By MATHIEU TRUFFER*
Can Team New Zealand come back from three-nil down? Possibly, if you look at history and study the stats.
In 1983, Australia II won three in a row to win the cup 4-3. And in 1992's Louis Vuitton Cup final, Il Moro di Venezia did even better against New
Zealand, winning four back-to-back to take the trophy 5-3.
In both cases, reversals of fortune were at least partly attributed to a crew losing control under pressure and making unexpected mistakes when things started to turn sour.
For the moment, Alinghi are showing no signs that this could happen. The team have worked over the years with famous Swiss trainer Jean-Pierre Egger, who has taken many athletes to world titles and Olympic medals in disciplines as different as athletics, soccer or skiing.
Since 2000, Egger has delivered several speeches and worked practically to prepare the team to perform in a hostile environment. Potential crisis situations have been imagined and solutions worked out with the emphasis on teamwork.
Today, Egger is happy. "I've never worked with a group exuding so much confidence and calm," he says.
Such is also the mood back in Switzerland, although TV viewers are getting a little tired of getting up at one in the morning to see Harold Bennett mumble in a mobile phone and the event stretching way over expectations.
Victory is widely expected now, and it's more a question of knowing what will happen when Ernesto Bertarelli hops off the plane with silverware in his hands.
Swiss President Pascal Couchepin has made time available in his hectic schedule to be the first to enjoy a video conference with Bertarelli. Sports Minister Samuel Schmid is expected to meet the crew at the airport.
Alinghi are working on a victory party in Geneva too.
Details are not all public, but funding will be private, sponsors and Bertarelli himself paying for it.
Whether people will eventually turn up will be interesting, and a good sign of what the team have achieved in terms of popularity.
After a very low-key start, interest has mounted over the past week. TV ratings have improved substantially.
But feelings are more of curiosity and inquisitiveness than of outright enthusiasm. People talk about it, but the whole thing hasn't generated the kind of passion that skiers or footballers do, says Swiss TV news presenter Darius Rochebin.
Alinghi's crew will also be made available for sponsors and partners and are expected to appear publicly on a number of occasions not only in French-speaking but also in German-speaking Switzerland, where interest has been smaller.
So it all seems to be rolling in the country of watches and precision. The only issue now seems to be wind in the Hauraki Gulf: either too weak, too shifty or, as the weather forecasts announce, soon too strong.
And what if Team New Zealand manage to pull off something special in race four?
It takes only very little to disrupt the best organisation.
And the more unexpected, the more spectacular, admits the ever-cautious Egger. Maybe this thing is not completely over yet.
* Mathieu Truffer is a Swiss journalist covering the America's Cup.
Continuous coverage of today's America's Cup race will begin on nzherald.co.nz at 12.30pm.
nzherald.co.nz/americascup
Racing schedule and results
By MATHIEU TRUFFER*
Can Team New Zealand come back from three-nil down? Possibly, if you look at history and study the stats.
In 1983, Australia II won three in a row to win the cup 4-3. And in 1992's Louis Vuitton Cup final, Il Moro di Venezia did even better against New
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