Memo to Team New Zealand: Why this isn't the 2013 America's Cup

Jimmy Spithill raises the America's Cup after coming back from 8-1 down to defeat Team New Zealand in 2013. Photo / Brett Phibbs

"We've been here before and we know what to do".

It's the familiar refrain we've come to expect from Jimmy Spithill during this America's Cup regatta.

Whether he's trying to spook nervous Kiwi fans or rally his own troops onboard Oracle, Spithill continues to trot out the same message in the face of doubters who believe the American defender is now doomed in their battle to keep the Auld Mug.

But how true is the bullish Australian's claim.

We checked it out - and discovered it's only half-true.

The Aussie brains trust is still with Oracle four years on from what was described as "the greatest comeback in the history of sport" when the Americans came from 8-1 down to win the Cup.

Spithill, the face and voice of Oracle, was obviously there four years ago as was his tactician Tom Slingsby.

Along with wing trimmer Kyle Langford, the pair are part of an all-Australian afterguard. Langford was the youngest athlete to take part in the San Francisco regatta.

There are three other crew members who tasted success with the Auld Mug over Dean Barker's Team NZ - taking it to six in total who can relate to Spithill's mantra.

They are Aussie trimmer Joey Newton, American Rome Kirby, who can fill the role of trimmer, tactician and grinder, and former Sydney-to-Hobart race winner Sam Newton.

But the others on board the American defender are all newcomers.

They include leading American tactician Andrew Campbell and grinder Ky Hurst, a seven-times Aussie surf ironman champion who joined Oracle in 2015. Campbell, an Olympian, joined the team after watching them win in San Francisco.

The American pair of bowman/grinder Matt Cassidy and grinder Cooper Dressler are also new additions along with Aussie pair of wing trimmer Tom Johnson and grinder Graeme Spence.

The two Kiwis onboard Oracle are Louis Sinclair and Kinley Fowler but neither were on the boat in 2013 either.

The NZ-born but Caribbean-raised Sinclair, 25, is Oracle's youngest team member and has sailed alongside Spithill in two Sydney-to-Hobart races. Fowler was also Kiwi-born but grew up in Australia. He was part of Oracle's shore team in San Francisco but is on the boat this time.

That means eight of the crew are in unfamiliar territory compared to Spithill and the five others who are in Bermuda after triumphing in San Francisco.

Will it be enough?

Tomorrow will tell.