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Team New Zealand were vowing to go on yesterday after their heartbreaking loss to Alinghi in one of the most remarkable contests in America's Cup history.
The next America's Cup regatta is tipped to be in Valencia in two years, and the Government is giving the syndicate $10 million to help retain key team members.
It is believed some of the syndicate's sponsors maybe also be keen to stay on.
But before Team New Zealand look ahead, the 120-member syndicate will take time to let their disappointing 5-2 defeat to Alinghi sink in.
The team's sponsors and families cheered as the 17 sailors made their way up the dock yesterday, but their faces showed anger and disappointment in a series that was determined more by sailing ability than boat speed.
A one-second loss in race seven was the cruellest way to lose the regatta.
Team New Zealand's managing director Grant Dalton, the man credited with getting the syndicate back on it feet, said he felt numb.
"They were better in the end. I am angry with myself that we could have done better," Dalton said.
"We didn't come here to compete, we came here to win."
Dalton said he had put his name forward to lead another challenge.
What he would do differently would be "pretty much everything".
"If you keep things the same, you will go backwards," he said.
"Everything has to be reviewed and improved, because we weren't good enough."
Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker was one of the last to leave NZL92, after having a quiet moment to himself.
On the brink of tears Barker spoke of how proud he was of his team and the way they had bounced back from the devastating 2003 defeat.
"I am angry, frustrated, pissed off," Barker said.
"We have put a lot into this team. It is so much better than we were in 2003. But in the end, it has been enough to get us to the final but not win, so we still have a lot to do to take that next step."
Barker said his team sailed well but Alinghi sailed better.
"We just haven't had the breaks. We have been so close in so many races. Every time things started looking good for us, they kept bouncing back into it and getting ahead at the right time.
"It has been a very hard series - we have been battling and haven't quite got there. I don't know how many lead changes there have been but it shows how close these two teams really are."
To lose the final race by one second, Barker said, was "bloody hard to deal with".
"The guys have done an amazing job all the way through. We have stayed positive; even this morning we still believed we could keep the series alive. We very nearly did."
Barker vowed he would be back.
"I love the America's Cup and everything about it. We have put together a very good team, we were just missing that little bit."
Asked if he thought the team would stay together, Barker said he hoped so. "We were good but not quite good enough."
One of the most poignant moments yesterday was when NZL92 was hauled out of the water for the last time, water dripping from its buzzy bee bulb.
Standing alongside the boat was mastman Matthew Mason who was part of Team New Zealand's victorious campaigns in 1995 and 2000.
"We are all gutted," Mason said.
"We'll keep our heads up high and hopefully look to the future ...
"We made a few mistakes. We feel we didn't sail as well as we have to get to where we have."
That is perhaps the most disappointing aspect for Team New Zealand. The boats were relatively even. It was Team New Zealand's sailing which let them down.
Mason said the key for the syndicate would be staying together.
"If we are ever going to win this thing then the team needs to stay together."
