The results this time showed that this high level of preparation is as important, or more so, than technological breakthroughs. The winning team next time will need to have plenty of time on the water with the boats they are going to race in order to get the most out of what they have designed and built. Because this takes planning and money, better boat speed becomes a planning problem and a money problem. The team will need to start the project early, plan for an extensive testing cycle and have the money needed to get the boats designed, built, and on the water. Getting the money at all is a problem and getting it early is particularly hard.
Commercial sponsors tend to come on board late rather than early.
Every team would love to be able to do away with the chase for sponsor money. In addition to testing, the adequate and early funding allowed the teams to pursue every technological possibility, or as Cayard said, leave no stone unturned. It was no accident that Prada had the best spinnaker cloth and no one else had it. Individuals like Koch and Bertelli, with this kind of commitment and passion, are hard to find. But there are other ways.