Team NZ fans fickle creatures

As a mercenary’s wife (my ex-ETNZ husband works for another team) I have been appalled and embarrassed by the media, team and supporter vitriol surrounding this barely New Zealandfunded campaign. This team was never an underdog in any sense (money spent, team ability or skill, time on the water) and to paint this woe-is-us picture when teams like France were competing shows just how lacking in decency let alone truthfulness our nation of armchair competitors and misinformed media are.

If the unthinkable happens again, are you now going to go all hard out on the lovely Peter Burling and his team? Is he going to have “choked” too? Will you refuse to put up money for the next campaign again and leave ETNZ team members and their families adrift again, including those who slaved around the clock for four years to compete for you in this “historical event”?

Over the past three campaigns I have been part of a community of families and teams who have worked and played together in some exotic and beautiful places, knowing we are competing against each other but also knowing we share common family values and truths. This has been a wonderful America’s Cup with some of the most amazing racing and sportsmanship I have been privileged to witness firsthand. I would hate to see this go back to the nasty, elitist and litigious event it was prior to that.

Forget being the underdog or the only one battling to “save” the Auld Mug from the “evil empire” and take full credit for your wins and for your losses.

Cara Carpenter, Bermuda.