British wins leave Spithill in America's Cup strife
Britain have piled the pressure on the Jimmy Spithill-helmed Italian boat in their fight to be the challenger for the America's Cup.
INEOS Britannia beat Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in two tight races on Wednesday in "knife-edge" sea conditions to move within one point of winning the first-to-seven Louis Vuitton Cup series.
Against the backdrop of huge Italian and British flags flying over their bases in Barcelona, both AC75 'foiling' boats were bounced around in choppy seas, hitting speeds of more than 50 knots at times in a stiff Mediterranean breeze.
"It's great, good effort from the team ... It's bloody hard to sail these boats in these waves," British co-helm Ben Ainslie said after the second win, which took Britain into a 6-4 lead.
"We'll come out the next day swinging," said Italy's Australian co-helm Spithill, who acknowledged a strong sail by the British, adding: "We just couldn't get enough to get an overtake".
It puts sailing great Ainslie just one win away from landing the chance to challenge defenders New Zealand for the America's Cup later this month.
"Still a long way to go ... still got to get to seven," said the 47-year-old Briton with a smile.
Ainslie's crew survived one scare when their boat touched down into the water before recovering its flight, giving the Italians a chance to get back into the race, but they then managed to defend their lead, speeding downwind on the course.
In the first race, Britain built on an early lead after a scrap with Italy in the "pre-start", which is critical to getting a clean start and potentially crucial advantage, and then capitalised on one bad tack by the Italians.
During the second, the teams were neck-and-neck off the start, with Britain building an early advantage and controlling the race with calm communication between Ainslie and co-helm Dylan Fletcher as they watched out for rogue waves.