While it was a day of epic proportions for Team New Zealand, it was one of tragedy and heartbreak for Luna Rossa.
The Italians dropped both races today after having leads in both, including one of over 2km in the second race of the afternoon.
But they just could not finish what they started, their spirits crushed as winds and Team New Zealand’s Te Rehutai wreaked havoc on the Italians, leaving them on the precipice of defeat in the 36th America’s Cup.
The day could be summed up midway through the second race, as a despondent Jimmy Spithill sat emotionless on a drifting Prada Pirelli, the Italians lead evaporating before his very eyes after a drop in wind had led Luna Rossa to touch down at the turn of the third mark and with no ability to recover.
The Kiwis ate up the ground and whizzed past the floundering Italians to take a 5-3 advantage in the best-of-13 series, leaving the Challengers with it all to do in the coming days.
Yachting fans were treated to a thrilling day on the water.
But Spithill - who in 2013 led Oracle back from 7-1 down to win the America’s Cup 9-8 against Team New Zealand – said his team would “come out swinging tomorrow”.
“We were sailing a pretty good race up until then but unfortunately we fell off our foils and got stuck up at the top mark for some time just trying to find pressure to get back up on the foils.
Despite being almost written off in race eight, the Kiwi’s dug deep to score an amazing comeback victory against Luna Rossa.
“We did some things well. We know we can win races, we’ve been in some tough situations before so we’ll come out firing tomorrow.”
Spithill described the incident the race slipped from Luna Rossa’s grasp, but refused to be defeated by it.
“As we came up to the top there it [the wind] was starting to get lighter and lighter and unfortunately we just couldn’t get through the tack.
“That’s the way it goes, you saw the same thing with those guys at some point on the first run. That’s just the way it rolls, onwards and upwards.”
The Kiwis meanwhile were all smiles, flight controller Blair Tuke telling commentators they were “rapt” with the days results.
“It was a pretty unreal fightback by the guys there,” Tuke said.
“Obviously, we made a pretty costly error gybing right behind them and falling off the foils, but got it back up reasonably quickly. They made a mistake and we never looked back.”
Team New Zealand are now within striking distance of retaining the America’s Cup, the team requiring just two more victories to do so.
Yet, a steely determination remains, grinder Simon van Velthooven telling 1 NEWS the job was only half done.
“You never win until you’ve won, so I’ll say we’re halfway there,” van Velthooven said.
Tune in to racing again tomorrow, as Team New Zealand look to make history and defend the America’s Cup once more.
Coverage begins at 3pm on TVNZ1 and OnDemand .
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