Team New Zealand are on the cusp of victory in the America's Cup.
The defenders have six wins out of the necessary seven, leaving Luna Rossa facing a must-win situation on Wednesday.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
A wind change robbed Team New Zealand of the chance to lift the Auld Mug on day six of racing and handed the Italians with a lifeline, when sailing was abandoned after just one of the day's two scheduled races.
The weather will decide where the teams race on Wednesday, but a return to race course C just off North Head would be on Team New Zealand helmsman Peter Burling's wish list.
Especially, if the boats could reproduce some of the tightest racing of the regatta and of recent America's Cup history, like they did during race nine of the series which Team New Zealand won by 30 seconds.
Burling described the race, which had six lead changes, as "probably one of the more fun" races of the regatta.
"Both teams were sailing probably the best they have and it was a pretty fun tussle out there," Burling said.
Luna Rossa co-helmsman Jimmy Spithill has claimed the underdog tag several times during this regatta, but on Wednesday his team really are up against it.
At 6-3, lose and they are heading home, crushing Italy's dreams of finally winning an America's Cup.
But Spithill said they would not concede easily, despite needing four wins in a row.
"My experience from these sort of situations, and we've all been there before, is you just don't have to look too far into the future. The scoreline really doesn't matter, the only thing that matter is winning that next race and that's exactly how we're going to approach it and we'll do everything we can," Spithill said.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Team New Zealand sail trimmer Glenn Ashby said the postponement of the racing was the right call even if it stopped Team New Zealand's momentum.
"We live to fight another day as well, we've all done a lot of regattas and a lot of championships over the years [postponements] are part of our sport, whilst there is a little bit of would've been, could've been, and could they have started, we are very comfortable with it and we're looking forward to getting out there," Ashby said.
However, Ashby knows to take nothing for granted.
"There's quite a lot of us at Team New Zealand that have been one win away from winning the America's Cup previously, so we've seen the movie before and it's never over until it's over."
When racing does resume on Wednesday, Ashby said Team New Zealand will have a few plans in mind but they will also be paying attention to what Mother Nature is providing them with - because the whim of the wind could be the difference when it matters most.
"We go into each race very very open minded as how we're going to sail that race, sometimes you can have some set plays and some set plans, there's other times where you've got to freestyle and actually look at the conditions and make some decisions on the fly."
