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A close moment in the pre-start in race three saw Ineos Britannia penalised. Photo / Ricardo Pinto, America's Cup

'A little bit uncomfortable': Team NZ take 3-0 lead after near-collision

Author: Newstalk ZB, NZ Herald,
Publish Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2024, 7:04am

By Christopher Reive in Barcelona

In the days before the America’s Cup match in Barcelona, Team New Zealand starboard helmsman Peter Burling made it clear the team would take necessary risks to defend the Auld Mug.

“When you get to the top level of any sport, you see people really getting punished for mistakes. In saying that, you can’t be afraid to take risks either,” he said.

“You don’t want to come through it with a conservative mindset, that’s for sure, and we definitely will not be doing that. But we can fully expect if one of us makes a mistake, the other one will punish them.”

In the third race of the Cup match against Ineos Britannia this morning, an aggressive move in the pre-start to draw a penalty against the Brits set the Kiwi crew up for a 52s win to take a 3-0 lead in the first-to-seven series.

It was the only race of the day, with light winds seeing race management bring a halt to the day’s action, with race four postponed to tomorrow; initially scheduled as a reserve day.

The two teams came into close quarters moments before the race proper began, to the point where their foils were overlapping. Both teams launched a protest with the umpires for the other not keeping clear.

It was the Kiwis who were judged to be the fouled boat, with Ineos Britannia having to fall 75m behind Team NZ off the starting line. That allowed the defenders to choose their side of the course and dictate the race.

“We tried it yesterday and they just got past us. It was a little bit uncomfortable with how close the boats got,” Burling said after the race

“It’ll be interesting to see. The umpires obviously ruled we were clear there, so great to get a penalty and control the race from there.”

Team NZ take two-race lead in America's Cup defence

Emirates Team New Zealand extended their lead in the America's Cup match. Photo / Ricardo Pinto, America's Cup

The pre-start battle was among the biggest areas of interest coming into the Cup match, but through the opening three races, it has been the Kiwis coming away better from the starting line.

In the third race of the series, Team NZ were able to control the course and make life tough for the Brits with their match-racing tactics and making them sail in dirty air.

A mid-race comment from Ineos Britannia port helmsman Dylan Fletcher summed up the situation for his team: “I don’t think there’s anything else we can do, lads.”

While the two boats were almost identical in their average speeds both upwind and downwind, the Kiwis had a slightly better average VMG, sailing about 800m less than the Brits.

Racing is set to resume at 1.10am tomorrow (NZ time) with a one-race schedule.