Team New Zealand’s run of bad luck continues in the America’s Cup. Down 4-0, TNZ needs to win 5 in a row to retain the cup. I’m pulling for them, but I think that I’ve heard the fat lady warming up for days.

While I’m sorry for the New Zealanders, I’m also sorry for the America’s Cup competition. In the past, the national guidelines were an artifice by which the New York Yacht Club kept American technology away from the competition. But Australia’s historical win in 1983 demonstrated that sailing technology ignores national boundaries. And I think that it will be a shame if the Swiss challenger Alinghi wins with a brain trust hired away from TNZ.

I rooted for America in the challenger round, not Oracle, not BMW, and not Larry Ellison. And I think that national loyalty is vital to the competition. If TNZ wins, then I would expect the rules to change to reflect a greater respect for national boundaries. I doubt that Alinghi would accept such changes, as land locked Switzerland is hardly a hotbed of sailing competition