Kevin Shoebridge, the Emirates Team New Zealand chief operating officer, believes the Kiwis have ticked all the boxes and will go into the 35th America’s Cup Match with defender Oracle Team USA with plenty of momentum and confidence.

“There’s a really nice confidence in the place that just can’t wait to get out there on Saturday and take it on,” Shoebridge said.

“As a sailing outfit, we’re basically a whole lot better off after a semi-final series, and a tough final series against Artemis has left us in a pretty good place as a sailing team. That’s quite noticeable on the water.

“The guys are sailing really well, sailing with a lot of confidence and our manoeuvres and everything are a lot smoother under pressure. We feel really good with the progress we’ve made in the last couple of weeks.”

Since securing their place in the final against two-times defending champions Oracle, the Kiwis have been sharpening their sailing skills practising on the Great Sound.

“It’s really about looking at our strengths and weaknesses, and where we wanted to be by Saturday morning, and that’s what we focused on,” Shoebridge said.

“We are getting to the point at the end of the competition now where you want to concentrate more on the things that you can control: the starting, the way you sail the boat, your strategy and tactics ... all those kind of things.

“The biggest gains on the table is sailing the boat well and learning the equipment that you have because right through this whole challenger series, we were sailing with new equipment and never really got a big opportunity to test or develop what we had.

“That’s what we’re focusing on now, trying to make the most of what we have, and there’s still some pretty big gains to be made just by doing that.”

The Kiwis have also been fine-tuning their America’s Cup Class foiling catamaran over the past several days to ensure that it is up to par for the grudge match with Oracle, a repeat of the 34th America’s Cup Match in San Francisco in 2013.

“We’re doing small refinements to the boat, but it’s more fine-tuning as opposed to broad changes,” Shoebridge said. “We are constantly looking at our control systems — our rudders and elevators, and all those bits and pieces. There’s lots of little things, but nothing out of the ordinary. It’s pretty late in the game to bring on untested hardware.”

Shoebridge is bracing himself for what he expects will be another close battle with Oracle, whom they lost against twice during the qualifying phase.

“There’s no question they are a well-organised and well-drilled outfit,” he said. “This will be an evenly matched competition.

“It’s going to take a lot of things to go the right way and a lot of good sailing to come out as the winner, and we’re expecting to go out there and have a full-on tussle.”