Valencia Sailing has published an very interesting discussion with Luna Rossa's James Spithill. Excerpts.

Let's start with the semifinals. Were you surprised to beat BMW Oracle by such a margin?

I was surprised with the score line. Honestly, we always thought it was going to go to the full nine races. When I was preparing and looking at the two teams, we both looked very strong and I could see no reason why it shouldn't go to the nine races. So my answer is yes, we were surprised but the score line doesn't represent how close racing was.

Still, the scoreline shows a great difference. Was that due to Luna Rossa improving considerably or BMW Oracle imploding during the semifinals?

You know it's difficult for me to say what happened inside BMW Oracle since I'm not part of the team but we have been working on that for 3 years now, trying to put the whole package together out on the water and I think we took a good step forward in improving during the round robins. After all, that has always been our goal, to continue our development and keep stepping up after each stage.

Without any doubt, your very successful prestarts played a very important role in your victories against BMW Oracle. Don't you think you sometimes took too much risk for an America's Cup boat and race?

No, because this is what we have been doing in house. The only reason we were really able to go out and push hard with confidence is because we had been pushing very hard with our in-house racing. Philippe Presti and all the guys on ITA 86 have been pushing ITA 94 to the limit. In addition, they have been providing with lots of support during the races, such as analysis and spotting areas where we need to improve. Philippe Presti and Charlie McKee have done a fantastic job.

Will you be equally aggressive against Emirates Team NZ or are you going to have more conservative prestarts?

When we go out to race and we see an opportunity we'll go for it, whether it is in taking an advantage in the prestart, in boathandling or even with the wind. You can also argue Torben Grael was aggressive in the way he raced the wind but he and I think the same way. If we see an opportunity, we are going to get it.

Sure, but you lost your second semifinal race against BMW Oracle because of what a lot of people thought was Torben throwing a dice hoping to get lucky. Is he going to follow more conventional match racing tactics now?

When I look at my team and its tacticians, Charlie McKee and Torben Grael, I wouldn't want anyone else in the back of the boat calling tactics. They both are extremely good in their jobs and among the best in the world. One thing that has been satisfying to me is that we have been able to show we can play a lot of different styles in the game. We can play the read the wind, split, or we can play the tight match racing and go bow for bow. For us it's something we have been working on very hard and it's good to be able to show it. We will keep doing what we have been doing, keep training the same and not change anything.

Having seen the Spanish take these two wins do you feel more confident now? Do you think it will be easier for you than you previously thought?

No, I don't. If you look at the round robins, Shosholoza beat us, Desafío Español beat BMW Oracle, Mascalzone Capitalia beat Emirates Team NZ. There were six boats, incredibly close in speed and it only takes one mistake to lose a race. I treat the kiwis with just as much respect as I did with BMW Oracle and I'm sure they are going to be tough.

What is that you fear the most about the New Zealanders?

The fact that when I look carefully at them I don't see any weaknesses. I'm sure they feel the same when they look at us. For me it's just two teams that are extremely evenly matched and I'm sure we will see a real fight on the water.

Will boat speed be an important factor in that fight? Is any of the two boats (ITA 94 and NZL 92) faster than the other one?

Yes, boat speed will be very important as it has always been. For me both boats look very similar. In the last couple of months we only raced them twice, both races were very close and the result is even. We won one and lost one. As I said, our boat and the ones of BMW Oracle, the New Zealanders and Spanish were all really close. I'm expecting the same.

Finally, what will be the determining factor in the Louis Vuitton Cup final, either for you or the New Zealanders?

There is no individual factor. For me it's the whole package. It's a team sport and you can't do just one thing correctly, you have to do everything well. That was the ingredient to our success against BMW Oracle and something we work hard upon for the finals.