KEY POINTS:
Ousted America's Cup skipper Chris Dickson plans to return to New Zealand via Disneyland with his wife and two young daughters after his team's elimination from the challenger series.
Dickson's highly fancied American syndicate, BMW Oracle Racing, were bundled out of the Louis Vuitton Cup series, losing to
a fired-up Luna Rossa 5-1.
Down 4-1, Dickson was booted off the boat by syndicate owner Larry Ellison in a last-ditch attempt to keep his team's cup hopes alive.
But replacement helmsman Sten Mohr was never going to be any match for the Italians.
Dickson said yesterday: "We are disappointed. This is not the exit we had hoped for.
"The reason for our departure is that Luna Rossa has excelled this week. They have been quietly building up and clearly got a lot stronger. They have outsailed us in many areas. They had great speed upwind, enough speed downwind, they started well, got those first windshifts and made good calls. They have done a fantastic job."
Oracle's fall from grace happened at hurricane pace. In round one, they were the top challenger, their boat showing plenty of promise and the crew going well, although some of Dickson's starts were dicey.
In round two, they suffered a costly loss to China Team as a result of gear failure and a loss to Emirates Team New Zealand, dropping them from first to second and losing the right to chose their semifinal opponent.
But, in the end, it was not their boat speed that let them down; it was their sailing.
Dickson said: "The hard part looking back is there is nothing immediate that would lead to changing. What did we lack? Wins.
"Luna Rossa have improved their upwind sails significantly, they improved their downwind sails, they have improved their starting, their crew work, their windshift calls on many levels, whereas a month ago you might have said those were strengths in our team.
"I certainly take it personally but we are in this programme together. We enjoy the wins together and we are all hating the defeat together."
Asked whether there had been any tension on the back of the boat, Dickson said, "No".
But the man he ousted from the sailing team last September, French tactician Bertrand Pace, told the Agence France-Presse news agency that the Kiwi was "dictatorial".
"The organisation of the team was too much like a pyramid. Dickson was the skipper, manager, helmsman and designer. We all knew this dictatorial managerial style could not work," Pace said.
"We manoeuvred badly and made too many errors. We are disappointed because we all thought we had a very good boat."
Ellison has said he will challenge again; whether he still thinks the same when the dust settles has to be seen.
But where does this leave Dickson? Heading the team with the most money and resources, he was thought to be involved in his best chance of winning the America's Cup.
"The future for the team is that Larry is committed to having it continue," he said. "That was decided some time ago and that hasn't changed. It will be some months before there are decisions as to who plays what roles in the ongoing campaign.
"The future for myself is that I signed up for this campaign and I have got a bit of tidying up to do over the coming weeks.
"I will be heading back to New Zealand and taking my family to Disneyland on the way home probably. Life goes on."
Fall from grace
* For first time in Louis Vuitton Cup history, no American team are in the final - the United States' worst showing in the world's oldest international sports event, which began in 1851.