Ainslie's Land Rover BAR team break wing in America's Cup semi

FILE PHOTO: Skipper Ben Ainslie of Land Rover BAR speaks at a news conference ahead of competing in the America's Cup World Series sailing event in New York City, U.S., May 5, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

(Reuters) - Britain's Land Rover BAR retired from their first America's Cup semi-final race against Emirates Team New Zealand on Monday after suffering a breakage in their towering "wing" sail.

Skipper Ben Ainslie had to throw in the towel after coming to an abrupt halt in the second leg of the widely-anticipated race against the New Zealand crew, which was postponed due to a lack of wind in Bermuda's Great Sound on Sunday.

"A bit of a shame for those guys... it was shaping up to be a good race," New Zealand helmsman Peter Burling said in televised comments on BT Sport after the British crew retired.

FILE PHOTO: Britain Sailing - America’s Cup Media Event - House of Garrard, Mayfair, London - 25/1/17 Sir Ben Ainslie of the Land Rover BAR team and Jimmy Spithill of the Oracle Team USA during a press conference. Action Images via Reuters / Andrew Couldridge / File Photo / Livepic

The other semi-final series will be contested between Sweden's Artemis Racing and SoftBank Team Japan who are also scheduled to complete two races on Monday.

The first team to win five races in each semi-final will go through to the challenger final.

(Reporting by Alexander Smith in London; Editing by Ken Ferris)