Skipper Dean Barker cracks the champagne as Team New Zealand celebrate victory in the Louis Vuitton Cup.

Abraham Lincoln, one of the greatest presidents of the United States provided the mantra that could help Team New Zealand reclaim the America's Cup in the land of Yankee-doodle-dandy.

"I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends," Lincoln said.

Team New Zealand carried that out to near perfection when they completed their Louis Vuitton Cup final rout of Luna Rossa yesterday, a 3min 20sec win meaning a 7-1 victory in the best of 13 series.

Yesterday's enemies now become today's friends as the Italians join forces with Team New Zealand in San Francisco to help the Kiwis plot the downfall of Oracle in the America's Cup match, a best of 17 series that starts on September 8.

Their friendship dates back a couple of years when Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa entered a design-sharing agreement to get the tardy Italians to the start line in San Francisco.

But now that their one-sided battle on the water has come to an end, the real benefits of their relationship will bear fruition for Grant Dalton's syndicate.

The two rivals share a common goal of trying to squeeze everything possible out of the impressive Aotearoa to ready her for the tangle against Oracle.

Having a tricked-up Luna Rossa to practice starts and manoeuvres over the next fortnight will be more valuable to the Kiwis than any of their "races" over the past couple of months.

The two syndicates share a bond when it comes to Oracle. They don't like the mob run by billionaire Larry Ellison and his hired gun Russell Coutts. They don't like what they've done to the America's Cup by super-sizing the boats and pricing it beyond the reach of syndicates who were genuinely interested but simply couldn't afford to compete.

Luna Rossa would much rather the America's Cup returned to New Zealand than stay in San Francisco for Ellison's next edition. They want sport's oldest contest returned to some sense of normality.

Suddenly they can both trot out another famous Lincoln quote: "A friend is one who has the same enemies as you have."

Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa have worked hard in the jury room to keep Oracle in check and will work even harder on the water over the next couple of weeks to try to make Aotearoa competitive enough to bring the Auld Mug back to New Zealand.

That remains the biggest question, the unknown quantity of this regatta - how fast are Oracle? Or most importantly, are they faster than Team New Zealand?

This event hasn't helped itself to endear fans with legal wrangles, $120 million budgets, tax-payers' money, a pathetically small fleet, one-boat races and even a death.

But the fascination of the America's Cup has lurked as much as the frustration.

Now, Team New Zealand's presence in the grand finale means the opening race will be compulsive viewing.

In fact the short dash to the very first mark will probably reveal everything about who has got it right and just who has got it wrong.