BARCELONA, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Britain's INEOS Britannia yacht took a potentially decisive 6-4 lead over Italy's Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in the first-to-seven series in the Louis Vuitton Cup after winning both of Wednesday's regattas.
INEOS Britannia's two wins mean they are just one more triumph away from booking their place to compete against reigning champions, Emirates New Zealand in the Americas' Cup later this month.
The yacht captained by Sir Ben Ainslie took advantage of blustery conditions off the coast of Barcelona, more familiar to the British crew, to win two narrow victories, with INEOS enjoying a minimum advantage of just 13 seconds in the second of the day's races.
"A great day sailing with the difficulty of doing it with these waves" commented Ainslie after the races.
The British captain said the "swell" had made it "difficult to sail the boats" and insisted that there was "still a long long way to go" before adding overall victory.
Luna Rossa skipper Jimmy Spithill insisted his crew would not be giving up.
"All credit to INEOS, we will go back and try again," he said, lamenting that in the second regatta, the Italians had been "close a couple of times, but it was not possible.
Meanwhile, helmsman Francesco Bruni insisted that the next day of racing on Friday would "be a different story," although he admitted the British had managed the conditions better on Wednesday. ■
