Americas Cup

                                                                                    

 

  go team New Zealand

   

                   

Oracle Skipper Jimmy Spithill and team owner Larry Ellison lift the Americas Cup after beating Team NZ in the final race in San Francisco.

'Thank you and sorry' - Barker

34th America's Cup

Getty Images Zoom

James Spithill celebrates with the America's Cup.

Team NZ fans watch America's Cup

GRAHAME COX/Fairfax NZ Zoom

A fan at Auckland's Shed 10 battles to watch the final America's Cup race.

AC winning moment

AC R19 Race

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America's Cup

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Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker said losing the America's Cup final was "hard to fathom ... hard to swallow" and he's gutted at not being able to bring the trophy back to New Zealand.
He was proud of the way his team fronted in the last race today but conceded the inevitable happened with Oracle's superior boat speed giving them the edge and a 9-8 win on the points table.
"It's very hard to fathom," Barker said.
"But we felt we didn't leave anything on the table today.
"We knew that upwind we had a fight on our hands against a boat that's fast, it's hard to swallow.
"We got the start we wanted and led around the first two marks but they got us upwind."
Barker said Oracle's improvement had to be commended.
"Look back two weeks ... the gains they have made were phenomenal. We're probably lucky they didn't do it earlier."
Tactician Ray Davies said the crew gave it all today but admitted they simply weren't good enough in the end as rivals Oracle claimed the America's Cup.
"It's very sad," Davies said as the Kiwis looked back on their 9-8 defeat, having lost the last eight races.
"We gave it our all today, and we're proud of that. We can hold our heads high.
"But Oracle came to the party and they deserved to win."
Davies felt they had pushed Oracle hard but couldn't hold off their incredible comeback.
"They were phenomenal," he said of Oracle.
"They really picked their game up. They had to sail well to beat us and they did that."
Davies said they had run out of development gains as the business end of the final dragged on, with the match lasting 19 days in a relentless final, allowing little time off the water for anyone.
"We felt the boat was going well at the beginning ... we had it optimised.
"But Oracle found a couple of gears and good on them. That was the difference."
"We're very disappointed with the way today finished up," Barker added.