Ainslie gets revenge as Team Origin win

An emphatic win for Britain’s Team Origin in the semi-final of the Louis Vuitton Trophy series in Nice squared the best of three at 1-1 as skipper Ben Ainslie took revenge for the opening loss to Italy’s Team Azzurra, skippered by Francesco Bruni.

In the other half of the draw, the favourites Team New Zealand, with a full strength crew skippered by Dean Barker, squeaked a last gasp victory over the Russian Team Synergy, skippered by Poland’s Karol Jablonski.

A delayed programme means that the deciding races cannot be sailed until Saturday morning.

In the Atlantic, Mike Golding and Javier Sanso are still third in the Transat Jacques Vabre from Le Havre to Costa Rica, but have slipped to over 200 miles behind the leaders Marc Guillemot and Charles Cauledrier-Brenac in Safran. Seventh-placed Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson have announced they will make a sop in Sat. Lucia on Sunday to pick up a part to repair the generator.