America's Cup: Team NZ and Britannia narrowly avoid disaster as defenders go 3-0 up

There was just one opportunity for more of the same from Emirates Team New Zealand on day two of the 37th America’s Cup and the Kiwi outfit did not miss out.

Just one race was started and completed due to fading winds in Barcelona, and in the lighter air there was more dominance from the front for Taihoro.

The Match had its first collective audible gasp when Team NZ skipper Peter Burling and INEOS Britannia co-helm Dylan Fletcher pushed their boats to the absolute brink of disaster, overlapping foils in an effort to gain a crucial penalty for their team.

Receiving a 75-metre penalty from the start, ultimately it was the Brits who were deemed to have infringed, not keeping clear and giving Burling’s boat enough space.

From there it was more of the tactical consistency Team New Zealand displayed in races one and two in the lead, punishing the Brits with dirty wind and sailing their boat mistake free to build their lead in every leg.

Speaking about the pivotal penalty won, port helm Nathan Outteridge explained why the moment felt calm and rehearsed from his perspective.

“We saw an opportunity in the pre-start to circle around and try and line the British up on starboard," he said.

“I was on the inside of the turn trying to line it up nicely for Pete and out of that tack I said I’m pretty sure we’re in a strong spot here and handed it over to him at that point.”

“I never really saw obviously how close the two boats got together but Pete didn’t seem too panicked, so when we gybed around again it sounded like he thought we were going to get a penalty on them and we were going to just go and execute a nice start from there.”

On the performance of their AC75 three races into The Match, Outteridge did not hesitate in his compliments for his vessel.

“We’re very happy with the performance of the boat, you know we’ve worked very hard to get a boat that goes fast upwind and tacks very well, and I think today once again showed that once we get our nose in front it’s a boat that goes very quick.”

While the Australian helm is new to his role with Team NZ this campaign, flight controller Blair Tuke has lifted The Auld Mug in the last two events and is equally pleased with the start of their second consecutive defence.

“It’s been a really solid start I think, especially yesterday was a really nice foundation that we laid," Tuke said.

“I think as the defender you come into these races you know without racing for a while compared to the boat you’re up against, and I thought yesterday was a real testament to the preparation we’ve done over the past three weeks or a month to come out and get into our rhythm really quickly.”

Sailing resumes tomorrow for just one race to get back on schedule, conditions are expected to be similar to today’s.

Britannia’s wealth of world class resources, including the Mercedes F1 factory in Brackley, will be working overtime to eke out any last performance gain possible. Whether they persist with their aggressive pre-start tactics will also be intriguing when racing continues.

On the other side of the waterfront, it can only be considered a sunny disposition at 'Kiwi Corner' - from race tactics, execution and boat performance it is hard to find a chink in their potentially history making defence to this point.