Brothers of gun New Zealand sailor Blair Tuke watched closely - and a bit nervously - this morning with the country's hopes of returning the Auld Mug resting at least in partly on their sibling's shoulders.
The pair were among a couple of hundred people watching from the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in Auckland as the America's Cup finals action unfolded in Bermuda.
Emirates Team New Zealand enjoyed another perfect morning as the brains trust of Peter Burling, Glenn Ashby and Tuke piloted the flying Aotearoa to two wins against oracle.
"We grew up sailing and I'm extremely proud of him," said 25-year-old Jesse Tuke.
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Advertise with NZME."We're pretty confident the boys will do the business," said older brother Nathan.
Jesse admitted he was a little on edge watching the races but it was nothing in comparison with their mother watching racing from her Auckland lounge.
"I definitely get nervous but nowhere as such as mum. She paces a marathon when the races are on."
He said watching the action from the squadron was great but the temptation to head over to Bermuda and watch live was growing.
"It's a bit of a shame not to be up there," said Jesse.
And he admits it could well be more than a possibility after this morning's results.
There was a buzz of anticipation and victory at the Auckland club as ETNZ screamed through the water.
The swelled between the two races.
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Advertise with NZME.Yacht squadron general manager Hayden Porter says what everyone is thinking: "This is certainly a convincing win in conditions that the New Zealand boat is clearly moded for."
"I don't know if my heart or nerves can take the wait until next weekend."
Cheers erupted as Team New Zealand flew home to win the second race today and take a 3-0 lead in the finals series.
"Wasn't that fantastic?" said Auckland sailor Terry Brailsford.
"We've cleaned the Americans up in another set of wind conditions."
Porter said the Kiwi boat looked a lot further ahead at this stage but warned there was still a long way to go.
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Advertise with NZME."But I have no doubt the Kiwis still have a lot more to offer including a few tricks in their bag that we haven't seen yet."
World masters sailing silver medallist Sheryl Lanigan said she was probably a bit more relaxed than her husband as she watched the boats battle in Bermuda.
"I think the guys are doing a fantastic job and from what we're hearing they seem to have lot of confidence in the bank."
"We've learned the lessons from the last time and Peter Burling is just an amazing sailor."
