Kiwis eliminate British, reach challenger finals
Emirates Team New Zealand rebounded nicely from a heart-stopping capsizing two days earlier on Bermuda’s Great Sound to clinch a spot Thursday in the America’s Cup challenger finals.
Britain, meanwhile, still hasn’t bounced back from its loss in 1851 to the schooner America.
Led by 26-year-old helmsman Peter Burling and 39year-old skipper-wing trimmer Glenn Ashby, Emirates Team New Zealand won two of three races Thursday against British sailing star Ben Ainslie to win its semifinal series 5-2.
Except for a few hiccups, the Kiwis quickly got back up to speed after Tuesday’s dramatic capsizing, which threw three sailors into the water and extensively damaged the team’s 50-foot foiling catamaran.
They advance to face the winner between Sweden’s Artemis Racing and SoftBank Team Japan. Artemis, led by Olympic gold medalists Nathan Outteridge of Australia and Iain Percy of Britain, beat Team Japan three straight races to take a 4-3 lead in the best-of-nine series, which ends Friday. Team Japan is skippered by Dean Barker, who was sacked after Team New ZeaBut land blew an 8-1 lead in the 2013 America’s Cup and lost to Oracle Team USA in San Francisco.
The winner of the challenger finals, which start Saturday, will face two-time defending champion Oracle Team USA in the 35th America’s Cup match starting June 17.
Burling, an Olympic gold and silver medalist, said the shore team “dug pretty deep” to get the boat back on the water at close to 100 percent. “Full credit to them.”
Emirates Team New Zealand overcame an issue with one of its daggerboards at the start and passed the British late in the first race to win by 31 seconds and reach match point.
Ainslie then sailed his best race of the regatta, winning by 20 seconds to stay alive.
Ainslie made a mistake during the prestart of the next race and Burling calmly steered the Kiwis to a wire-to-wire win of 46 seconds.
Burling said the capsizing will be in the back of his mind for a long time. He said the shore team and designers encouraged the sailors to push the boat as hard as they could.
“As the breeze died in the last one, we really let loose,” he said. “It was a great day for us to be able to repay the shore crew by getting it done with a day to go.”
At the finish, Ashby and grinder Blair Tuke shook hands with the other three grinders.
As Ainslie steered his boat across the line, he commended the crew for its best day.
The Kiwis then saluted the British crew.
Ainslie, 40, one of the world’s most accomplished sailors, hoped to become the first Englishman to hoist the Auld Mug in victory. The British have been trying for 166 years to win back the silver trophy they lost to the schooner America in a race around the Isle of Wight in 1851. They’ll have to wait at least two more years to try again.