Emirates Team New Zealand Finishes Off Oracle Team USA To Win America’s Cup

By BERNIE WILSON
AP Sports Writer

       HAMILTON, Bermuda (AP) – Helmsman Peter Burling and Emirates Team New Zealand have won the America’s Cup by routing software tycoon Larry Ellison’s Oracle Team USA.

        The underfunded but resourceful Kiwis claimed the oldest trophy in international sports on the Great Sound on Monday, winning Race 9 to clinch the match at 7-1.

        Team New Zealand started with a negative point because Oracle won the qualifiers, forcing the Kiwis to win eight races to return the Auld Mug to the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in Auckland for the first time since 2003.

        The Kiwis atoned for their mind-numbing collapse in 2013, when they blew an 8-1 lead as Oracle won eight straight races in one of the greatest comebacks in sports.

        The 26-year-old Burling becomes the youngest helmsman to win the America’s Cup.

        AP-WF-06-26-17 1740GMT