KEY POINTS:
Grant Dalton likened his team's performance in the early stages of the challenger series to that of a radio which was a little bit off the station.
Dalton, who is Emirates Team New Zealand's managing director, said: "There was nothing wrong with the radio, you just had to
move the dial around a little bit and get on the station. That is what we did. Now it is going a lot better."
Which is bit of a relief considering Crowded House's Better Be Home Soon had just sounded out in the team's stylish hospitality area.
Team New Zealand finished the round robin competition as the top challenger, thumping Chris Dickson's BMW Oracle Racing in the final match.
"The team finished the round exactly as we planned so long ago, strong and sailing well," Dalton said.
"On Monday the game starts all over again. Every win to date in the Louis Vuitton Cup counts for nothing."
Life wasn't so rosy for Team New Zealand in the first round of the competition. They were beaten three times and slipped from being the top challenger to third.
Dalton said they didn't change anything after round one because there wasn't anything that needed changing.
"We probably just tightened up around the edges in our briefing and debriefings.
"I knew it wasn't anything major, just a couple of shifts hadn't come through that we thought were there. We weren't sailing the open track all that well. Now the breeze has been steady we are kind of more in a rhythm.
"It is pretty tough, though ... every single race, with the odd exception, you really had to be paying attention, particularly when it is very shifty. The boat couldn't really do the talking for you because it was so damn shifty."
Which brings us to Dean Barker, the man Dalton was adamant would helm the boat when he took over after the failed defence.
Despite some of the international media calling for Barker to be replaced by British golden boy Ben Ainslie, Barker's performances so far have been mostly good.
However, he does give his fans the jitters now and then. A recent example was his start against the Swedes where he trailed his opponent over the line by a massive 18s.
"I don't think Dean has been starting that badly," Dalton said. "Dean is a tough guy. People make that mistake. He is a tough bastard. He has the scars of 2003, he did the year of 2003 to 2004 with me all over him. He is tough. I have no worries about Dean."
Which is quite an admission for a man who describes himself as a total "worrier".
So what is Dalton worried about? Chris Dickson's BMW Oracle Racing, perhaps?
"The media believe that Oracle has quite an edge on us. I don't know if that is true," Dalton said. "I wonder what that is based on. What factual information gives you that?"
Dalton does have a point. There is nothing "factual".
However before Team New Zealand's win over Oracle on Thursday, the Americans were sitting pretty at the top of the leaderboard.
They had won round one. They had come from behind to beat three teams, one of which was Luna Rossa. Every sailor who had raced against Oracle and Team New Zealand said that Oracle was quicker. And the words "sandbagging" and "Oracle" are often used in the same sentence.
"I don't believe that at all," Dalton said. "Oracle are going as hard as they can to get past people if they are behind; they are going as fast as they can to get away from them if they are in front.
"We are the same. We are not slowing down, we are not that clever.
"We'll see. Maybe they are."
He did acknowledge that Oracle have good boat.
"They are obviously sailing it pretty nicely. Dickson looks a bit ropey around the startline to me. But they are doing a nice job as a team. They will go to the finals for sure of the Louis Vuitton.
"They are the form boat for the moment for sure. On an even race track, we are probably very similar."
