"We’ll keep getting faster from here": Team NZ skipper vows to increase pressure on Britannia

In their bid for a modern era record breaking third straight victory in the America’s Cup match, Emirates Team New Zealand are officially over half way home.

The sentiment around Barcelona’s Kiwi hotspots, including the team’s official base, is more than the typical relaxed nature but one of confidence and positivity that this campaign has every reason to continue the way it’s started.

In the second generation of the magnificent AC75s which are at the center of this famous contest, the New Zealanders have given every indication they have supreme faith in their boat Taihoro’s design and they are sailing accordingly.

The sole race scheduled today after fading winds curtailed a fourth race on day two, saw Peter Burling’s crew once again show they can be ruthlessly efficient from in front, but this time they had to work extremely hard to wrestle the lead off of INEOS Britannia to do so.

From the start it was the British who didn’t engage but managed to time their take off to perfection hitting the line at 34 knots and immediately getting the slightest of advantages.

It wasn’t until skillfully spotting strong breeze on the right and making sure they headed straight back into it when rounding the first gate that Taihoro was in a position to cross in front and start to build an advantage.

Skipper and helmsman of Team NZ, Peter Burling explained although it was a slight mistake on his part to not quite nail the start, he was very pleased in the manner in which they bounced straight back.

“We obviously got stuck a little bit more in the wind shadow than we thought so ended up a lot later than we wanted to be," he said.

“I think we did a good job kind of accepting we were on the back foot, just sailing fast out to the boundary, getting a lane so we could hitch back up if they got to us and just keeping it tight.”

“I think that’s what you’ve got to do in these boats when you get behind is just keep it super tight and take the opportunities as they come, and yeah, really pleased with the way the team did that today.”

Talking about where he thinks the advantage lies to this point in The Match for Team New Zealand, Burling offered consistency as a key.

“Probably a little more consistency so far I’d say, they seem to have moments they’re really fast and then moments where they drop off for some reason," the skipper said.

“These boats, they’re obviously optimised to the nth degree. You can run very small sails for the conditions, you can be a little bit out and end up a long way off on performance so that’s something we’re constantly working on and we’ll keep getting faster from here.”

The day started with a hiss and a roar off the water in Barcelona as Chief Umpire Richard Slater was late to his press briefing, held up in a lengthy conversation with Britannia about the previous day’s race defining penalty.

The British challengers were still not convinced they were in the wrong in the recklessly close encounter, a stance Slater firmly refuted. The outcome from their discussion was they would agree to disagree.

Although sailing their best race of The Match to this point in race four, it was still not enough for Sir Ben Ainslie’s operation, leaving them heading into a rest day searching for answers desperately.

Sailing will resume for two traces on Wednesday (local time) in Barcelona, it will give the Kiwis an opportunity to finish the day on match point. If that occurs there will be no sailing until Saturday so the famous regatta hopefully finishes on a weekend.