America's Cup 2017: Great Britain's Land Rover BAR suffer two defeats

Great Britain suffered a setback as they lost both of their duels during the second day of racing in the America's Cup Qualifiers. Having won their opener before losing race two on Saturday, Ben Ainslie's Land Rover BAR were defeated by defending champions Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team New Zealand on Sunday. A nosedive after gate three resulted a 39-second defeat for BAR against USA. We very, very nearly sunk Land Rover BAR CEO Martin Whitmarsh And despite a penalty, New Zealand beat BAR by one minute and 28 seconds. It looked promising for Ainslie's team when they led USA into the first gate, before skipper Jimmy Spithill's Oracle charged into the lead. A mistake after gate three cost the GB catamaran more time. There followed another defeat, this time against New Zealand. The Kiwis were handed a two-boat-length penalty after the start having crossed the boundary, but they still managed a handsome win following a poor turn by BAR at gate two. America's Cup standings Team Wins Losses Total points United States* 4 1 5 Great Britain* 1 3 3 New Zealand 3 1 3 Sweden 2 2 2 France 1 2 1 Japan 1 3 1 *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 'We nearly sunk' Land Rover BAR CEO Martin Whitmarsh, the former chief of McLaren's F1 team, said Ainslie's catamaran almost perished during the defeat by Japan on Saturday. BAR's port hull careered into Japan's starboard hull prior to the race. "We very, very nearly sunk," Land Rover BAR CEO Martin Whitmarsh told the Daily Telegraph. "It was foiled back so we didn't take too much water on. When we got back here and went down on the hull, very quickly it began filling with water. "If we had left it in the water for a few more minutes it would have sunk. You've got all the electronics, everything. "I could have climbed up through the hull yesterday, it was that big. We're talking about 20ft in terms of length." Despite the extensive damage, BAR's shore team worked through the night to have the catamaran race-ready for Sunday. What about the rest of the field? It was a great Sunday for USA who won two of their three races. The French catamaran also recorded its first win, with victory over Sweden's Artemis. New Zealand also added to their success over BAR by defeating Japan, who currently prop up the table.