All quiet on water front as dream of invincibility lost

By KATHERINE HOBY

Don't mention the war.

Yachting fans, who were confidently buoyant on Friday and living on the knife edge on Sunday, have gone all quiet.

After two Team New Zealand losses over the weekend, the frisson has been replaced by a sense of disbelief and anger.

And while there are plenty of people strolling the strip of restaurants and bars at the Viaduct Harbour and admiring the sleek lines of the superyachts, they are subdued.

"People seem to have stopped talking about it," said Keith Hunter, of Henderson.

"Things have gone a bit quiet. It's a bit like, 'don't mention the war'."

Mr Hunter thought most New Zealanders believed that Team New Zealand could come back at Alinghi.

But the mood of supporters had definitely shifted. "It's just not what we expected to happen, I guess."

The lead-up to the weekend racing was much like that of a transtasman rugby clash: nerves, excitement, and everyone had a prediction.

People planned their weekends around the racing - flocking to Viaduct Harbour to watch the racing or settling in front of the TV at home with a beer and an air of quiet confidence.

After Saturday's disastrous gear failure, loyalists reasoned that it was "just one of the those things", and settled back to watch Team New Zealand really open NZL82 up and level the series on Sunday.

The shock of that narrow defeat has made people either upset and angry or silent and heavy-hearted.

Talkback ran hot, supporters and detractors alike ringing in to express their feelings.

Cliff, from Mangere, felt that people had known all along how racing would go. "We knew Coutts was the best. We knew it," he said.

"We hoped he wasn't but we damn well knew it. The big bucks won him and they have won through so far too."

Other Team New Zealand fans preferred to focus on the Black Caps' World Cup win over South Africa.

"Are you going to ask me about the cricket?" asked Peter Stones, of Browns Bay.

When told it was the yachting his opinion was required on, Mr Stones quipped: "I'd much rather talk about the cricket."

Mr Stones and friends gathered around his big-screen television to take in the action on Sunday, confident the Saturday loss was nothing more than a hiccup.

"I was very disappointed, as we all were," he said.

"But we're still flying the loyal flag at home. It has dropped a bit but it is still flying."

Brad Cutler is visiting Auckland from San Francisco with his girlfriend to take in some of the racing action.

"It's not over. It's definitely not over," he stressed. "But I think people are a little bit stunned."

He expected to see Team New Zealand win at least one of this week's races.

"It won't be a whitewash. No one wants to see that happen."

nzherald.co.nz/americascup

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