America’s Cup: Team NZ claim two more wins as end of involvement in challenger series looms

The end is on the horizon for Team New Zealand’s latest data-gathering mission as they prepare to defend the America’s Cup in Barcelona next month.

After day six of the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series saw the defender beat Ineos Britannia and Orient Express Racing Team by convincing margins this morning, Team NZ are now most of the way through their involvement in the challenger series.

While the five challengers are fighting for survival, Team NZ made the decision to join them in the round-robin stages in a bid to get more sailing under their belts and learn as much as they can in that environment before the Cup match in October.

In their races against Ineos Britannia and Orient Express Racing Team, Team NZ again looked impressive as they sailed the boat well, for the most part, in shifty conditions which did not appear to fill in as much as the teams had hoped.

It made for some tricky navigating around the course in a bid to find the breeze, but the Kiwi crew were able to manage that better than their opponents on the day.

Ineos Britannia weren’t quite so well off in their race against the defender, falling off the foils twice; the second time stamping out their chances of upsetting the defender.

Team NZ’s race against Orient Express wasn’t quite as clear cut as both teams had issues with touchdowns.

The French were parked up in the starting box which allowed the Kiwis to get a clear start, but it was the challenger who rounded the first gate in front as the defenders fell off the foils themselves.

The roles reversed at the second gate, as the French came off their foils as they turned toward the gate, and could only watch as Team NZ sailed around them,

The defender didn’t get up the lead after that, and went on to win by a big margin.

Team NZ now have just two races remaining before they leave the racing to the challengers.

Earlier in the day, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli became the first to punch their ticket into the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals. Luna Rossa again impressed with a big win over Orient Express, who didn’t sail as well as they would have liked, and remained unbeaten in races against other challengers.

American Magic were upset in their second race of the day by Alinghi Red Bull Racing. The Swiss sailed their best race of the series, while the Americans struggled to keep their boat foiling.

That puts the pressure on Orient Express in their final two races of the round-robin as they now sit alone at the foot of the ladder with just one point.

Day six results

American Magic (USA) beat Ineos Britannia (UK) by 13sec

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (Italy) beat Orient Express Racing Team (France) by 1min02sec

Emirates Team New Zealand (NZ) beat Ineos Britannia by 3min02sec

Alinghi Red Bull Racing (Switzerland) beat American Magic by 38sec

Emirates Team New Zealand beat Orient Express Racing Team, who did not finish the race

Louis Vuitton Cup round-robin standings

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli 5-0

Ineos Britannia 3-2

American Magic 3-3

Alinghi Red Bull Racing 2-4

Orient Express Racing Team 1-5

Races featuring Team NZ (6-2) do not count towards the Louis Vuitton Cup standings and have not been factored in above.

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.