Cupholders Oracle Team USA have the same record as Team NZ this week, but lead the standings by virtue of their bonus point for finishing runners-up at the world series.
They will not contest the challenger semis, but if they stay atop the qualifying standings, they will take an extra point into their title defence.
The most immediate goal for TNZ must be to finish the qualifying stage as leading challengers for a better draw against the fourth-placed team in the semifinals.
Quote of the day
"It was a little loose from where I was sitting, to be honest," Team New Zealand skipper Peter Burling on the moment that his boat looked as if it was out of control early in the race against Artemis.
Lovetap of the day
The inimitable Jimmy Spithill, captain of Oracle Team USA, on using a pedal grinder for the first time: "The Kiwis look like they've got . . . race bikes, we put a BMX in, being a sort of younger generation." You have to give him credit: he's a world-class sailor and a world-class niggler. So good in fact, you can only enjoy it!
Straight bat of the day
Burling didn't respond to the Spithill stir. When asked about his own now-famous cyclor grinders - "are you psyching it up" - he gave a short laugh and then said: " . . . it's definitely a genuine thing. For ourselves we wouldn't be able to sail our boat without it to put it frankly. The guys are putting a massive amount of effort and they've trained very hard for this for a long time and it's not something you could do overnight. We're really happy with it."
Earlier, when talking about the previously mentioned "loose" incident, Burling paid the cyclors - and the team's onshore crew - similarly big compliments: "We did an amazing job to bounce back and just grind our way back into the race.
"The guys were producing plenty of oil, so we could keep pulling off good manoeuvre after good manoeuvre. We wouldn't have been able to do that yesterday, so full credit to the work the guys have been doing overnight."
Term of the day
Layline: "A layline is a straight line (or bearing) extending from the next mark to indicate the course a boat should be able to sail on the one tack in order to pass to the windward side of the mark," says Wikipedia. And if you can understand that, you're a better sailor than we are!
Tweet of the day
From Emirates Team NZ: "Another hard-fought battle with Artemis Racing out in the Great Sound. Happy to come away with one more point on the board. #etnz"
Get up for the Cup
Set your alarm, but be aware light winds in Bermuda threaten to halt the momentum of the America's Cup qualifiers. A breeze of around 5 knots is forecast during the racing window of 2-4pm local time, which does not meet the minimum wind level of 6 knots.
For racing to go ahead, race management will need to see a steady breeze of at least 6 knots at various points on the course. If racing does go ahead, it could create some fascinating tactical battles - quite different from the high-speed drama we have seen over the opening four days of racing.
TNZ are scheduled to hit the water at 5.37am against Team BAR - that's Sir Ben Ainslie's team. If racing goes ahead, listen live at that time to fantastic coverage with the voice of yachting Peter Montgomery and his team on Newstalk ZB and Radio Sport, and join us on nzherald.co.nz for all the live action and subsequent news coverage.
Day four results: Emirates Team NZ beat Artemis Racing (Sweden) by 1m 31 s; Oracle Team USA beat Groupama Team France by 1m 56s; Land Rover BAR beat Artemis Racing (Sweden) by 30s.
