A hand on the jug, a few thoughts about 2013: Emirates Team New Zealand earned a whole series of match points in the 35th America's Cup match - just like four years ago - in the duel with defending champion Oracle Team USA. Back then it was eight, now it's six. The outclassed Oracle helmsman Jimmy Spithill, who once again made a series of unnecessary and unusual mistakes and conceded penalties in encounters 7 and 8 on the fourth day of racing, likes the comparison with his so-called "comeback of the century" four years ago. Of course. The memory of the seemingly impossible, which the Americans made possible after all, harbours the only hope at 1:6 in the best-of-seven duel. And so the two-time Cup winner, who had been pushed into a corner, said: "We've been at this point before. We're ready to fight and we're going to fly." Larry Ellison's star skipper, who has always been successful, evokes the spirit of the past, but the conditions have changed and offer less potential for optimisation than back then.
Spithill's opponents are no longer helmsman Dean Barker and his Kiwi crew, who also provided innovation in the 34th America's Cup, but who ran out of energy and money when the Americans started their potent comeback. Spithill's opponents today are a highly talented and extremely fast-learning Olympic champion and seven-time world champion named Peter "Pistol-Pete" Burling, an efficient Kiwi crew with their speedy "red rocket" named "Aotearoa", who once again performed almost flawlessly on Sunday after Saturday's slip-ups. And because the New Zealanders were so good and covered the Americans almost casually and effectively, the defending champions' mistakes were particularly noticeable. Whether it was the lost start in race 7, Spithill's misjudgement at the "hook" in the start phase of race 8 or the illegal crossing of the course boundary: Oracle Team USA didn't look good all round on Sunday. And Jimmy Spithill seems to have sunk his once impressive starting strength somewhere at the bottom of the Great Sound.
Jimmy Spithill answered the somewhat spiteful question of whether his team might have software problems with regard to title sponsor Oracle without hesitation: "There's nothing wrong with our software or with our guys. If you want to point the finger of blame, point it at me." Spithill went on to pay maximum respect to his opponents that evening after the next two slaps in the face: "These guys sail better. They make fewer mistakes. They rightly won." When asked about the comeback four years ago, the Australian in American service even had to smile: "Let me be honest: it really wasn't our plan to get into this situation again." But now, according to Spithill, it is there and it will be dealt with. "We will be firing on all cylinders and targeting a race at the moment," announced the man with his back to the wall. Spithill, who became the youngest Cup winner in history with his triumph over Alinghi in the court-ordered "Deed of Gift" match in 2010 and may now have to cede this record to high-flyer Peter Burling, did not even rule out vacating his own position late on Sunday evening. "Everything is on the table now: the team, the boat, the configuration. Tom Slingsby and I will make the decisions together. We will sit down together tonight."
However, it is very difficult to imagine a Jimmy Spithill chickening out. He may not be a charmer or a sonny boy. He loves provocation and also likes to use sporting aggression. This man is certainly no coward. And Slingsby may simply lack the experience of the challenger qualification and the eight duels with Emirates Team New Zealand to date as a possible alternative helmsman. With six match points against him, Spithill will not voluntarily relinquish the helm. However, if he does resign, higher powers than the likeable tactician and Sailing Manager Tom Slingsby are likely to be at play.
The showdown could now take place on Monday evening German time from 7pm and will once again be shown live on Servus TV and Sky Sport. This was not quite the plan of the America's Cup defenders and organisers, who had hoped for a decision on a weekend day in favour of good TV ratings. But the teams will take it as it comes. So do the fans. Especially the New Zealand fans, tens of thousands of whom are now attending public viewings, club events or other joint broadcasts in the early hours of the morning or meeting up with friends and family for an "early bird" Cup breakfast. While the sailing duels in Germany flicker live across the screen at prime time between 7 and 8.30 pm, the die-hard Kiwi fan has to be ready for his team's Cup battle at 5 am. And they are. At 6:1 on Tuesday morning New Zealand time, more than a million Kiwis will be watching their national heroes' next match(s) and hoping for Cup win number three after 2000 and 2003. Incidentally, their new superstar Peter Burling commented on the latest Kiwi victories with the usual restraint and a pinch of cheekiness that has become more common: "We didn't like giving up the one race on Saturday. We were asked a lot of questions afterwards. My feeling is that we were able to answer the questions on the water today."
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
