A Team New Zealand v Artemis showdown in the Louis Vuitton challenger final provides the best chance of a meaningful America's Cup match.
The harder the challenger series, the better the chances are of the successful challenger winning the America's Cup and I think in the Kiwi and Swedish syndicates we have found two clear stand-outs from the rest of the pack. I wasn't surprised to see these two teams through to the final - Team NZ's Peter Burling and Artemis skipper Nathan Outteridge are two of the best sailors in the world right now.
It sets up a cracking couple of days of finals action, and I think it will be a real tussle - which is what we want to see. If it's a whitewash I don't think it's good for the challenger - whoever goes through.
The way the Louis Vuitton finals format has been set-up, it is probably unrealistic to expect any team will go through to the Cup match unbeaten anyway. The racing is too cut-throat. You make one mistake on these short courses, and you will be punished.
While some Kiwi fans will be sad to see Dean Barker bow out, it was best for the competition that Team Japan were eliminated at this stage. Had the Kiwi-led Japanese syndicate won the challenger final, I don't know why anyone would bother to watch the Cup match. Softbank are so aligned with Oracle that it would have been pretty much a foregone conclusion who would win the America's Cup.