How many parallels can be drawn between what is happening on and off the water with regards to Team New Zealand and the Barker-Dalton drama? Words such as leak, trimming and tacking, jumping ship and sinking ship have so many meanings in this scenario.
The drama off the water is fast becoming more complicated than the technical and tactical decisions associated with racing.
There have been claims of leaks to the media of Barker's impending demise which indicated Team New Zealand's public image as a tight unit was springing a leak, along with its financial security, heading toward 2017.
As a result, someone decided it was time to trim the sails and the budget and ultimately Barker was the one who had to walk the plank.
Did Team NZ really think he would be content with a new role that would mean he was landlocked?
No-one likes to be pushed sideways, demoted, or asked to jump off.
Transitions are never easy.
The guide to sailing for dummies suggests tacking is a key part of the `transition' phase of racing.
There is great potential for costly mistakes with each tack, and it looks like the ''tacking'' of those at the helm of Team NZ may have broken the three golden rules with regards to a good tack.
First, the turn through the tack should be gradual, not fast.
The negotiations between Team NZ and Dean Barker were probably slow and deliberate to start with, but the ''leak'' created panic and caused the tack to occur at a much faster pace than anticipated.
The consequences for Dalton and Team NZ have been damaging.
The second rule of tacking is to not tack through too large an angle.
If the angle is too large, speed is wasted. It is also important to rehearse tacks until the right amount of tack is mastered.
Maybe Team NZ was making too many drastic changes, and biting off too much of its ''transformation'' in one tack.
It also hadn't practised the process of ''releasing'' team members often enough so botched up this change in direction big time.
The third rule of good tacking is to accelerate well after the tack.
This is where Barker has gained a decent lead on Team NZ. He accelerated away from the syndicate at lightning speed.
He publicly distanced himself from Dalton, quickly took up a job as a tactician for a Russian team in the RC44 Championship Tour which starts at the end of this month, and he firmly rejected Team New Zealand's offer to be its sailing coach and performance manager.
With these prompt and decisive moves he has signalled that: a) he doesn't like losing (a great trait to have in someone at the helm; b) his counter-tacking is a force to be reckoned with, and; c) he is available to other America's Cup contenders and will be taking 20 years' worth of intellectual property and experience with him.
Team New Zealand's decision-makers started the tack, but didn't follow it through effectively.
They are left floundering around working to gain traction with the Government, sponsors, and the New Zealand public, in an attempt to win back credibility and goodwill they've lost.
They are fortunate that the backlash hasn't been that forceful because we've been distracted by the Cricket World Cup and the great performance of the Black Caps thus far.
It's also difficult to feel sorry for a ''sport'' that caters to billionaires and tycoons, and with ''athletes'' who live well beyond the means of many of the taxpayers contributing to their sport.
If Team NZ manages to repair the damage it hasa sustained during Barkergate, all will be forgiven (but not forgotten?).
No doubt, Dean Barker will be able to keep his family in the lifestyle they're accustomed to.
He may have to sell himself to the highest bidder on a regular basis to do it, and he won't have the luxury of job security he had while with Team New Zealand, but if he can survive losing the America's Cup with an 8-1 advantage, he can survive this.
Team New Zealand, on the other hand, has choppier conditions to navigate through. It needs to cut budgets back even more, secure government support, appease the New Zealand public and attract sponsors.
It needs the two new crew members to step up and deliver, and it needs to do some major PR spinning to get people to believe in Dalton and the board again.
