INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa take victories to stay tied in America's Cup

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Britain's INEOS Britannia and Italy’s Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli split race victories Sunday to remain tied in the America’s Cup challenger final.

Britannia took the win in the first race of the day before Luna Rossa triumphed in the second, leaving the first-to-seven series even at 2-2.

The first race went to Britannia after Luna Rossa was disqualified for needing to bring outside crew onboard to change a broken mainsail skin batten.

Racing was delayed for the second race because of wind limits.

“Probably the most frustrating part of the day was just the wind limit, but we did get the race off and from there the boys just bounced back brilliantly, especially after that unfortunate issue with the mainsail,” said Jimmy Spithill, starboard helmsman for Luna Rossa.

Two more races are scheduled for Monday.

The winner will lift the Louis Vuitton Cup and try to topple defending champion Team Emirates New Zealand for the America’s Cup next month.

The final race of the day on Saturday had been stopped after winds died and neither team could finish within the time limit.

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The Associated Press