Ainslie vows to maintain preventing in America’s Cup regardless of setbacks

If Sir Ben Ainslie is to make history in the America’s Cup, then British hopes rest on him rediscovering his habit for saving lost causes. After two huge defeats on Friday, such a prospect appears to be sinking fast beneath the waves.

Having fought so hard for a pair of wins and some momentum on Wednesday, Ineos Britannia now face match point at 6-2 down to Team New Zealand in this best-of-seven showdown in Barcelona. It could all be wrapped up by Saturday afternoon.

‘It’s still not over yet, so we’ll keep fighting,’ said Ainslie. With him, that much is a certainty, but only a bold punter would wager on Britain ending their 173-year wait for the trophy at this point.

Pete Burling’s defending champions were flawless in the seventh and eighth races of the series, with the gap between their stern and the British bow in excess of 1,000m at the close of both. For clock watchers that meant margins of 73 and 55 seconds – a mauling in plain language.

Ainslie’s team pointed to rudder damage sustained in a collision with a submerged object during the latter of those duels, and with these foiling boats any loss of control is decisive. But by then Britannia had already been outsmarted in the first race, when Burling spotted an early wind shift that carried them well clear, and they were behind off the startline in the second, when their rudder issue occured.

‘It wasn’t a good day for us,’ Ainslie said. ‘Hats off to the Kiwis, they sailed two really, really strong races in that shifty stuff and just managed to pick the right side off both start lines and get that first shift. They did a really nice job of defending when ahead and putting us in a bad spot.’

Compounding a difficult afternoon for Ainslie is Saturday’s forecast of gentle breeze and a calm sea state, which has so far favoured the team they need to beat.