Ben Ainslie says Ineos Britannia 'can still come back' in America's Cup as Emirates Team New Zealand take 4-0 lead
Updated 14/10/2024 at 15:15 GMT+1
Ineos Britannia still don’t have a point on the board in the America’s Cup, with Emirates Team New Zealand winning the only race on Monday. It was a much closer battle though, with Ben Ainslie’s boat leading off the line, before his opponents pulled away at the end of the first leg and managed to open up a big enough advantage to win by 23 seconds for a 4-0 lead.
'Pressure's on' - Team New Zealand dominate Ineos Britannia again to take 3-0 lead
Video credit: TNT Sports
Ben Ainslie is still waiting for his first race win in the 2024 America's Cup after Emirates Team New Zealand beat Ineos Britannia in Race 4 in Barcelona for a 4-0 lead.
The result moves the defending champions just three points from victory ahead of Tuesday's rest day.
But there are positives for Ainslie and Ineos Britannia, who made their best start of the regatta so far and raced hard throughout the six legs to put pressure on their opponents.
Having lost by 52 seconds in the third race, this was a much closer affair - which gives hope that the British boat can fight back later this week.
"We can still come back from this," was the fighting talk from Britannia's skipper Ainslie.
New Zealand are aiming for a third successive triumph while a British boat has never won the America's Cup.
"We looked at the data last night and there's not much in it," added GB coach Rob Wilson, and certainly Ineos Britannia looked a much-improved unit on Monday as they lost by the tightest margin yet - just 23 seconds.
The America's Cup used a reserve day on Monday to complete Race 4 after wind speeds didn’t allow for both races to take place on Sunday. And it was Ineos Britannia who finally made a good getaway, a clean start for both crews leading to a very tight first leg.
Britannia led most of the first leg but found themselves pushed into second at the turn, with very little in it. The two boats continued to vye for the lead through the second leg and onto the third, with three seconds in it, but with ETNZ managing to keep their nose in front.
The Kiwi boat seemed to find the best of the conditions as the race progressed, and didn’t put a foot wrong on any of their manoeuvres.
The main issue for Ainslie’s crew is that their opponents just aren’t making any mistakes, faultless again once they got their nose in front. And it was ETNZ who crossed the line first, leading from the start of the second leg all the way to the line for a 4-0 lead.
"We did a good job to keep in the race [on the first leg],” said Kiwi skipper Peter Burling. “Every win on the board is a super nice one. Felt more like a boat race today than the one yesterday. Nice to keep marching forward.”
“It was obviously a tight start and we had some work to do to get off the boundary,” agreed Nathan Outteridge. “We made a step forward and were going well upwind. Happy with the result.”
As for Ainslie, he was left rueing that first mark, where the Kiwi boat managed to get ahead.
“It was a good race, a good start, got the first cross but they are just going well, they are going really well. So we need to figure out how to make performance gains to take it to them.
"[The rest day] is a good opportunity to try and find some gains, we have our moments but they have had a strong start."
The two boats will next go head to head in Races 5 and 6 on Wednesday.
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