OPINION: It's either a massive smokescreen or a gigantic concession, but Sir Russell Coutts' statement that Team New Zealand have a better package than Oracle Team USA doesn't sound like good news for the defenders.
When the America's Cup Match resumes on Sunday morning, the Americans will find themselves in a zero - three hole in the race to seven wins, and a forecast of more light winds in unlikely to fill Oracle's sails with much optimism after the Kiwis dominated the opening two race days in similar conditions.
It's that forecast that may give an insight into one of the areas the defence has faltered and why Oracle haven't been more competitive.
In a major shake-up of the regatta format, the Americans put themselves in the first stages of the challenger series, the Louis Vuitton Qualifiers. It marked the first time since the first challenge in 1870 the defender had sailed against a challenger before the Cup Match.
Oracle may have viewed it as a necessary step; away from home waters, it put them front and centre of the event from day one, it gave them valuable time on the water and a chance to mix it with their rivals. But it ceded one of the defender's biggest advantages.
During their groundbreaking run to Cup glory in 1995, Team New Zealand posted a record of 42 wins and only one loss on the water. Five years later they kept their hands on the Auld Mug, but only sailed five races for the same result.
Why the vast difference in race wins? In 2000, the Kiwis were the defender and had no part in the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series. All they had to do was win five races.
And crucially, all they had to do was design a boat that would win five races, within a shorter time frame than the challengers, and as a result in conditions they could more easily define.
The tide literally turned in Oracle's favour four years ago in San Francisco. Tide and currents in San Francisco Bay impacted the wind limits for racing on a daily basis, and as it turned after the first week when the Kiwis had built their big lead, the conditions were better suited to the American boat. There was more than one reason why Oracle retained the Cup but understanding the weather and conditions when they mattered most was a factor.
Team NZ certainly won't forget what happened in that second week, but may have taken the changing conditions into consideration better that the defenders.
Of all the boats in Bermuda, New Zealand are set up the best for light winds. Why? Because the weather in Bermuda at this exact time of year is for light conditions.
By involving themselves in the regatta from day one, Oracle negated one of their biggest advantages. The bonus point for the Match as top qualifier would've been too big of a carrot to ignore, meaning they needed a boat geared for all conditions, possibly taking their focus away from the end goal.
But the Cup Match has been in Team NZ's sights for the entire campaign. The sailors often say it's the lighter days that have bigger demands on the crew maintaining the hydraulic pressure needed to control the boat, a problem they cunningly solved with cycle grinding. Limited to only two sets of foils, the Kiwis optimised one set for the lowest end of the wind limits, the exact conditions they expected in Bermuda when it mattered most.
It's one of many lessons the Kiwis took away from the heartbreak of San Francisco, but as helmsman Peter Burling has said, the America's Cup is about who wins the last race - not the first one. By putting themselves in the first race when they didn't even need to, Oracle may only have themselves to blame for not winning the last one.
Greg Pearson is a Newshub sports producer and reporter.
