Emirates Team New Zealand turned up the heat on America's Cup holder Oracle Team USA Saturday, taking a 4-0 lead in the first-to-seven final in the first race of the day. After five days with no racing, both crews have been working to improve the performance of their space-age foiling catamarans, with the pressure on the US crew to match the superior speed shown by the Kiwis in their first races. But despite the preparations, things started badly for the US team Saturday as skipper Jimmy Spithill was a fraction of a second over the line at the start, picking up a penalty which left his crew chasing their opponents to the first mark. Although the New Zealanders got away, the defending champions recovered well and fought their way back into the race, finding the speed which had evaded them in previous encounters. At one stage comeback specialist Spithill managed to get a lead over his rival Peter Burling, but he was out-dueled on Bermuda's Great Sound and gave the advantage when the Oracle boat infringed the Kiwi "cat" and incurred another penalty. The New Zealanders then streaked away and built a convincing lead to the finish, flying into the line on their space-age 50-foot catamaran in front of a packed grandstand in the purpose-built America's Cup Village. Spithill, who was wearing a bandage on his wrist after injuring it during a hard week's training, was upbeat about the team's chances of getting back into the competition. "It was a tough race, but the good news is the boat's going well and the boys are fighting the whole way and we'll come out and try and get a win," he said from onboard his catamaran. "I believe we're going to win this race, I think we're got the speed, we've just got to hit the button on the speed and we can get a win under our belt," Spithill added. — Reuters
