Quotes of the Day - Race 6, America’s Cup

by America's Cup Media on 1 Jul 2007 America’s Cup Post Race Press conference race six, Brad Butterworth, Juan Vila, Alinghi, Dean Barker, Adam Beashel, Emirates Team New Zealand


Brad Butterworth, Skipper of Alinghi on being overtaken on the first leg at the mark:
'Ed did a great job at the start. We wanted the right, but it’s difficult in those light airs to be able to sail for at least ten minutes, which is what we had to do. We hung on in there for as long as we could, but just about two minutes before hitting the left hand lay line we just couldn’t hold there any longer and they got a little too powerful for my liking and we tacked away. From then on the left was strong all the way to the top mark. We thought the beat was quite fair, but we were always suspected a little more on the right. The angles of those boats are quite big in that 7-8 knot breeze, if you get 7.5 knots you might be 5 degrees higher than the other guy. It’s huge. If you have just a little bit more pressure in that wind range it makes a huge difference and that is what happened.'

Brad Butterworth, Skipper of Alinghi, on how much of their victory was luck: 'I think there is always an element of luck. Unless you have a crystal ball which tells you or you can see the wind buoys you just don’t know. The gate kind of leaves you with what you’ve got- we were going to go opposite to them, so were happy to go round that left mark looking down. We came round with quite a left breeze – and predominantly the right seems to win out. It’s been a tough environment to sail the races, and you have seen big lead changes that are all wind orientated - from the shifts and pressure.'

Brad Butterworth, Skipper of Alinghi, on the umpire call in the pre-start: 'We all get things wrong - some of them more obvious than others. But they’ve got a tough job. They are doing their best.'

Juan Vila, Navigator of Alinghi, on doing outside gybes in comparison to the Kiwis’ inside: 'They were very close to the cut-off. Ours is more than 8 knots, we feel it works better for us, from what we have learnt from the past and in training. I don’t think our strategy has to change, it is one more victory. It would probably be a mistake to sail any differently to what we have done before, we will try to do the same preparation prior to the race and take it as one more race.'

Dean Barker, Skipper and Helmsman of Emirates Team New Zealand, on Alinghi coming back after rounding the gate: 'For a long time, we felt pretty good about life and were still going to be in control of the race. But it just wasn’t to be. A little bit of pressure and a little bit of shift goes a long way in those conditions. That can mean a lot of difference in angle. We certainly didn’t expect so much pressure at the last minute on the second beat but that’s yacht racing sometimes. From my perspective the guys trying to understand such tricky conditions have it tough. The guys in Alinghi are just doing it a little better at the moment, making the most of the opportunities that are there. The gate is fantastic for the guy behind at times. You have to do the best you can whether you are in front or behind to try and figure out what is going to give you the best opportunity. Literally with one or two minutes to go to lay line things turned around dramatically.'

Dean Barker, on the team’s optimism before Race 7: 'We are as positive as we can be. It’s hard losing races we are 3 from 6 round the top mark and we are 2-4 down so they have done a better job at converting their percentages. I think while there is a chance we are still a very dangerous team. I have complete confidence in the guys and our entire team and I do firmly believe we can get ourselves back into it. It’s a big ask as they are a very strong team while there is a chance we will be right there. We will sail exactly the same as we have. We are not sailing badly, it is just that the key moment hasn’t gone our way – we still have 100% belief we can come back and have a good race tomorrow.'

Dean Barker, on whether the team were happy with the umpire call in the pre-start: 'I was, yeah!'

Adam Beashel, Traveller/Windspotter of Emirates Team New Zealand, on performing better gybes than Alinghi: 'I think there is a little difference in the boats cross-overs – we have developed it this way in the last three years of our sailing, and are happy going inside with our gybes in that wind range. Hopefully we will stay inside a little bit higher than what we expected today, and it is what is showing with our slightly better gybes. If conditions get softer later on it could get more interesting.'