America's Cup: Memories of San Francisco disaster weigh heavily on Ashby, Team NZ

Emirates Team NZ celebrate victory at the America's Cup challenger final off Bermuda. Photo/Gilles Martin-Raget

Team NZ skipper Glenn Ashby admits the ghosts of San Francisco 2013 have haunted his outfit throughout the current America's Cup campaign and looks forward to laying them to rest.

The Kiwis have progressed through to their fifth tilt at the Auld Mug, dispatching Artemis Racing of Sweden in the challenger final and now taking aim at archrivals Oracle Team USA, starting Sunday (NZ time).

"If I had a dollar for every time it's been talked about, I probably wouldn't have to sit here, earning a crust," Ashby told today's pots-race press conference.

The Aussie veteran, who is the only skipper not to fill the position of helmsman at this regatta, is also the only survivor of the sailing crew that built an 8-1 lead in the previous cup event, only to watch Oracle win eight straight races and retain the trophy.

"We debriefed heavily after San Franciso and I think the lessons we learnt out of that have absolutely made us a stronger team going forwards.

"Really, only a couple of years ago, the team was looking down the barrel of having its doors closed and for Emirates Team New Zealand, who have been involved in the America's Cup for such a long period of time, that would have been a real tragedy.

"A few people got together, managed to keep the doors open and that whole team has effectively been rebuilt from the ground up. We were a strong team in the last campaign, but certainly this team, I believe, is a much stronger unit than we've seen before.

"I think the motivation, going forwards, is definitely there. We didn't need much on our side last time to be successful and I think we're in that same position now, where we don't need a lot to go our way to definitely be in the hunt."

Since San Diego in 1988, only two America's Cup challenges have not featured Team New Zealand, a testament to the nation's perseverance and adaptability, even in the face of the most bizarre of rule and format changes over the years.

Ashby credits those generations of sailors and designers for a legacy that has served his syndicate well. In the current regatta, the Kiwis have blazed a trail with the use of cyclors to generate power aboard the ACC boat.

"I think it's the passion to be aggressive in design and innovation," he said. "It's something that has really stood Emirates Team NZ apart from a lot of the other teams over the years.

"This campaign has been absolutely no exception to pushing the boundaries of what's possible and what can be achieved.

"We've been very aggressive from day one - we knew we had to be - with our design and our programme going forwards. Obviously, the cycling side of things is one part of our whole programme that is different to all our opponents.

"We knew that, in this campaign, being based in New Zealand by ourselves and sailing around by ourselves, if we weren't aggressive in our programme going forwards, ultimately I don't think we would have had a chance of being successful over here in Bermuda."

Team New Zealand at the America's Cup
1988 - Lost to Stars and Stripes 88 0-2
1995 - Beat Young America 5-0
2000 - Beat Luna Rossa 5-0 - Defence
2003 - Lost to Alinghi 0-5 - Defence
2007 - Lost to Alinghi 2-5
2013 - Lost to Oracle Team USA 8-9