Auckland, New Zealand
An uneasy stalemate in the 36th match for the America’s Cup continued Saturday when defender Team New Zealand and Italian challenger Luna Rossa each took advantage of a pre-start error by the other to leave the best-of-13 race series tied at 3-3.
Luna Rossa exploited Team New Zealand’s mistake in the pre-start to win the first race of the day by 18 seconds and, in a mirror image, Team New Zealand pounced on Luna Rossa’s mistake to win race six by 1 minute, 41 seconds.
One team has to win both races in a day to break the deadlock but Luna Rossa co-helmsman Jimmy Spithill said the teams can only focus on the next race.
“We’re not looking too far ahead,” he said. “Each day we come in and try to focus on the race ahead.
“There will be quite a lot of lessons learned from both races today. We’ll go back, as I’m sure will the other guys, and just come back fighting, stronger and ready to roll.—AP
