I take these points Darryl and Faye is no favaourite of mine as he clearly proved himself to be an utter ratbag and fraud in many areas of his life, including taking citezenship in Ireland because it did not have an extradition treaty with NZ where he was wanted for serious charges.
However the challenge did force a rethink of the tired old 12 metre tubs they were sailing.
It looked to something really grand and huge, taking the cup back to the J boats and that I thought showed faith in the poetry of sailing and the mystique of the cup. I was not so interested in who would win but seeing something beautiful happening on the water.
I remember at the time thinking that if NYYC had stayed on target and just stalled for time they would have got there looked like real sportsmen, no matter what the outcome. They were not used to someone coming at them hard and fast and using their own tricks and I think they just lost it when they thought, yes, let's go cat with a wing, let's drag the cup down into the mud.
I remember thinking that Conner was crazy not to sit that one out, having lost and regained the cup he was guaranteed to be a folk hero forever.