Less than 24 hours before a potentially defining day in New Zealand sporting history, a foreign reporter's press conference question to Team NZ helmsman Peter Burling has echoed the darkest fears of Kiwi fans.
In workplaces and homes across the country today, perhaps the majority of New Zealanders, burned by Oracle's 8-1 comeback in San Francisco in 2013, are refusing to believe that an America's Cup victory is all but a done deal.
So, queue this question to Burling from the press pack at today's post racing press conference: "You know, looking back to 13, going, okay, you guys were on match point a lot in 13, how do you prepare for tomorrow?"
It was a question to send Kiwis into a cold sweat. But Peter Burling, who wasn't involved in that campaign, had an ice cool, calm and measured response.
"Yeah, well just the same way you prepare every day," he replied.
"You know, it's something that not a lot changes for us, you know everyone's pretty fresh, and we've put a lot of thought into how we want to approach this.
"We'll go back and have a good look at all the data, all the footage, as we do every night and review everything, see if there's any areas we can improve on the boat and just keep pushing forward.
"You know, we feel like we're on such a steep part of the learning curve, but at that same time we've got some great guys in the background that allow us to keep progressing."
Team NZ lead the first-to-seven series 6-1.
Tomorrow's racing begins shortly after 5am.
