KEY POINTS:
Four months out from the Challenger series, Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker, sitting in his team's base in Auckland, is content but wary.
He is happy his team are the top-ranked challenger, happy that their first new boat, NZL84, was at least equal with everyone else's
- and happy with their second boat, NZL92, which for the past six weeks has undergone rigorous testing against NZL84.
Barker's only worries now are things he cannot control.
"If we were ever struggling for motivation, we just have to look back at 2003. The team has matured dramatically from then, it is a lot more professional. We are in a very good position going back to Valencia now."
While Team NZ have revealed almost all their hardware, their two main rivals, BMW Oracle Racing and Luna Rossa, and defenders Alinghi have not. Oracle say their second boat is different from their first, while Luna Rossa have gone a step further, saying their new boat is "radically" different.
Barker said: "If someone was to turn up with a boat that was completely out there and was fast, that would make my life pretty tough. But in this America's Cup, I don't think you can expect to go out there with a boat that is going to be a mile quicker. If you are doing a boat that is radically different to your first one, it probably means you are not happy with the first design path you have gone down.
"We have committed to our boats and we pretty much have all our hardware ... it is about sailing that gear and using it as well as we can."
Over the next four months, Team NZ will continue to test their new boats, alternating keels, bulbs, masts and so on, to see which combination is most effective in which conditions. Ultimately they will be looking to determine which boat they will race in the Challenger series.
"The two boats, although not vastly different, do have different tendencies. We have to extract the best out of the boats for the conditions we expect in Valencia. The better we can be across a range of conditions, it is going to put us in a much stronger position."
The team will also spend a considerable amount of time racing. Although they are already one of the best in getting the boat around the course, Barker said there was an endless list of manoeuvres to perfect and unknowns to prepare for.
"We do invest a bit into preparing for breakdowns, even though our whole focus is reliability driven. Everything we do now as a result of 2003 is reliability driven. But if you went all the way through to the America's Cup and all the series' [Challenger series final and cup match] went to nine, I think you would do 54 races. You can't expect not to have some problem in one of those races."
If, as predicted, next year's event does come down to sailing ability, then Barker feels his team's strong in-house racing will stand them in good stead.
"When you come in off the water after a ding-dong battle, the vibe through the place is great. With Ben [Ainslie] and Kelvin [Harrap] heading up the second boat, they are pushing us very hard."
This will be Barker's first Challenger series. The 33-year-old spent five months with the team during the 1995 campaign - but chose not to go to San Diego, concentrating instead on his Finn campaign. He helmed Team NZ in the final race of the 2000 Cup and steered the boat during the 5-0 whitewash to Alinghi in 2003 - giving him a grand total of six races in the last two Cups.
"I think the nice thing from my perspective, having not been involved in a Challenger series, is that the Acts [pre-regattas] have sort of softened the blow in a lot of ways. You know what it is going to feel like to go out there and do a series of round-robin races, and to move on from there."
He said his team put the last defence behind them a long time ago but are aware there are still doubters.
"Everyone is entitled to their opinions. It is one of those things where the only way we can change opinions is to go out there and keep getting results."
When asked to sum up his team in two words, Barker chooses 'focus' and 'respect'.
"I think those words describe how this team operates. There is a huge amount of respect right throughout the team for what everyone else is doing around them. We are focus-driven - and that starts at the top with Grant Dalton and feeds down.
"I am very pleased with where we are. I think 2006 was very important not only for the team but also for myself. The boat is at least equal with everyone else's - and that makes life a little bit easier."
