Emirates Team New Zealand took another step toward retaining the America’s Cup after extending their lead over Ineos Britannia to 4-0 on.
The ctrophy will go to the first yacht that reaches seven wins. The Kiwis have three to go while the British boat has a huge deficit to make up.
New Zealand’s “Taihoro” made it four from four off the Barcelona beachfront by beating Britannia by 23 seconds. The two boats exchanged leads in the first leg, but the Kiwis slowly took command and were over 350 meters in front when they crossed the finish line.
“It’s nice just to keep marching forward,” the New Zealand skipper Peter Burling said. “(It) feels like we are improving a lot as a group as we go through these races and we are excited to keep pushing forward.”
New Zealand are trying to win the Auld Mug, the oldest trophy in international sport, for a third straight time and fifth overall. The British, who have never won it in its 173-year history, are competing in their first final for six decades and have Tuesday to plot a fightback before sailing resumes on Wednesday.
“It is a good opportunity to take a day on shore and try to figure out how we can find some gains,” Britannia skipper Ben Ainslie said. “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. Obviously they have had a strong start, but we can still come back from this.”