There had been doubt about whether Team New Zealand would be able to challenge again if they didn't win the Cup this time around because of the huge financial toll and Dalton had big doubts.
"It's too early to say,'' Dalton said when asked if they will challenge again. "It will be quite difficult now. I always felt that it would be difficult for the team to stay together, particularly financially. There's probably will there but I have probably done my time.''
Dalton has been boss of Team New Zealand since the failed campaign in Auckland in 2003. The 56-year-old, who often sailed as a grinder on board the AC72s and for some time was seen as a lucky charm, came close in Valencia in 2007 when they were beaten by Alinghi 5-2 in the America's Cup match and then again this year when it came down to a winner-take-all final race.
"I am gutted,'' he said. "My job now is to really support the guys and sponsors and suck it in, really. At 8-1, I said to the team we have to close this out because I have a feeling here [Oracle are on the comeback]. I probably slept better in the last two days than I slept a week ago because I sensed it was coming. The luck evens itself out, I guess. We had opportunities to close it out and we didn't.
"They sailed really well. They have just got better and better. They got a minute and a-half faster upwind than they were nine days ago. We were 50 seconds a beat quicker and now they are 50 seconds quicker. They have done a really amazing job to turn it around.''
An emotional skipper Dean Barker broke down in tears after the final race. He is an talented sailor and would have no trouble finding another team to sail with in the future - but only if he wants to.
"Dean is a class act and he's feeling it more than I ever thought he would,'' Dalton said.
"He's pretty emotional. The guys are rallying around him. He's given it everything, as we all have and we were beaten, in the end, by a faster boat.''
Team New Zealand sailed a faultless race today, winning the start and leading for the first two legs before Oracle overtook them on the upwind leg.
"We went out there today to give it our absolute best shot and we felt we didn't leave anything on the table,'' Barker said. "We got a good start, led around mark one and that's all we could ask for. We knew upwind we had a huge fight on out hands and when you're sailing a boat that's going that fast it's very hard to swallow.
"I'm incredibly proud of our team and what they've achieved and I'm gutted that we didn't get the last win that we needed to take the Cup back to New Zealand. It's very hard to swallow.''
