New Zealand opens up 3-0 lead over Britain in America’s Cup final

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Emirates Team New Zealand nailed INEOS Britannia with a penalty and opened up a 3-0 lead in the first-to-seven wins finals of the 37th America’s Cup on Sunday.

Britain was hit with a 75-meter penalty for not keeping clear when the two boats came feet from colliding in the pre-start jockeying for position. The Kiwis’ Taihoro foiling yacht cruised through the six laps and won by 52 seconds.

Now the team that is backed by the design expertise of the Mercedes Formula 1 team must rebound big if its wants to win Britain’s first ever America’s Cup in its 173-year history.

For the Kiwis, they are four wins away.

New Zealand skipper Peter Burling said that they had planned to steer aggressively in the pre-start, and it paid off. They had the right of way being the windward boat when they bore down on the Brits before turning late, and the Britannia was a tad slow to react as their foils almost touched.

“We tried it yesterday but they just got past us. It was a little bit uncomfortable to be honest with how close the boats got,” Burling said about the maneuver. "But the umpire obviously thought we were pretty clear there, so it was great to get the penalty and control the race from there.”

Britannia was more than 600 meters behind when the lead boat crossed the finish line off the Barcelona beachfront.

“I am sure it’s a tough call, it let like we were keeping clear, but obviously the umpires didn’t see it that way,” Britannia skipper Ben Ainslie said about the penalty. “We just got to keep upbeat. There is a long way to go in this competition, we just got to keep pushing.”

Britannia largely avoided any costly mistakes and technical mishaps, until now.

On Saturday, Britannia was hampered by a battery meltdown just minutes before Race 1. New Zealand dominated both the opening regattas to make a perfect 2-0 start.

New Zealand is trying to win the Auld Mug, the oldest trophy in international sport, for a third straight time and fifth overall.

As defender, New Zealand was guaranteed a spot in the final. Britain had to fend off four other challengers to make its first final in six decades.

Despite not having raced competitively for a month, the Kiwis have shown they are still very much in championship form.

Race 4 was scheduled for later on Sunday, but it was pushed back after winds died down below the 6.5-knot minimum.

Local residents protest against the regatta

A couple thousand local residents held a protest against the hosting of the America’s Cup near the old port where the team bases and fan zones are located on Sunday.

Some locals link the hosting of international events like the regatta with the already huge presence of tourists in the Mediterranean city. They argue that tourists fuel skyrocketing rents via short-term rentals of apartments and that many areas of the city now cater far too much to tourist appetites and interests.

Barcelona calculates the two-month event will attract some 2.5 million tourists and contribute more than a billion euros ($1.09 billion) to the city. Local authorities say that this type of event is exactly the kind of so-called “quality tourism” that the city needs.

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