Yachting: NZ get set for real dogfight with Italians

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

Sir Peter Blake expects a formidable fight from Italy for the America's Cup - but he hopes it will be boring.

Sir Peter, the head of Team New Zealand, believes the best team won yesterday in the sudden-death shootout between Prada and AmericaOne.

He reckons the New Zealand defenders - without a Cup race yet - are as ready as they will ever be to sail against the match-toughened Prada in 12 days.

With a grin, he added: "Hopefully it will be boring." In other words, a 5-0 win to the defenders.

But there was no cockiness and no bold statements about the black boat being the better boat.

"If we have too much confidence now and say we're going to win, then we'll lose," he said. "Everyone is getting a bit nervous - but that's exactly how it should be."

Sir Peter is not fazed by Prada's big, $120 million budget, but he was impressed with what they did with the dollars.

"Our expenses are far, far less than Prada's but we have everything we need. If we had needed more money, then we would have gone and raised it," he said.

The feeling in Team New Zealand is that Prada had better downwind speed than AmericaOne, and Luna Rossa is a classical, good all-round boat.

"The best boat won today," Sir Peter said. "When you saw them knuckle down and use conventional tactics, instead of going miles away, their boatspeed was obvious.

"They are going to be a very hard team to beat, but we are going to present the fastest team we can. The difference between the teams? Only time will tell."

Sir Peter intimated that Team New Zealand would stick to themselves in the final days leading up to the match.

"There is no point sailing against AmericaOne or the French - it doesn't prove anything."

AmericaOne skipper Paul Cayard said he would not sail against Team New Zealand anyway.

For Team New Zealand crewman Simon Daubney, yesterday's result ended years of waiting to discover their opponents.

"The wait has been agonising. The feeling here now is bring 'em on," he said. "Prada have a boat that could afford to lose a few starts, but get its nose ahead later in the race.

"We're as ready as we're ever going to be. Everyone is pretty relaxed, which is a good sign this far out. That's only because we feel we've covered all the bases."