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Underdogs Desafio Espanol today thanked Team New Zealand for choosing them as opponents in the America's Cup challengers' yachting semifinals beginning off Valencia next week.
The Spaniards lost both their Louis Vuitton Cup round-robin meetings with Team NZ and skipper Karol Jablonski was pleased to get the chance
for revenge over counterpart Dean Barker.
"Dean made the right choice," he said.
"It gives us the chance to pay them back, so thank you now choosing us. It's great for us to race New Zealand. We are really looking forward to it."
However, the Pole was realistic about Desafio's chances of producing what would be a big upset in the best-of-nine-race contest beginning on Tuesday (NZT).
They go in having lost their last three races and as the bottom-ranked of the four qualifiers.
"We are working on a few specific things to make the boat a bit faster and also on our strategy," Jablonski said.
"But what you haven't done in 2-1/2 years, you're not going to do in the next two days."
Team NZ were given the right of selecting their opponents after they finished the double round-robin phase top of the standings.
It came as little surprise they opted for Desafio rather than Americans Oracle Racing or Italy's Luna Rossa, who will meet in the other semifinal.
Nevertheless, Barker said the decision over whom to select was always a difficult one.
"The top four teams are there because they're fast," he said.
"You choose your poison and we've made the choice to race Spain."
Team NZ reclaimed the No 1 ranking with which they began the regatta last month thanks to an emphatic victory over previous leaders Oracle.
There were plenty of plaudits from NZL92's crew for the weather gurus, led by Roger "Clouds" Badham, after an expected tight battle between two heavyweights turned into a procession.
The result was virtually decided by a right-hand windshift that NZL92 hooked on to early on the first beat, while USA98 continued out to the opposite side of the course.
Team NZ opened out a big gap of 55 seconds by the top mark and made gains over the next three legs to win by 1min 34sec.
The win avenged their defeat to Oracle in round-robin one and meant they went through round-robin two with a perfect 10-0 record.
Barker said the decision to target the right-hand side was a late one and was made just before NZL92 entered the start box.
"A lot of credit has to go to Clouds and the weather team," he said.
"They made a change very quickly in the final five minutes before we entered to wanting the right."
After his mistimed start against Sweden's Victory Challenge the previous day, Barker got his own pat on the back for securing the favoured side of the line against Oracle.
"Dean nailed it, and hopefully put the critics to bed," strategist Ray Davies said.
"It was a very clear call from the weather team and Dean executed a great start."
As a sign of the New Zealand influence in the America's Cup, 25 of the 34 sailors in the race were New Zealanders, including Oracle skipper Chris Dickson, who played down the defeat.
"It's one yacht race," he said.
"You're not going to win them all out there. Nobody has and nobody's going to."
But Dickson added that Oracle had definitely wanted to conclude the round-robins in top spot.
"That's why Emirates Team NZ were out there and that's why we were out there," he said.
"The bad news is that we lost a boat race. The bad news is we don't get to choose our poison. The good news is we don't have to choose."
While the semifinalists still have everything to play for, the road has come to an end for the seven other syndicates, who will be preparing to pack up and head home.
- NZPA
