Sir Ben Ainslie and Ineos Britannia pull two races back against Emirates Team New Zealand in America’s Cup in Barcelona
SIR Ben Ainslie and the Ineos Britannia team kept their America’s Cup dream alive with two victories in Barcelona on Wednesday.
The double win in the head-to-head against Emirates Team New Zealand reduced the holders’ lead to 4-2 in the first-to-seven-points series.
The British boat halted the early-series momentum that had been building in favour of the Kiwis.
For the British, it is the first time in over ninety years, since 1934, that they have won two races in an America’s Cup Match.
Lymington’s Sir Ben, Ineos Britannia team principal and skipper, said: “That was a solid effort from the team to get two wins in those difficult conditions. It was a big team effort to make some performance gains. There’s still a long way to go, and we need to keep pushing.
“Every day we get better at sailing this boat, and that’s down to the shore team delivering us a reliable package and the designers, technicians and engineers helping us understand how we can improve the performance, and then, obviously, the sailing squad out here on the water doing their thing.”
The opening race was, in essence, decided before it even began. The New Zealanders lost speed moments before the start, dropping into displacement mode and struggling to get moving again.
The British crew shot out into a lead of over 1,700 metres before the Kiwis could get back up and flying. From that point on, for the British, the race was all about staying on the foils, and they won by one minute and 18 seconds.
For the second race, both teams started aggressively while jostling for the best starting position. With the Kiwis holding their position closer to the start line, Sir Ben and the team ran close to the boundary.
The holders needlessly peeled away – fearful of earning a penalty – before the British sailors gybed first to head back to the line, allowing them to grab an early positional advantage, which they maintained over the next eight legs.
After eight enthralling legs, the British fans who packed the race village and the beachfront fan zones nervously watched as the British boat sealed a hard-fought seven-second victory.
Sir Ben reflected on an outstanding day for the British team, saying: “Big day, a massive day for the team. We really needed that, and I can’t say enough about how everyone across the board responded to being four down – the designers, engineers, and shore team all coming together to find those little gains to up the performance out there on the racecourse and that’s what we got today.”
Asked what the difference was today in Britannia’s performance, Ainslie added: “It’s just little things; it really is. These boats are so fickle in terms of how you set them up and the techniques of how you sail them. Going up against the Kiwis and seeing some areas where we were perhaps a little bit behind, so full credit to the coaching team and the engineers trawling through the data trying to figure out how we can make some of those adjustments.”
With the scoreline at 4-2, the America’s Cup match is now on a knife-edge. The early shoots of a comeback the British fans had been hoping for have materialised, and the two British wins have slowed Emirates Team New Zealand’s early momentum.
Racing resumes on Friday, when two more races are scheduled.