Louis Vuitton Challenger Play-off Semi-finals

SF 1, Race 1: Emirates Team New Zealand bt Land Rover BAR by retirement

Land Rover BAR made the worst possible start to this best-of-nine series when they broke a camber arm in the wing on the third leg and were forced to retire from the race.

New Zealand gapped off at the start and from that windward position outran BAR to the reaching turn at the first mark.

New Zealand got the start they wanted and were stretching out their lead.

BAR got a split going around the right mark at the bottom mark, while New Zealand took the left one.

Whoops, just after beginning the upwind leg. BAR stopped with something broken — apparently a camber arm inside the wing. They had to retire from this race.

New Zealand had to sail through the next gate then Race Management awarded them with the win.

Sir Ben Ainslie described it as a crunching sound, a loud bang just as they were coming around the leeward mark. They have never had a failure such as this, he said.

After BAR returned to shore, it was reported that they are done for the day, handing New Zealand a 2-0 lead.

SF 2, Race 1: SoftBank Team Japan bt Artemis Racing by 0:27

SoftBank Team Japan absolutely smoked Artemis Racing to take a surprise lead in this series.

Artemis got the windward end of the line into a drag race with Team Japan. Artemis got around Team Japan at the first mark and went left. The boats rounded the downwind mark even with Artemis taking the right mark and Japan the left.

The boats came together on the first cross and Japan made it ahead and took the lead.

SoftBank look fast so far and in opening the lead they were doing a constant 30 knots upwind.

Their lead at Gate 3 was 21 seconds.

All the Swedes could do was follow downwind. SoftBank went into the gate doing 35 knots and were 16 seconds ahead.

Team Japan gained more on this leg and was 120 yards ahead building out to more than 200 metres ahead. Going on to leg six, Softbank were 27 seconds ahead.

The leeward marks were set just off of the Village grandstand and the finish line was set at some 100 metres after a little right hand turn. Team Japan had to make a sharp right-hand turn just after crossing the finish to avoid the reefs by the Village wall.

SoftBank won and put a mark on the board. And they were very fast against a boat that had done very well in a breezy practice season.

SF1, Race 2: Emirates Team New Zealand bt Land Rover BAR by disqualification

New Zealand started their second race alone in the box.

Land Rover BAR were not able to repair or replace their broken wing in time to race. They were “black flagged” again and go down two points as Race Management awarded the second win to New Zealand.

This is a devastating two-race deficit for BAR. They have a spare wing and may have spare parts as well. Can they bounce back tomorrow? The clock is ticking for the shore team to work its magic.

Emirates Team New Zealand lead Land Rover BAR 2-0

SF2, Race 2: Artemis Racing bt SoftBank Team Japan by 0:29

Artemis Racing even the score with SoftBank Team Japan with a nifty pass on the last upwind leg.

At the start, Softbank entered the box first on port and ten seconds later. The boats were sailing in the same configuration as the first race since there is not enough time between matches to make any significant changes.

Artemis were close to getting an overlap as they approached the starting line and asked for a penalty, but it was denied.

This was another solid start for Dean Barker and Team Japan. The difference between getting the penalty call or not was a matter of about a metre.

Japan led into the right-hand mark downwind and Artemis followed.

Going upwind, Japan once again showed a lot of speed. A right-hand shift and more pressure favoured Team Japan and they gained more.

Japan go on to downwind leg four first and extend their lead to about 190 metres.

On a gybe, skipper Barker tripped on the mainsheet and bounced down on the tramp. After that stumble, Japan had a six-second lead going into the last upwind leg.

With both boats on starboard, Artemis had a bit more pressure and had a lift. Both boats had to tack away from the left-hand boundary and Artemis got the better tack. They took the lead going into Gate 5 and on to the last downwind leg well ahead.

Barker and crew have to be concerned about another late race upset. They had the bad tack where Barker tripped and almost missed his cockpit. And then Artemis got good pressure and a wind shift that lifted the Swedes to victory. They were tracking close and took the opportunity.

Getting around the upwind mark first gave Artemis that initial downwind speed boost. It was a significant boost and gave them an insurmountable lead to the finish.

>Artemis Racing are level at 1-1 with SoftBank Team Japan