Yachting: Luna Rossa running out of ideas

Dean Barker and his Emirates Team New Zealand crew extended their lead over Luna Rossa at every mark yesterday. Photo / Chris Cameron/ETNZ

Luna Rossa skipper Max Sirena has a novel solution to his team's struggles in the Louis Vuitton Cup finals - "I would like to swap boats [with Team New Zealand] if it's possible."

It was only a cheeky suggestion, but Sirena's comments hint at a deep frustration in the Luna Rossa camp after Emirates Team New Zealand again exposed the speed differential between the two boats to close out another easy win.

The victory took Team NZ to a 5-1 lead, giving them the opportunity to secure the Louis Vuitton Cup today, provided the wind gods co-operate. Regatta director Iain Murray described the expected conditions as "fresh to frightening".

At this point, it is looking like the weather is the only thing that can keep Luna Rossa in the finals, with the Italian team clearly out-gunned by the Kiwi boat. With the chrome cat optimised for heavier air, Luna Rossa struggled in yesterday's light and shifty breeze - the race effectively over by the first mark after Team NZ positioned themselves at the weather end of the course and showed a clean pair of heels off the start line.

From there, the Italians were left cursing their boat as Dean Barker and his crew extended their lead at every mark - the final delta being one minute, 57 seconds.

Fronting the media in good spirits after another demoralising loss, the affable Sirena said his crew are becoming frustrated by the performance of their boat.

"There is frustration when you go out and you try to do everything you can to push and put the other team under pressure, and they are just faster," said Sirena. "I would like to swap boats if it's possible. For sure they are great sailors, but we will see what happens."

Not surprisingly, Dean Barker wasn't willing to hand over the wheel to Chris Draper.

"I don't know if we'd look any good in silver," Barker laughed.

"We're really happy with our boat and the way it's been developing and there's still more to come."

Originally thought to be a heavy air boat, the Kiwi team's performance in the shifty conditions yesterday indicated they are comfortable in light air as well.

"We know what we've got and we've looked at the full wind spectrum of how we manage it and sail it and I think we've just got more consistent in the way we sail it," said Barker.