KEY POINTS:
Team New Zealand have put their faith in a Buzzy Bee in the hope that NZL92 will match if not better Alinghi's much hyped SUI100.
Emirates Team New Zealand will head into race one of the America's Cup in Valencia with the same crew that beat Luna Rossa in the challenger series final.
As expected they have made some subtle changes to their race boat NZL92 to try to match Alinghi and optimise the boat for the predicted weather conditions.
The most obvious change is the switching of bulbs from their shorter one, which had a New Zealand flag on it, to their slightly longer one which is decorated with a brightly coloured Buzzy Bee.
Team New Zealand managing director Grant Dalton said they now feel NZL92 was going a little bit better across the range of conditions.
Alinghi tend to use long bulbs. Their 2003 generation boat SUI75 was always quite fast in moderate to heavy winds.
"We think they have come down [the wind range] with their new boats," Dalton said.
"But not way down because they started from a base of quite high range. We are just trying to match them with the bulb and we feel the boat is going better with it."
Dalton said he believes they have got as much speed as they can out of NZL92.
"We haven't left any stones unturned, we have got all we can."
Whether that is enough, we will know in the early hours of tomorrow morning.
In the last three America's Cup matches the score has been 5-0. In 1995 Team New Zealand beat an ill-prepared Dennis Conner 5-0 then defended against Prada in 2000 where the score was also 5-0.
In the last match in Auckland the Russell Coutts-led Alinghi steam rolled Team New Zealand 5-0.
While the team with the fastest boat always wins the America's Cup and some have predicted SUI100 will be too quick for NZL92 the vibes coming out of Team New Zealand are not ones of concern.
Dalton said he did not expect Alinghi to have a speed edge despite some claiming SUI100 will be 12 to 15 seconds faster than the black boat upwind.
He expects both boats will each have their own sweet spots in certain conditions.
Throughout the America's Cup regatta Team New Zealand have had a philosophy based firmly on the words "steady state". Each day is treated the same, win or lose, and emotions are kept firmly in check. The leadup to the America's Cup match has been no different.
"We are trying to treat Alinghi like any other team," Dalton said.
"It is easy to say and harder to do but I think we are doing a good job of not amping it up any more than normal or amping it up any earlier.
"But it is the America's Cup and it is a different occasion. A lot of people win world championships and not Olympic medals. We have to be careful not to let the occasion get to us."
On the New Zealand boat will be 10 sailors who were involved in the disastrous 2003 defence. The Swiss boat includes four changes to the 2003 winning team. The most noticeable is the absence of helmsman Russell Coutts.
"We wouldn't want to swap anyone," Dalton said. "We believe in every single guy and each guy on the boat believes in the one standing next to him."
When they tow out to the race course with a giant New Zealand flag flying from the boat, they will pass hundreds of Kiwi fans who tend to line up along one side of the canal. On the other side the Auld Mug will sit on a ledge above the water.
