The familiar cool, calm, collected atmosphere surrounding Team New Zealand saw them appear as relaxed hitting the water on day one against a race-ready Luna Rossa, as they looked winning the Auld Mug 7-3 on day seven.
However, Team NZ trimmer Glenn Ashby has admitted there was a time theyquestioned what was ahead.
Having not raced an opponent since December's World Series while Luna Rossa enjoyed two months of racing in the Prada Cup, Ashby said they were uncertain about how they'd stack up.
"We didn't know how were we going to go against these guys in any conditions when we lined up, they'd made such massive improvements since December, their performance ramp was almost vertical going through," Ashby said.
"It was impressive to see sitting back watching the racing and watching [Luna Rossa] come through, they were also sailing their boat better and better and pulling off manoeuvres we thought weren't possible early on.
"We knew that we had to keep pushing hard for ourselves to be able to match these guys as they were coming through because they were on a pretty good roll of momentum."
Glenn Ashby at the pot-race press conference. Photo / Photosport
The man behind the radical AC75s, Team NZ designer Dan Bernasconi, was asked how he felt of Team NZ's chances given the tricky sailing conditions this America's Cup.
And while admitting he pondered Luna Rossa's perceived advantage sailing in the lower wind range, Bernasconi said they were confident in their ability to win races in all conditions.
"We saw what the media were saying and there was a general opinion that Luna Rossa were going to be stronger in the light winds against us, we didn't particularly feel that, we felt we were competitive across the range," Bernasconi said. "But until we actually got on the race track, it was really hard to know how we were going to do against Luna Rossa with boat speed.
"I think we'd have been happy to take any wind condition, strong or light, we didn't feel particularly stronger or weaker in any part of the range."
Peter Burling and Team New Zealand celebrate victory with the America's Cup. Photo / Photosport
Meanwhile, Bernasconi added that Te Rehutai enjoyed sailing fast and that it was somewhat of a shame they didn't get a chance to unleash her at her full potential.
"We were looking at [Thursday's] forecast and thinking it could've been a little silver lining if we were racing because the breeze was up and it would've been great to actually do some racing in more breeze," he said, before Luna Rossa skipper Max Sirena jokingly added, "Why didn't you give us the point then?"
"The boat loves the breeze," Bernasconi continued, "Upwind in 15-20 knots it's absolutely sensational and the boat has a lot more to give in these conditions."
