Oracle Team USA skipper Jimmy Spithill has admitted Team New Zealand has the faster boat, but insists his team will be doing everything in their power to try to regain some parity after a one-sided two days of racing in the America's Cup match.
The Australian's crew was powerless to stop the Kiwi boat on the water in Bermuda on Monday (NZT) as Peter Burling sailed a near flawless two races to extend their advantage to 3-0 in the best of nine series.
However Spithill is far from crestfallen, and plans to use "every single hour" of their five approaching lay days to try to even the ledger.
"I think it's pretty obvious – these guys are faster," Spithill responded when asked the difference so far between the two boats.
"We need to make some serious changes. I think these next five days will be the most important five days of the campaign."
It's not an altogether unfamiliar predicament for the 37-year-old, who famously fought back from an 8-1 deficit back in 2013 to steal the Auld Mug from underneath the New Zealanders' noses.
It's a fact that certainly isn't lost on him.
"This isn’t our first rodeo. We've been in this position before, and we've had less time before.
"I think everything's on the table, no two ways about it. We will look at every single thing we can.
"We've got five days to respond now and everything is up for grabs."
Further to their speed advantage, Spithill conceded that his opponents had the edge with their manoeuvres but denied that the bikes had been a factor.
With plenty of off-shore resources at hand, he's confident they'll be able to make the necessary adjustments, with no stone to be left unturned.
"System, appendage, sailing technique and strategy – we're going to look at everything.
"We've shown we can respond and that’s exactly what we plan to do."
On the opposite side of the ledger, Team NZ helmsman Peter Burling was satisfied with the clinical performance of his own crew, but stressed there would be no hint of complacency as they enter the lay-day period.
Despite their emphatic opening, there was still plenty of room for improvement, said Burling.
"We feel like were far from perfect today, and we've got a lot to improve on in the next few days.
"We tidied up a lot of those little errors we made yesterday around the course…our team's really hungry to keep learning and keep moving forward.
"We're excited about the next five days, and we'll keeping on pushing the performance…it’s a lot harder for them if we keep doing that.
"We know if we stand still, they'll catch us."
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