BERMUDA — Land Rover BAR lost two America's Cup semifinal races to Emirates Team New Zealand on Monday when the British team was forced to retire after a part in their 'wing' sail snapped.
The breakage means New Zealand immediately go two up in the best-of-nine semifinal, starting the second race on their own as Land Rover BAR's shore team scrambled to repair their boat.
"We have forfeited racing today due to damage to our wing, we will be back tomorrow (Tuesday) to fight another day," the British team said on Twitter.
Ben Ainslie's America's Cup challenger crew was forced to throw in the towel after hearing a "bang" during what was set up to be a tight race against New Zealand.
The British skipper abruptly halted his 50-foot foiling catamaran to prevent further damage after completing only the second of seven legs in the widely-anticipated first race.
New Zealand helmsman Peter Burling had got the better of Ainslie at the start and led to the second mark of the course, but the British boat appeared to be catching them.
"We can't load the wing up at all... its a tough situation right now," Ainslie told BT Sport from his support boat as his technical team worked to get their catamaran back to base.
Conditions on Bermuda's Great Sound were perfect for the high-octane sailing boats following disappointment on Sunday when racing was postponed due to a lack of wind.
"A bit of a shame for those guys... it was shaping up to be a good race," New Zealand helmsman Peter Burling said in televised comments after the British crew retired.
In the other semifinal between Artemis Racing and SoftBank Team Japan, the Japanese crew skippered by Dean Barker recovered from a shaky start to beat the Swedish team.
Sweden's Artemis Racing leveled their America's Cup semifinal against SoftBank Team Japan on Monday, winning the second of the best-of-nine series.
The Swedish crew skippered by Australian Nathan Outteridge managed to come from behind to beat Japan skipper Dean Barker and his team to clinch the second race by nearly 30 seconds.
The first team to win five races in each semi-final will go through to the challenger final. — Reuters
