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Great Britain revived them America’s Cup By winning both races in Barcelona on Wednesday, they reduced the gap to leaders New Zealand by two points.
Sir ben ainslieThe Ineos Britannia boat took advantage of an early mistake by its rivals to win the fifth race by more than a minute, securing Britain’s first America’s Cup point since 1934.
And they held off a strong New Zealand comeback in the day’s second race to make it 4-2 and give them hope of further reducing the deficit when racing resumes on Friday.
Ainslie said: “It was a solid effort from the team today and it was really down to everyone – a massive team effort. There’s still a long way to go, but the comeback is on.
“We were here yesterday training alone and we are getting better at sailing this boat every day. It depends on the shore team, designers, technicians and the crew on the water.”
The British team seized their opportunity at the start of race five as New Zealand were finding it difficult to tackle and Ainslie took full advantage of this to take an unassailable 250 meter lead by leg five.
The sixth race was a tough challenge, but once again the British team seized the opportunity early and took the lead, which Kiwi captain Peter Burling did his best to take back, and Ainslie crossed the finish line seven seconds back. Crossed.
Ainslie’s team-mate Dylan Fletcher said: “It’s a great day for the team. We really needed to get those two wins on the board. ‘New Zealand have set the bar really high, but we’re looking forward to keeping the pressure on and continuing that momentum.’
New Zealand remain favorites to win the first-to-seven series and retain the trophy they won with a win over Italy in Auckland in 2021.
Team New Zealand’s Nathan Outteridge said: “I don’t think any of us are surprised – we know they’re very good sailors. We didn’t really execute our best day ourselves, so we’ll go and review that and look forward to the next one.” The bars will come back in better condition.