America's Cup commentators have joked about their trepidation over locking horns with British sailing superstar Sir Ben Ainslie, as Emirates Team New Zealand push their advantage to 4-0 off Barcelona.
The cup holders need only three more wins to retain the 'Auld Mug' and the INEOS Britannia boss is feeling the pressure to turn the campaign around, as they enter the first rest day of the series.
His relationship with race callers reached boiling point on Monday (NZ time), when he referred to veteran broadcaster Stephen McIvor as a "f***ing w***er", after a post-race interview with the Kiwi.
Britannia had suffered a pre-start penalty, as the two boats narrowly avoided a collision, and the Kiwis took full advantage to sail away down the course.
The British skipper hasn't taken kindly to questioning. (Source: Supplied)
After their fourth defeat today — their closest finish so far — former Team NZ skipper Glenn Ashby has admitted there were nerves in the commentary box.
"Bennie, we've all been drawing straws and paper-scissors-rock here over who was going to ask you the questions today," offered Aussie Ashby, as Ainslie chuckled.
McIvor played it safe with his opening question, but still drew a dig from the four-time Olympic gold medallist.
"Intense matchrace, what's the message to the team right now," asked McIvor.
"Well, surprised you're not going to talk to me about the performance to start off with," retorted Ainslie. "It was a good race, and we had a good start and got the first cross, but they're just going well, really well.
"For us, it's a matter of figuring out how we can make some performance gains to take it to them."
Both teams now head into a rest day, which provide a chance for the British to regroup, before the contest resumes on Thursday (NZ time).
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