Kiwis up four

In a closely fought race that rewarded the most marginal of gains Emirates Team New Zealand took one more point in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match this afternoon in Barcelona with a fourth consecutive victory over INEOS Britannia that advanced them to within three points of victory in this first-to-seven series.

It was a tough loss for the British who came out with a very different pre-start game-plan, electing to disengage from any potential penalty-inducing close calls and instead trusting in the outright speed of their yacht ‘Britannia’ to try to outmuscle the Kiwis in a straight line. It was a tactic that initially appeared to work.

INEOS Britannia came off the start line to windward with two knots more boatspeed and then matched Emirates Team New Zealand’s pace to the boundary, where they were able to first execute a leebow tack on the Kiwis to force them to quickly tack back to the left, before making a cross on the next tack as they exited the right hand boundary.