Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton has high praise of his team following today's dramatic victory over Artemis in an epic duel during the Louis Vuitton America's Cup qualifiers in Bermuda.
Emirates Team New Zealand beat the Swedish syndicate only after Artemis suffered a penalty at the final mark. Artemishad to set TNZ pass just before the finish land to hand the New Zealand crew their fourth win of the qualifying series.
Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton said that's the best he's seen the crew sail in a long time.
"They dug really deep in that one. They don't lie down. They know how to win and they win anyway they have to win and I'm really really proud of the way they sailed today. The best I've seen us sail in a long long time," he told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking on the Mike Hosking Breakfast.
Dalton said the team learning a lot from today's dramatic battle with Artemis which included eight lead changes. It looked like Peter Burling's team was set for their second loss of the campaign only for the late penalty to move them to within one point of Oracle after the first round of qualifying.
Listen: Grant Dalton on the Mike Hosking Breakfast
"We're working on it and we're learning a lot on it every day, as the guys would tell you. I think we're reasonably quick. We learned more today than we've learned since we've been here and probably since we launched this boat. We came up against a strong opposition that has won every single race in breeze since they landed here in Bermuda and they taught us heaps," Dalton said.
Artemis won't need to wait long to exact revenge with the Swedes and TNZ clashing in the opening race tomorrow (5.07am NZT).
Dalton said at times it will be a crap shoot during this regatta, with 50-100m loss in one mistake,but still thinks speed will be the ultimate decider on which crew will win the America's Cup.
"In the end, as the cliché goes with this sport, the fastest boat always wins. So the guys will get better and better sailing the course knowing which side you want to be based on the wind direction at the time but you've got to be fast. What speed allows you to do, as we've seen ourselves, is that it can get you out of trouble," he told Mike Hosking.
