America's Cup 2017: Britain suffer fourth consecutive defeat

Great Britain suffered a fourth consecutive defeat in the America's Cup Qualifiers on the third day of racing in Bermuda. The six-man British crew were beaten by France, who sealed a 53-second win. Having won their opener before losing race two on Saturday, Ben Ainslie's Land Rover BAR were also defeated by defending champions Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team New Zealand on Sunday. Britain began Monday joint second in the table, but now slip down to third. Standings America's Cup standings Team Wins Losses Total points United States* 4 1 5 New Zealand 4 1 4 Great Britain* 1 4 3 Sweden 3 3 2 France 2 3 2 Japan 2 3 2 *Land Rover BAR started the qualifiers with two points and Oracle Team USA with one point after finishing first and second respectively in the 2015-16 America's Cup World Series. **The top four teams progress to the next round New Zealand beat Sweden in a dramatic second race on Monday after nine lead changes, while France followed victory over Britain with defeat by SoftBank Team Japan in race three. France, Japan and Sweden are all just one point behind Britain, who started the qualifiers with a two-point advantage for winning the America's Cup World Series. How it works Ainslie steered his Portsmouth-based team to victory in the 2015-16 America's Cup World Series, a result which earned two points for the qualifying series. Each team will race each other twice in the qualifiers, scoring one point per win, with the top four teams progressing to the challenger round. Land Rover BAR start the qualifiers with two points and Oracle Team USA with one point after finishing first and second respectively in the 2015-16 America's Cup World Series. The top four challengers are split into two best-of-five semi-finals from 4 June, with the winners competing in the final for the right to take on holders Oracle Team USA - who are also taking part in the qualifiers - in the actual America's Cup matches. The first to seven points wins the America's Cup, or the Auld Mug as the trophy is known, with a possible 13 races to be sailed on 17-18 and 24-27 June. The America's Cup, the oldest competition in international sport, was first raced in 1851 around the Isle of Wight and has only been won by four nations.