Sequels invariably fail to live up to the promise of the original, and so it proved this afternoon on the Great Sound at the 35th America’s Cup.

The second instalment of the battle between Artemis Racing and Emirates Team New Zealand in the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Qualifiers had a familiar storyline, but lacked the excitement of the first episode.

A penalty again cost the Swedes dear, although this time there was no arguing with the call, as they clearly infringed as the boats approached the windward mark. The right-of-way penalty forced Artemis to drop back as the teams raced for the finish.

Victory capped an impressive race for Peter Burling and Team New Zealand, who overcame a serious loss of control on the second leg as they bounced into Artemis’s wake and their weather rudder popped out of the water, forcing them into a nosedive.

The mistake cost them 400 metres, but they gradually hauled the Swedes back and were neck-and-neck before a penalty again decided the outcome.

In all, there was little of the drama of day three, with Groupama Team France reverting to type in a heavy loss to Oracle Team USA. Trailing by some eight knots crossing the start line, the French were never able to match the speed of the America’s Cup defender, and eventually came in 1min and 56sec behind Jimmy Spithill and his men.

Land Rover BAR at least managed to flip the script, although Artemis will be sick of the site of Sir Ben Ainslie and his crew.

The British challenger got back to winning ways today after a slingshot start got them ahead of Artemis and into a lead they never gave up. Ainslie erased the mistakes of the past several days, grabbing the team’s second win over Artemis in the Qualifiers.

The win has effectively sealed BAR’s spot in the challenger play-offs; Artemis meanwhile have a tough few days ahead. Nathan Outteridge and his team are tied on two points with SoftBank Team Japan and Team France.

The latter two face each other in tomorrow’s first race, and both race twice on a rest day for Artemis. The Swedes will be watching proceedings with concern.