Emirates Team New Zealand's decision to face Land Rover BAR means the remaining two teams to have progressed from the qualifiers, SoftBank Team Japan and Artemis Racing, will face off in the other America's Cup Challenger Playoffs semi-final.
Emirates Team New Zealand seized the lead in the America's Cup qualifying round-robin with two impressive victories on Friday as underdogs Groupama Team France dropped out of contention.
Oracle Team USA leads with six points, followed by Emirates Team New Zealand with five and Land Rover BAR with four.
Crucial among these are chief executive Martin Whitmarsh, who brings years of experience as head of the McLaren Formula One team and Jono Macbeth, a 44-year-old New Zealander who has three America's Cup wins, as sailing team manager.
As the defending champions, Team USA sit out the semi-finals and final of qualifying and await the challenger they produce for the 35th America's Cup.
Team New Zealand gets to pick its opponent for the semis. "You just look at the performance numbers we do every day we get quicker and quicker". Wins earn one point, and the four Challengers with the most points advance to the next round.
Leigh Griffiths: Two great moments but it felt like a defeat
The challenge is how do we become the best team in the world? "It was like watching a heavyweight boxer against a middleweight". NAN reports that England remain top of Group F on 14 points while Scotland are in fourth spot on eight points.
They are very fast and so for us it will be a real battle. The schooner America won the first race and the trophy was subsequently renamed the America's Cup. That came in a 4:06 whitewashing of Groupama Team France, which was eliminated with one race to sail.
New Zealand had chosen to race against Ainslie's team on the basis that low winds on Sunday would be to their benefit, as the BAR team have struggled in Bermuda. "It was a target for the team for the points, but also as a new team in the America's Cup to prove that we can race and win at this level".
It came a day after their thrilling showdown was marred by an umpiring error. Should they do so they would gain a bonus point for the America's Cup match against the holders if they go the whole way through the competition.
The Kiwis' decision was surprisingly pre-empted by US skipper Jimmy Spithill, who appeared before the challenger teams at the press conference and announced that his "leak" in Team NZ had told him of the BAR preference. The British team have performed well in these conditions during last week's America's Cup qualifiers, but Jones said Team NZ are also pretty happy with their speed shown in that range.
"Team NZ have beaten BAR twice already this week, including the walkover on Friday (NZT), when the Kiwis nearly lapped their rivals, who withdrew with two legs remaining".
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