KEY POINTS:
Maintaining composure will not be a problem for Team New Zealand, tactician Terry Hutchinson says.
With the America's Cup match tied at 2-all going into tonight's fifth race in Valencia, one of the deciding factors will be which team can perform best under pressure.
While Team New Zealand
has so far stayed cool during losses, Alinghi have showed signs of letting it get to them.
Skipper Brad Butterworth let rip at the race committee about the spectator chop, then syndicate head Ernesto Bertarelli waded in after his side had their second consecutive loss in race three.
"He loses a race because of spectators and wind shifts. That's life," Hutchinson said.
"It would be like me saying we lost the race today because the wind went right.
"It probably tells you they are bunched, tense, nervous and have high anxiety. They are the defenders and have a lot to lose.
"So anything that puts pressure on them, we are happy with.
"We are going to keep the pressure on them. We'd like to do it a little more from the front rather than behind."
The teams had a lay day overnight and both planned to head into base for a video analysis session.
Team New Zealand went into the lay day on the back of a 30-second loss to the Swiss in race four.
Alinghi's win came from a powerful start by helmsman Ed Baird, who charged over the line with SUI100 at full pace.
From there, the Swiss managed to position themselves in a slightly better breeze around the course.
It also appeared SUI100 was fractionally faster than the Kiws upwind in the 8-10 knot breeze.
Hutchinson said Team New Zealand were pleased they managed to keep the race close.
"We took advantage of opportunities they presented us but it just wasn't enough to get around them," he said.
Apart from not getting the point, Hutchinson said Team New Zealand was not disheartened by the result.
"We just have to keep forging ahead and not let anything set us back. It is not certainly over until it is over," he said.
"Race three was an example of that. We'll go out on Friday and try and knock one off."
For tacticians, the conditions in the first four races have been draining with tricky wind shifts and oscillating breezes.
"I feel better now than I did during the Louis Vuitton final and, certainly, the mood on the boat is a lot more relaxed now," Hutchinson said.
"The scorecard against Luna Rossa did not reflect the amount of tension we had on the boat, not outward tension, but just the fact we knew that a lot was riding on it.
"But I think the team in each series has elevated their game. A lot of that has come from the guys dropping their shoulders and focusing hard on their jobs and everyone in their respective areas doing good work.
"As long as we keep supporting each other in the manner that we have, I don't really see anything going too horribly wrong for us."
Hutchinson said his team was not too concerned about weather conditions.
"Whatever the wind gods want to dish out, we are happy to take.
"The conditions are what they are. Whoever handles it better is going to win."
