into it.
"I am comfortable in the role becauseI have done it a lot before. I think I fit in pretty well with those guys. I have known [fellow Americans] Terry and Kevin [Hall] for a while.
"I'm happy to race but I am not happy about the way I got to race. Adam and I are good friends. I am hoping he gets back to share some of this. He deserves it - he's a big part of the team."
Mendelblatt grew up in St Petersburg, on Florida's Gulf coast, which he describes as a pretty big city where a lot of elderly people go to retire. "There is quite a bit of sailing, it is easy to get access to the water."
Also hailing from St Pete is Alinghi helmsman Ed Baird.
Mendelblatt started sailing out of the St Petersburg Yacht club when he was just 6. His parents were into boating but "not boat racing".
He followed his elder brother David into the sport and moved up from Optimists into double-handed boats.
Mendelblatt went to Tufts University, just outside Boston, where he studied psychology. Although he graduated, he never worked in the field, instead finding employment in an investment banking firm as a bond salesman.
After completing his degree he concentrated on Laser sailing and competed in the 2004 Olympics, finishing eighth. His first America's Cup campaign was with OneWorld during the 2003 event, when he was backup strategist. He sailed in one race during the Louis Vuitton Cup. "It was a good one," he said. "It was against Victory Challenge and we won. It was a really good race - 20 knots around the whole track."
OneWorld were one of the favourites going into the regatta but tripped on many hurdles. Mendelblatt says the messy legal dispute with Sean Reeves affected them, their boat development stagnated and he felt the syndicate lacked a real leader.
"It never really felt like anyone was in charge. In this team everyone knows Dalts [Grant Dalton] is in charge of the team and Dean is in charge on the boat, Kevin [Shoebridge] manages the sailing team - and that's that.
"We have real leaders on this team and we are all happy with that."
He likes the culture at Team New Zealand. "I like the Kiwi way, it's kind of like my style. I don't like to make a big deal of things, whether it is going well or poorly. I try to keep a level demeanour and try not to let the emotions get the better of me - that's the approach in this team.
"I get a bit of heat every now and then about being American. I don't talk like a Kiwi, although I have noticed I have started using some Kiwis phrases."
After the Athens Olympics, Mendelblatt bought a Star yacht - off Beashel's brother Colin - and is keen to pursue an Olympic campaign in the class.
There is one other sailing event he'd like to sink his teeth into. The round-the-world race. "I tried like hell to get on the last one and nearly made it on one of the boats but was passed over at the last minute.
"It is a tough race to get on a boat. There are only a handful of spots and it is hard to get picked up when you haven't done the race. I have been talking to some of the teams for 2008 and hope to get picked."
Mark Mendelblatt
* Born: St Petersburg, Florida.
* Age: 34
* Marital status: Engaged to Lenka Smidova (470 sailor)
* Position: Strategist
America's Cup history
* 2007: Emirates Team New Zealand
* 2003: OneWorld
