BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Emirates Team New Zealand built a 6-2 lead over INEOS Britannia in the America’s Cup finals on Friday to move just one point away from successfully defending the oldest trophy in international sport.
New Zealand’s yacht Taihoro won both of the day’s regattas in view of the Barcelona beachfront by wide margins, delivering a strong hit to the British crew’s attempt at a comeback.
In the days’ first race, the Kiwis pinned the Brits to the left side of the track and took advantage of higher winds on the right side to take over. They were more than 1,000 meters (yards) ahead when they crossed the finish line over a minute ahead.
They followed that up with another dominant performance to push the British to the brink of defeat.
“It wasn’t a good day for us. Hats off to the Kiwis, they sailed two really strong races,” Britannia skipper Ben Ainslie said. “We have to take it on the chin. But it is still not over yet so we just got to keep on fighting.”
The first of the AC75 foiling yachts to reach seven points will lift the Auld Mug. The British will have to win races 9 and 10 scheduled for Saturday to stay alive.
New Zealand swept the first four regattas before the British bounced back by scoring two wins on Wednesday when Taihoro’s crew made some mistakes in the choppy waters. Britannia skipper Ben Ainslie then declared that “the comeback is on.”
New Zealand, however, had a day off to work out any kinks, eliminated any errors on the waves, and again showed why they are the defending champions.
“When you get a couple of losses it really puts you under pressure, so the way we responded today was awesome,” New Zealand skipper Peter Burling said.
New Zealand is trying to win the America’s Cup for a third straight time and fifth overall. The British have never won it in its 173-year history and are in their first final in six decades.
New Zealand is making good on its role as defender, which in the America’s Cup has the advantage of picking the venue, setting the rules and has a guaranteed spot in the finals. Taihoro hadn’t raced for a month while sitting out the playoffs, when Britannia bettered four other rivals.
Britannia came in with recent racing experience and counted on the backing of the Mercedes Formula 1 design and engineering units. But New Zealand’s in-house design team has so far delivered a superior boat for the fall-weather finals.
The Brits are now reduced to hoping that they can tap into that America’s Cup lore of the 2013 comeback by Oracle Team USA, which was losing trailing 8-1 to Team New Zealand before rallying for a 9-8 victory. Ainslie, who is also Britannia’s chief executive, was involved in that historic fightback for the Americans.
That is most likely why Team New Zealand was subdued in its celebrations on Friday despite needing just one more win from five possible races.
When asked how he felt being so close to the title, New Zealand helmsman Nathan Outteridge replied: “I am feeling like it is not done until it’s done.”
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