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New Zealand on America's Cup cusp after double triumph
Emirates Team New Zealand moved to the verge of America's Cup triumph with two commanding victories over Ineos Britannia on Friday to claim a 6-2 lead.
After the British team won both of Wednesday's races to spark hope of a comeback, the Kiwis responded effusively on choppy waters off the coast of Barcelona, now needing just one more point in the best-of-13 series to triumph.
Already double defending champions, New Zealand have one hand on the 37th America's Cup, the world's oldest international sporting trophy.
In Friday's first race they finished one minute 13 seconds ahead of Ineos, bankrolled by billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, co-owner of Premier League football team Manchester United.
The British boat finished the day's second race 55 seconds down on the defender.
"Awesome to get a couple wins on the board, nice to get it done today, really proud of the way the team executed today," said New Zealand helmsman Peter Burling.
"When you get a couple of losses it really puts you under pressure and the way we responded to that was awesome."
Ineos Britannia need to win all five remaining races to win Britain the trophy for the first time in the competition's 173-year history.
"It wasn't a good day for us, hats off to the Kiwis, they sailed two really strong races in shifty (conditions) and just managed to pick the right side off both start lines... and did a really nice job of defending when ahead," said Ineos skipper Ben Ainslie.
"We'll take that on the chin, but it's not over yet and we'll keep fighting."
The Kiwis made a big gain in the seventh race of the series by deciding to split from their opponents in the first leg, with Britain, who shaded the pre-start by a nose, arriving at the first gate 12 seconds behind.
By the third gate New Zealand doubled their advantage as their AC75 foiling boat coped well with the bumpy conditions.
New Zealand made no mistakes to bring the race home, steadily increasing their advantage to cut short Ineos' comeback momentum.
In the eighth race New Zealand got the upper hand in the first leg, navigating the choppy seas calmly as Britain struggled, with Ineos coach Rob Wilson saying he suspected the boat sustained some "a little bit of damage to the rudder" near the start.
The defender stretched their advantage, maintaining a higher average speed and finishing with Britain over a kilometre behind.
"We had a little bit of an issue but I think it came down to the first shift off both starts on both races, they did a really good job of defending," said Ainslie.
The competition is scheduled to continue on Saturday.
P. O'Kelly--BTZ
