America's Cup: Team New Zealand play down psychological advantage

Glenn Ashby, center, skipper for Emirates Team New Zealand, waves to fans after the team won both races against Oracle Team USA in America's Cup match sailing competition Saturday. Photo / AP.

Team New Zealand skipper Glenn Ashby has played down any talk of a psychological advantage after their perfect start to the America's Cup match.

The Kiwi syndicate went two-from-two on the opening day, after out-witting and out-sailing defender Oracle Team USA in both races. But Ashby was reluctant to get carried away with his team's strong early progress, pointing out it has a familiar feel to it.

"We've definitely seen this movie before," Ashby told the Herald, referencing his team's impressive start to the last Cup match in San Francisco, in which the Kiwis won four of the first five races.

"We'll just keep our heads down and keep chipping away at what we know we need to keep working on and hopefully we'll remain competitive all the way through the series."

Ashby, who is the only member of the 2013 crew that is still aboard Emirates Team New Zealand in Bermuda, was happy to see his side back in positive figures after going into the Cup match one point down.

Oracle carried a one-point advantage into the series after taking out the round-robin phase of the competition earlier this month.

"We know we're in for a really long battle over the next week or so, but the fact that we're actually in the mix and in the game - the fact we've made it through this far, I think everyone will be pleased we managed to get off on the right foot today."

While the scoreboard will show two comfortable wins to Team NZ - 30 seconds and 1 minute, 28 seconds - the light, puffy conditions on the Great Sound ensured the Kiwi syndicate were anything but comfortable during the racing.

Ashby believed his team's strong starts - an area helmsman Peter Burling has previously been maligned for - were key today.

Oracle skipper Jimmy Spithill, who has previously criticised Burling for his "rookie fouls" in the startbox, was pushed over the startline early in the opening race, immediately handing Team NZ a two boat-length head start. In the second race the two boats were fairly even off the startline, but Team NZ had the acceleration to roll Oracle down the first reach.

"The starting today gave us the opportunity to sail our own race a little bit more, after getting off the line really well," said Ashby.