For a team whose form has fluctuated wildly since the start of their campaign, Artemis Racing were the epitome of consistency yesterday after three straight wins over SoftBank Team Japan.

Two races down and facing possible elimination, Artemis mounted an almighty comeback and are one victory away from joining Emirates Team New Zealand in the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger Play-off Finals.

The Swedes were simply faultless on a day when Dean Barker, the Team Japan skipper, made two uncharacteristically poor starts before incurring a controversial penalty in the third race.

“It was an awesome day for us and I’m incredibly proud of everybody involved in our team,” Nathan Outteridge, the Artemis skipper, said.

“We had an incredibly tough day on Tuesday and so as a team we looked back at what we had to do better.

“Everyone saw not only an improved boat but a much needed improved performance from us as sailors.”

Artemis trailed 3-1 after back-to-back losses on Tuesday and could have been sent packing yesterday had they lost two races.

Despite what was at stake, Outteridge insists there were no extra nerves in the camp and said they were confident of reversing their fortunes.

“We weren’t particularly nervous heading into today,” the helmsman said. “We know it could have been our potential exit today, but we were all quietly confident.

“We could have lost confidence in the boat after Tuesday but everyone dug in deep, and I’m just proud of what we achieved today.

“We went back to basics and it just showed how easy it can be to win races again. The aim is to do the same tomorrow and take another step towards winning the America’s Cup.”

It would be unfair to suggest, as one reporter did, that there were echoes of Barker’s collapse as skipper of Team New Zealand at the 2013 America’s Cup in San Francisco, when he let an 8-1 lead slip.

In fairness, Barker did not do much wrong on a day when there was very little margin for error between two evenly matched teams.

“It was obviously a very disappointing day but everyone is remaining positive,” Barker said.

“It’s never ideal to lose three races in a day and it’s frustrating for everyone but we take a lot of heart from today into tomorrow.

“Small errors cost us today but we know we’re still right in this contest and it won’t take a lot to go out and win tomorrow.

“We are two very even teams and although we had a disappointing day, we will take all of our positive energy into tomorrow.”

Had it not been for Team Japan’s penalty as both teams headed into the pivotal gate five turn, when the boats almost touched, the day might have taken on a far healthier complexion for Barker.

“I felt as though there was enough room and I was a little surprised we got the penalty,” Barker said.

“It’s never good when you don’t win a point in a day and it’s frustrating for everyone.”

Outteridge admitted that it was a critical flashpoint of the race and was relieved the umpires’ call went Artemis’s way.

“We’ve been practising that manoeuvre quite a lot,” he said. “We could have pulled it off a bit better and I was a disappointed we didn’t get it spot-on.

“Dean left us a very small amount of room and we managed to squeeze our way in and the umpires rewarded us a penalty. I was very happy with the outcome.”

With races added to the schedule after Tuesday’s postponement because of high winds, Artemis switched their grinders throughout the day to ensure they stayed fresh.

“We’ve got a deep grinding team and we rotated them to make sure they were fresh and ready to go,” he added.

“They will need to get some rest and have a big sleep because tomorrow’s going to be a massive day.”