Ben Ainslie's imminent departure from Team New Zealand to the new English syndicate may not be as certain as first thought.

The Dean Barker back-up helmsman and double Olympic gold medallist was expected to announce the shift within weeks. But Englishman Ainslie obviously has other ideas.

For a start he was spotted this week by the Sunday Star-Times meeting with the chief executive of Luna Rossa, Anthony Romano. The meeting in a cup village cafe was cordial and business-like.

Only a few hours earlier Romano admitted the game known as America's Cup musical chairs had hit overdrive.

"Everyone is off contract so this is the time to talk," he said. "You would be silly not to. We want the best possible sailors in our team. We have a good team but we're always looking to make it better."