BARCELONA, Spain — 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 a big margin, 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.
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