Two proud sporting nations are ready to add another chapter to a storied rivalry when the America's Cup Challenger Selection Series finals start on Saturday.
Luna Rossa skipper Max Sirena and Team UK skipper Ben Ainslie before the America's Cup Challenger Selection Series finals. Photo: Studio Borlenghi
It's Italy versus Britain in a showdown that has not been seen before in sailing. The match-up between Luna Rossa and Team UK on Auckland's Waitemata Harbour is the first time two 'European' nations have gone head-to-head in the last chance finals series.
The winner of this series will take on Team New Zealand for the oldest trophy in sport - and the Italians have a point to prove after losing to the British three times this year.
With all the attention now on finding the superior challenger, Team UK skipper Sir Ben Ainslie knows exactly what it will mean to win seven races and proceed to the final.
"We're all trying to make our mark in the history of the America's Cup and we know that whichever team gets through to race Team New Zealand in the final, that's going to be a very very special final," he said.
With one less challenger to keep an eye on now that the Americans are out of the regatta, any modifications the final two challengers made to their boats or the way they sailed them, would not have escaped the attention of their competitor.
The Italians did not hide what they had been up to over the last 10 days - the wing, sails, mast and on-board software all had an upgrade.
While the British have been more tight-lipped about their own development since they last raced, Sir Ben said their chase boat's regular reconnaissance missions were all part of the game.
Team UK and Luna Rossa will go head-to-head in a best of 13 finals series. Photo: Studio Borlenghi
"There is a lot of intense scrutiny of the opposition as you come down to a head-to-head as we've got now in the final, inevitably you're going to be observing that other team that much more closely and that's getting more and more intense as we're getting closer to the races and that's one of the fascinating things about the Cup, in a technical sport like this, there's trying to analyse your opposition but also make the most of the equipment that you've got."
For all of the recon that has been done on the opposition, Luna Rossa skipper Max Sirena said they needed to look internally to get the right result.
"The enemy is ourselves, it's not actually [Team UK] or Ben, we need to sail well against ourselves first," Sirena said.
Luna Rossa have claimed the underdog tag.
But Sirena has also been steadfast in his insistence that they have an edge over the British because Luna Rossa raced in the semi-finals, while Team UK's early wins mean they did not need to and were instead limited to using the simulator to hone their race craft.
"For sure if you ask a sailor if he prefers to do more race than training, I guess the answer is racing. I think we still need to understand and accept the fact that we only have raced a few times with this new boat, we sail quite a lot but we only race probably less than 10 times, so every racing day is gold."
The return of a one-off opportunity for a team to delay racing by 15 minutes, or until another day, should something go wrong with their boat in the lead-up to the scheduled start - means a broken boat can't be an excuse for a poor performance.
Team UK took advantage of this ruling when it was trialled during the last round robin races and Sir Ben is pleased it is back.
"These are highly technical boats, I think a 15-minute window to ensure both boats can race properly or as close to their full potential, I think that's a good move."
The first race of the Challenger Selection Series finals is scheduled to start at 4pm on Saturday and Sir Ben had a prediction.
"I'm really excited about it because I think it could be some of the best racing we've ever seen in the America's Cup."