Two starts from the favoured port side today saw Oracle Team USA finish with two more wins.
It's now 8-5 to Emirates Team New Zealand in the race to nine, and it would have been 8-7 if Oracle didn't have that penalty.
So the question now on everyone's mind is: Are Team New Zealand blowing it?
Two races, two losses – it seems like we were never really in the running. So what's going wrong?
"We've got a huge belief in our team," says skipper Dean Barker. "We are definitely good enough to go out and win this thing and we have obviously had a tough few days and some ups and downs. Things have gone against us. It's sport and we know we can bounce back."
Oracle have modified their boat and it's faster. And they've improved their teamwork too. They've caught up to us and now the pressure's really on.
"The boat is so much quicker than when we started this competition," says Oracle skipper Jimmy Spithill."We can win this. We believe we've got the boat to do it and we've got a wave of momentum now that is getting bigger every day."
But we've got party plans, and top chef Martin Bosley needs to know numbers.
"I'm the caterer, but I have no party to cater for yet," says Mr Bosley. "So it's touch and go the whole time and it's in the kitchen, out of the kitchen, in the kitchen, out of the kitchen."
He's as frustrated as the rest of us.
"We are so close. We all want to party hard don't we?"
Too right we do, and we only need one more win. Oracle still need four. So what are the chances?
"Mathematically the odds are still against them," says Justin Chisholm of Sail Racing Magazine. "They're in a precipice. It's a tightrope. One slip from them and the Kiwis will pounce. But mathematically they can, and after today's performance you wouldn't bet against them winning more races before this is over."
So more agony is forecast for the fans. Team New Zealand have already missed four chances to win it and they've only got four more left.
3 News
source: newshub archive
