America's Cup: Barker plays down facing team NZ

Peter Burling, Franck Cammas, Sir Ben Ainslie, Jimmy Spithill, Dean Barker and Nathan Outteridge at the 35th America's Cup opening press conference. Photo / Chris Cameron / Photosport

Japan face off against NZ tomorrow.

Dean Barker says Team New Zealand will just be another boat on the water when he faces off against his former team in tomorrow's America's Cup Qualifiers.

Barker, who was ousted from the Kiwi syndicate in 2015 following a messy spat with team boss Grant Dalton, will tomorrow have his first opportunity to exact revenge on the team he led for three America's Cup campaigns, when his new outfit, Team Japan, meet Emirates Team New Zealand in the third race of the day.

The first round robin was due to kick off this morning, following the postponement of the opening day of racing yesterday due to heavy winds in Bermuda. Team NZ were set to meet Team France first up, before taking on the defender, Oracle Team USA, in a highly anticipated rematch of the 2013 America's Cup final.

Following hot on the heels of the Oracle showdown, Team NZ have another grudge match today against the Kiwi-led Japanese syndicate.

But Barker, who took several former Team NZ personnel with him when he set up Team Japan, has played down the rivalry between the two teams.

"[Team NZ are] just another boat on the water out there. We've raced against them a number of times in the America's Cup World Series events over the last two years and they've obviously put a competitive team together, but in terms of what we get when we go racing in these boats, it's all on. I think all the teams are capable of winning any race and we have to make sure we turn up against each and every one of them," Barker told the Herald on Sunday.

Barker scored an early win over his former team during practice racing last month, outwitting Glenn Ashby's young crew, on what was their first day of racing in Bermuda.

Since then, Team Japan, who have been working with Oracle, have refused to race the New Zealand boat, starving the Kiwi team of meaningful practice racing opportunities.
Double Olympic medalist Peter Burling, who effectively deposed Barker at the helm of Team NZ, admitted his crew still have plenty to learn.

"Our team have been up here for a pretty short amount of time and we're on a massively steep learning curve," said Burling.

"We're a bunch of young guys and we're all enthusiastic, and I think that is something we do bring to the table - we learn and adapt really, really fast. These boats are different and evolving every day and it's something you do have to learn and keep on the steep part of the learning curve to get ahead of the game."

Burling will face off against Barker twice in the Qualifiers, which is a double-round robin format, after which the top four challengers will advance through to next month's Louis Vuitton challenger semifinals, while the bottom-ranked team will be forced to pack their bags after just a week of racing.

• Dana Johannsen travelled to bermuda thanks to Emirates Airline.