British crew rue penalty as New Zealand prevail

A CONTROVERSIAL penalty cost Sir Ben Ainslie and his Great Britain boat the chance to race in the final of the SailGP, after a thrilling two-day stage in Plymouth.

- ANDY PHILLIPS

After finishing fifth overall after Saturday's first day of racing with two fourth places and a disappointing sixth - Ainslie and his crew went into yesterday's racing needing a much more impressive showing.

The British boat managed a win in the first race yesterday, and were on the way to earning a place in the top three when they were ahead of Australia in the final leg of race five.

Then, having taken a different tack to the Australian boat on the final straight to the finish, Ainslie's boat crossed over in front of their rivals with less than 200 metres left, and were given a penalty by the race umpire. That forced them to slow down and give way to Australia, who cruised in third behind New Zealand and Denmark.