Emirates Team New Zealand is halfway to keeping the America’s Cup after taking a 4-0 lead against INEOS Britannia in the finals on Monday. The cup goes to the first yacht that wins seven races.
New Zealand’s Taihoro secured its fourth victory off the Barcelona coast, beating Britannia by 23 seconds. The race saw both yachts exchange leads, but the Kiwis pulled ahead and finished more than 350 meters in front.
“It’s nice just to keep marching forward,” said New Zealand skipper Peter Burling.
Burling’s cautious attitude likely comes from his team’s experience in the 2013 America’s Cup, where they had an 8-1 lead but lost 9-8 to Oracle Team USA in San Francisco.
After that setback, the team led by Grant Dalton won the cup in 2017 and 2021 and is on track to become the first group to win three times in a row.
Worryingly for Britannia, Burling mentioned that his team can still improve.
“(There’s) a long way to go. I don’t think any team knows it better than us,” he said. “We obviously have a lot of things to work on as well. It feels like we haven’t really sailed to our potential yet.”
The British team expressed their frustration as their hopes of winning the America’s Cup for the first time in 173 years seem to be slipping away.
“There is a lot of frustration on the team. Where we are right now is not where we want to be,” said Britannia trimmer Bleddyn Mon. “But there is a lot of drive on the team, and everyone here knew it was going to be a real battle against the Kiwis.”
The British team will have Tuesday to regroup before the next races on Wednesday.
“It is a good opportunity to take a day on shore and try to figure out how we can find some gains,” said Britannia skipper Ben Ainslie. “They are clearly going really well. We have our moments, but still there are moments where we are losing a click and I think that is the difference.”
Britannia impressed during the challenger series, gaining speed and defeating rivals from Italy, the United States, Switzerland, and France. They rely on the design and engineering support from the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
However, the Kiwis have a strong advantage with their in-house design team.
Burling’s crew has performed flawlessly while also being aggressive. After a pre-start penalty against Britannia on Sunday, both yachts had several close encounters in race four.
Ainslie’s boat started well by pinning Taihoro against the port boundary, but once Taihoro broke free and found better wind, it was able to sail away.
New Zealand might be benefiting from its strategy. While Britannia had to create a boat for a longer sailing season, the Kiwis focused on preparing a boat specifically for the cooler weather of mid-October.
