We were sailing the boat faster and faster as the week went along. Boat speed is always the key and we were able to come back in a bunch of races. We were real deep today and worked our way through the fleet.

It was symbolic of the prevailing attitude at the time that locks to the base were changed abruptly so that sailors, who had been with Team New Zealand for more than a decade, including Brad, found themselves humiliatingly locked out.

By clearing the air we hope we can now return to a focus on the sport and to the action on the water.

This fleet is really tough and this is our first time sailing together. We'll try our best and see what happens.

We've been getting better as we go along. We might be winning if we'd been able to get better starts. We've spent the week battling through the fleet. We've had very good downwind speed, which has enabled us to make up ground.

It was certainly a good day for us. We just need to keep doing what we've been doing for one more day.

We'll see who is close on points and keep an eye on them. Vinnie drives the boat well and is pretty relaxed. It's the Italian factor. The whole team is laid back.