Jimmy Spithill has hit back at critics who believed his Luna Rossa team would be unable to match the speed of Team New Zealand in the America's Cup by pointing to the scoreline at the end of day one.
Luna Rossa claimed a narrow seven-second victory in the second race yesterday afternoon, to tie the best-of-13 series one-a-piece at the end of the first day.
"It looks pretty even if you look at the scoreline," Spithill said.
"We saw two races where the boat ahead was able to get it done.
"You've got to go off the scoreline. The score and the results won't lie."
Yesterday's racing indicates the remainder of the series will be an intriguing watch, with huge importance placed on the prestart and adaptability of the boats.
"Both boats are going to win races," Spithill said.
"That's important, that's the series we want. It's important for us too. I'm sure after the first one there were still questions but we came out, we executed and we got it done.
"Now we've got to go to work tomorrow. We've got to build on it.
"The team that develops their boat better through the series will win the cup."
Racing resumes tomorrow at 4.15pm, with coverage starting on TVNZ1 and OnDemand at 3pm.
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