Tempers were frayed out on the waters, with British skipper Sir Ben Ainslie taking a verbal swipe at Kiwi America's Cup commentator Stephen McIvor, after suffering another loss to Emirates Team New Zealand off Barcelona.
INEOS Britannia have fallen 3-0 behind the cup holders in the first-to-seven series, with Ainslie being heard swearing, seemingly in reference to McIvor, after a post-race interview.
"Still believe you're as close when it comes to performance, because I get that feeling coming off your boat?" quizzed McIvor.
"Maybe that's the Kiwi commentator in you, mate," chuckled Sir Ben.
"OK, I'll take that one on the chin," said McIvor.
The exchange seemed innocuous at the time, but Ainslie was heard to mutter "f***ing w*****" into a live microphone as the interview ended.
Ainslie was later asked if he knew the comment was audible on the international race broadcast.
"Possibly," he said. "I just thought it was a bit of a stupid comment from the Kiwi commentator, but I think it's good for our team, you know.
"It's good motivation."
McIvor was sharing the commentary booth with British sailor Shirley Robertson, who won Olympic gold at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004.
After heading off four other challengers for the right to take on Team NZ for the 'Auld Mug', the Brits have barely fired a shot at their rivals and suffered their third loss, after copping a pre-start penalty that immediately put them 75 metres down.
"I am sure it's a tough call," said Ainslie about the penalty. "It felt like we were keeping clear, but obviously the umpires didn’t see it that way.
"I think it's a much closer relative performance, but through the races, they've done a brilliant job, when they've been in the lead, of defending and finding the right moment to extend a little bit.
"Obviously, it has been tough for us, but we’ve kept it relatively close. It might look like there's a big gap in performance, but I don't think it's actually that big and we know that we can still make gains."
Race four was called off for lack of wind and has been rescheduled for Tuesday's rest day (NZ time).
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