Sir Ben Ainslie labels Kiwi commentator a f****** w***** after Great Britain´s America´s Cup hopes take another hit with New Zealand going 3-0 up

Sir Ben Ainslie gets angry again. We know what that has meant for his rivals over the years, although it will take more than a few expletives to swing the America’s Cup final back in Britain’s favor.

Trailing 3-0 against Emirates Team New Zealand, Ainslie and his Ineos Britannia team edged closer to a whitewash than a comeback on the second day of racing in this best-of-13 series.

For a snapshot of the frustrations bubbling in Ainslie’s mind, witness the conversation he had with a commentator immediately after their worst loss yet off the coast of Barcelona.

Ainslie was still at the helm of his 70-foot yacht when one of the experts on the official broadcast, a New Zealander named Stephen McIvor, asked if he still felt his team was close to their opponents in terms of performance, because ‘I don’t ‘Don’t get that feeling from your boat’.

At first the four-time Olympic champion only reacted lightly, saying: “Maybe that’s the Kiwi commentator in you, mate.”

But it was then, with his microphone still on, that you heard Ainslie mutter: ‘F****** w*****.’

The feeling on the dockside was that McIvor’s research had been slightly misinterpreted as a barb. But the Britannia skipper was in no mood to back down, later adding at his press conference: “It was a stupid comment from the Kiwi commentator. I think it’s good for our team. I think it’s good motivation.’

He would go on to hint that he knew his microphone was still active, so perhaps this was a common case of the 47-year-old trying to access his higher gears through anger. It’s certainly been a theme throughout his stellar career, most notably in London 2012, when he gave his now famous speech: “They’ve made me mad and you don’t want to make me mad.”

That led to one of his many big comebacks, but it’s doubtful arguments with commentators will have such a profound effect here. Indeed, this was another race that only emphasized the superiority of Pete Burling’s New Zealand side during the first half of their clash.

The key moment came before the start. As in Saturday’s opening race, when a battery collapsed on board the British boat, Britannia found herself in trouble before even crossing the line, this time due to a penalty imposed on Ainslie in the dial-up for not giving up when the yachts came within inches of collision.

The near miss was exciting to watch and also a feather in the cap for Burling as he set a trap for Ainslie and snared him. With a 75-yard penalty, New Zealand’s covering tactics did the rest in a big 52-second victory.

At one point the defending champions were a full 700 meters ahead, built on smoother maneuvers and an apparent boat speed advantage when sailing upwind in the light air that dominated the first two days.

British ambitions could now rely on the forecast of stronger breezes later in the week, deemed better suited to their hunt.

Ainslie, who viewed the decisive penalty incident as a ’50-50′ call, is now aiming for a fresh start for his team, starting with the rescheduled fourth race on Monday after Sunday’s second leg was postponed due to light winds.

He said: ‘I think it’s probably time for a reset in terms of our approach to how we’ve been sailing, how we’ve approached the race and trying to find some more performance in the boat. Again, I’m confident we can do that.

“We always knew it was going to be tough coming into this. It’s the ultimate fight and it showed.”