New Zealand takes 1-0 lead over Britain in America’s Cup first-to-seven final

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Team Emirates New Zealand won the opening race of the America’s Cup final against INEOS Britannia on Saturday.

The first yacht to seven wins will lift the Auld Mug, the oldest trophy in international sport. The second race is scheduled later Saturday.

New Zealand got the edge at the start and never trailed. The foiling monohull Taihoro sped away and finished 41 seconds and more than 400 meters ahead.

New Zealand is trying to win the cup for a third straight time. The Brits have never won it in its 173-year history.

“This is what we have been working three years for,” New Zealand helmsman Nathan Outteridge said. “We have been a long time in preparation watching everyone else racing, so it was great to get a fantastic start and control that race. Let’s just keep our eyes focused forward.”

The Kiwis participated in the initial round-robin even though their results didn’t count since, according to America’s Cup custom, they had a guaranteed spot in the finals as the defender.

But they sure didn’t show any rust in their first competitive race in a month.

New Zealand got a haka sendoff from supporters and shore crew and was accompanied out of port by an ornamentally carved Maori waka (canoe). The team headed by Grant Dalton is aiming to become the first syndicate to ever win three consecutive times. As a nation, New Zealand has won four times (1995, 2000, 2017, 2021).

The British are participating in their first final in six decades. Britannia impressed in the challengers regatta as it bested four other boats from Italy, the United States, Switzerland and France. It set an America’s Cup speed record of 55.6 knots (64 mph/102 kph) last week.

Britannia is backed by billionaire Jim Ratcliffe and has a partnership with the Mercedes Formula 1 team, with which it shares design, engineering and performance teams. That contrasts with the in-house design team of New Zealand, which is credited with revolutionizing sailing with its design of the AC75 monohull foiling yacht.

Britannia had a battery issue before the start, but skipper Ben Ainslie said the loss was more about the flawless execution of their rivals.

“It wasn’t that we did it all wrong, they just sailed a better race,” Ainslie said. “This is the America’s Cup game, it is all about moving forward. Don’t worry, we will keep pushing.”