BARCELONA, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Reigning champions Emirates New Zealand are just one win away from clinching the 37th America's Cup after winning the two races held on Friday off the coast of Barcelona.

Two wins for the British yacht INEOS Britannia on Wednesday looked to have breathed some life into the first-to-seven wins competition, and Friday's racing began with New Zealand leading by four wins to two, meaning another win for INEOS would have put the two teams within touching distance.

However, any hopes the INEOS crew had of that happening were literally blown away in the opening meters of Friday's first race, with New Zealand finding the wind and quickly opening a 12-second lead, which grew to over a minute before they crossed the finish line.

"That was a tough race for us," commented INEOS Britannia captain Ben Ainslie.

"It looked like we were going to be in reasonable shape on the line, then the breeze kicked in on the right, and they did a good job of defending it," he added.

New Zealand then dominated the second race held in calmer conditions with an erratic offshore wind, which they read better than INEOS to move into a 6-2 lead ahead of Saturday's racing.

"We sailed very well after the other day's [Wednesday's] mistakes," commented New Zealand skipper Peter Burling, who explained that "very little wind" was expected for the weekend. Enditem

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