England's pursuit of the America's Cup encounters setbacks due to penalty infractions
The 37th America's Cup is looking like a lopsided battle: Defending champs Emirates Team New Zealand score another win in the third race. INEOS Britannia, the challengers, were already struggling, but a pre-race penalty set them back even further.
New Zealand's "Kiwis" continued their winning streak in the America's Cup, taking the third race off the coast of Barcelona. After their double victory the day before, the New Zealanders now lead the British team, INEOS Britannia, 3-0 following the second day.
Prior to the first race of the second day of sailing's oldest trophy competition, the already stretched-thin Brit team had to serve a 75-meter penalty, handicapping them right off the bat even with strong early winds. During a maneuver before the start of the race, INEOS Britannia, under the helm of sailing legend Ben Ainslie, found themselves too close to the opposition's boat.
"I thought it was close, but okay," Ainslie said, but "the umpires saw it differently." New Zealand's youngest-ever America's Cup winner, Peter Burling (age 26 in 2017), admitted to feeling "uncomfortable" with the situation. Despite the optimal conditions for a comeback attempt, INEOS Britannia finished a little over 50 seconds behind.
The postponed fourth race is scheduled for Monday, followed by the fifth and sixth races on Wednesday. The competition follows a best-of-13 format, meaning the New Zealanders need only four more victories from the possible ten remaining matchups. INEOS Britannia previously triumphed over opposition from Italy, the USA, France, and Switzerland in the challenger regattas.
The lopsided nature of the America's Cup competition was further exemplified with New Zealand's victory in the fourth race, extending their lead to 4-0 against INEOS Britannia. Despite their impressive victories in previous challenger regattas, INEOS Britannia now faces an uphill battle to claim the oldest trophy in sailing.
