Big news from the British America’s Cup team Athena Racing, which announced today that legendary sailor and team boss Ian Walker MBE has been appointed Chief Executive Officer.

Walker joins Sir Ben Ainslie’s Athena Racing as CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of its America’s Cup Challenge, reuniting two of Britain’s most successful competitive sailors.

It also sends a strong signal that the Brits – who have not revealed any major backers since splitting from INEOS in January 2025 – are gearing up for a full-power challenge for the 38th America’s Cup.

Since entries closed for the 38th America’s Cup, to be held in 2027 in Naples, there have been no announcements of confirmed entries, only the news that American Magic will not take part.

Athena Racing, representing the Royal Yacht Squadron, remains the Challenger of Record.

Ainslie at the helm of INEOS Britannia in AC37 (no word yet on what the Team Principal’s full role will be, nor on backers for the British Challenge).

Athena Racing’s new CEO

Ainslie welcomed his new CEO today, saying: “Ian is an exceptional leader with a proven track record of success with high-performance campaigns across the very top of our sport, there are very few people as qualified, both on and off the water.

“He also understands the complexity of running teams that need to be at the forefront of innovation and performance while meeting both budget and timeline demands. For AC38, that timeline is tight, and we needed a CEO who could hit the ground running and Ian can do that, he understands how to drive teams forward and the importance of continuity in achieving the ultimate goal.”

Ian Walker also spoke about his enthusiasm for returning to the America’s Cup arena: “The Cup has evolved enormously since I was last involved in terms of the boats, the technology, and even the balance between sailors and designers.

“But at its core, it remains unchanged, it’s about managing your resources, getting the best out of your people, and making every second count, in a race against time, and the clock is ticking.”

The 2000 Team GBR sailing team, including Ian Walker (left), Ben Ainslie (3rd from left) at the Olympic Games in Sydney Harbour. Photo: AFP/Torsten BLACKWOOD via Getty Images

British talent reunited

Walker and Ainslie were both part of the hugely successful British Olympic sailing team, and competed at the Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 Olympic Games (Ainslie famously took silver at Atlanta, then Gold at Sydney, while Walker won silver at both – in the 470 with the late John Merricks in 1996, then the Star with Mark Covell four years later).

Since then, while Team Principal Ainslie went on to score four more Olympic golds and compete in multiple America’s Cups, Walker’s career has spanned ocean and inshore racing, America’s Cup campaigns, and high-performance team management roles.

He skippered Britain’s Wight Lightning for Peter Harrison’s GBR Challenge in the 31st America’s Cup in 2003, which Ainslie was also a member of. In 2007 Walker joined the Italian 39+ Cup team with fellow British Olympian Iain Percy.

The British Americas Cup boat GBR Challenge racing in the Solent during the Round the Island Race. Photo: Clive Mason/ALLSPORT

Ian Walker: a winning leader

Ian Walker also achieved major success in offshore racing, skippering three Volvo Ocean Race entries, which culminated in becoming the first British skipper to win in 2015 with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, having come back from a dismasting in the previous edition.

His coaching and performance roles have included coaching Shirley Robertson to her second gold in 2004, and serving as Performance Director for the British Sailing Team. He oversaw the British team’s last truly dominant Games, with GBR sailors topping the medal table at Tokyo 2020, winning five medals, including three golds after a challenging, covid-disrupted build up.

Since Tokyo, Ian Walker has been at North Sails, leading the UK sailmaking team for the past three years.

Ian Walker, skipper of the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team, celebrates during the winners ceremony in Gothenburg at the end of the Volvo Ocean Race. Photo: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images

Unusually, Walker brings experience at a high level in both commercial and performance spheres, combined with personal sailing achievement and experience.

“It’s an exciting moment to return to the America’s Cup with a British challenge that has the continuity of the last three campaigns, alongside the recent creation of the America’s Cup Partnership (ACP),” Walker explained.

“That was a big part of my decision to take this on, because I believe in what the ACP is trying to achieve – creating a sustainable, viable commercial business model for the competition. I’ve also worked with several members of the team previously, which gives me real confidence in what we’re building together.”

“The America’s Cup transcends the sport of sailing and has so much untapped potential, Walker concluded. “I am excited about what lies ahead, just imagine how cool it would be for the team to win it for Britain.”

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Despite looking like another bland piece of America’s Cup politics and procedure, it is difficult to overstate the significance of the newly formed America’s Cup Partnership (ACP).

First revealed a few weeks ago in the 38th America’s Cup Protocol, the ACP changes fundamentally the way in which the Cup will be run in the next cycle and beyond.

And while there are good reasons for the change, it’s not going to be universally popular. In fact, this could be the most controversial Cup move in modern times, some say it could even be the beginning of the end for the Auld Mug as we know it.

Sir Ben Ainslie, who has played a major part in creating the ACP – and whose team Athena Racing represents the Royal Yacht Squadron, the Challengers of Record – says this is, “The biggest step change in the history of the Cup,” and that the ACP is, “Critical to the future success of the Cup.”

His opposite, Grant Dalton, CEO of Emirates Team New Zealand representing the Defenders, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron is equally punchy. “If we hadn’t have done this it could have been pretty much the end of the Cup.”
Both are bold statements and both will raise plenty of comment and fierce debate.

RNZYS Commodore David Blakey and RYS Ltd’s Bertie Bicket shake hands, watched by Sir Ben Ainslie and Grant Dalton, to mark the signing of the Protocol for the 38th America’s Cup, in August 2025. Photo: Suellen Hurling / RNZYS / America’s Cup

Spreading the load

Traditionally, if you win the America’s Cup you take on the responsibility for putting on the next event once a Challenger has thrown down the gauntlet.

It’s a big obligation, both logistically and financially and puts huge pressure on both the Defenders and the club they represent, especially in multi-challenger Cup cycles where the burden of hosting an event that runs for months can place huge demands on infrastructure.

Covering the huge financial costs is made even harder as the short-term nature of a Cup cycle that lacks any detail makes it especially difficult for sponsors to justify putting their hands in their pockets.

This means that the time frame between America’s Cup matches inevitably gets drawn out, which in turn causes its own problems when it comes to maintaining public interest in the event. Filling these gaps with more events costs more money and so the problem continues to spiral.

The financial. burden of hosting multi-challenger Cups, such as the very successful 32nd Cup in Valencia, Spain in 2007, is significant. Photo: Jose Jordan/AFP via Getty Images

The ACP seeks to change this by sharing the logistical and financial burden with the other competitors.

In simple terms, under the new structure when a Challenger enters the America’s Cup it takes a place on the board that governs the event. From here the rules, the schedule, the venue selection and every other detail of the cycle is agreed and actioned.

Dalton and Ainslie argue that this creates future structure to the event around which hosting deals can be made for future venues along with long term sponsorship deals and other financial considerations.

They also argue that costs can be better controlled and talk of spending caps which they say would help to increase the number of future potential teams.

No longer unique?

All of which sounds positive, especially given that this is how SailGP, which was born out of the 2017 America’s Cup, is currently growing.

SailGP has succeeded in creating a commercially focussed, spectacle-driven circuit – but is that the right direction for the future of the America’s Cup? Photo: Felix Diemer for SailGP

But there are those that will argue that democratising the America’s Cup strikes at the heart of its foundation.

Commercialising it in this way, and running a Cup event every two years as has been suggested, risks turning it into another world championships of sailing and removes the winner-takes-all aspect that has drawn a steady stream of billionaires for 174 years.

The appeal and potential commercial benefit of winning the Cup and bringing it home could also be gone if hosting deals have been made for future cycles. This could also reduce the appeal and prestige of the Cup making it harder to raise finances.

Big money deals

But Dalton and Ainslie don’t see it this way.

“We would dearly have loved to be able to negotiate with Naples for two cycles,” says Dalton. “Their infrastructure bill is €180 million, but when you can only plan for one cycle you can’t do long broadcast deals and you can’t do long sponsor deals which is the well known Achilles heel of the Cup.

“So, in this commercial world – and knowing that our sport is niche – we knew it was time to make that move. And so along with the Challenger of Record with support from the New York Yacht Club we have been able to do it but it’s not been easy because there’s a lot of stakeholders to be satisfied.”

Ainslie agrees. “The challenge has been trying to convince stakeholders that this is the right move for the Cup,” he says.

“Initially there was quite a lot of resistance for many different reasons and it’s taken 12 months to get to this point. But as hard as it’s been, actually the conviction from Grant that this is what we should be doing has delivered at the end of the day.”

The America’s Cup has endured since 1851, as captured in this painting of America running to the finish line of the RYS Cup in Cowes. Will these new changes secure its future? Image: duncan1890 via Getty Images.

But these are big changes, and even Dalton has his concerns. “We knew that if we didn’t do anything then we might not have a Cup in 10 years time.

“So, in the end this was a call that we had to make but you won’t be able to convince me that we’re right yet, I think only time will tell.”

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Swiss America’s Cup team Alinghi Red Bull Racing issued a statement today, Thursday 29th May, as the latest war of words among various interested America’s Cup teams escalates.

That statement was followed by another from the official America’s Cup Challenger of Record, the Royal Yacht Squadron’s Athena Racing.

The first indication that something was (once again) amiss in the world of the America’s Cup came when Team New Zealand announced Naples as the venue for the 38th America’s Cup, seemingly out of the blue – though rumours of an announcement had been circulating.

That venue announcement was followed days later by Ben Ainslie’s Athena Racing, and US team NYYC American Magic, both issuing co-ordinated team statements. The Athena Racing statement revealed the British frustration that six months of negotiation with Team New Zealand, headed up by Grant Dalton, had failed to result in a Protocol agreement stating that:

‘For seven months Athena Racing has been in negotiations on a protocol for the 38th America’s Cup with the Defender, Team New Zealand, on behalf of all the Challengers – with the aim to deliver a fair sporting framework and commercially viable event for all America’s Cup stakeholders. Despite recent progress being made, significant barriers remain.

‘Typically, a host agreement has only followed the publication of an agreed protocol. In the absence of an agreed protocol, it is therefore difficult to understand what exactly has been agreed between Team New Zealand and the Government of Italy as the sporting framework and details of the event do not yet exist.’

Ben Ainslie. Photo: INEOS Britannia

These opening salvoes then saw Team New Zealand biting back against charges of a lack of transparency, calling the challengers ‘unreasonable’ and taking the unprecedented step of releasing the America’s Cup Protocol draft apparently without full consultation with Challenger of Record Athena Racing.

Gloves-off America’s Cup statement from Alinghi

The statement released today by Alinghi takes aim squarely at Team New Zealand and goes as far as claiming that ‘Team New Zealand have sold something they do not own the rights to.’ And additionally reveals they have contacted the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron ‘raising questions about the administration of the competition by Team New Zealand.’

In what was another clearly co-ordinated effort from the Challengers, the Alinghi statement was quickly followed by another from both Athena Racing and NYYC American Magic, both giving full-throated support to the sentiments expressed by the Swiss team.

Alinghi Red Bull Racing had previously announced that they would not compete in the 38th America’s Cup. Photo: America’s Cup

In full the Alinghi statement reads:

‘When Alinghi Red Bull Racing withdrew in April from consideration for the 38th America’s Cup, we did so because we had serious concerns about the administration and governance of the Cup by the Defender, Team New Zealand.

‘While we wholeheartedly welcome the choice of Naples as a perfect host venue for the Cup in 2027, our concerns were deepened yesterday when Team New Zealand celebrated the announcement of the host venue at an event in the city.

‘They had no right to do so without first having agreed a protocol with the Challenger of Record, Athena Racing, who were not consulted on the host venue arrangements which critically impact all challenging teams with regards to cost and logistics.

‘In signing a commercial deal with the host city that includes the Challenger Selection Series of races for the Louis Vuitton Cup, Team New Zealand have sold something they do not own the rights to. This is not acceptable.

‘Additionally, the lack of transparency over the terms of the venue deal struck by Team New Zealand begs the question: How can a venue be agreed without either the host city or any of the challenger teams knowing what form of regatta will take place?

‘This is just the latest demonstration of the Defender’s failure to live up to its fiduciary duties as the Trustee of the America’s Cup.

‘These growing concerns about the governance of the Cup is why Société Nautique de Genève has written to the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron raising questions about the administration of the competition by Team New Zealand and requesting information relating to RNZYS’s responsibilities and duties as Trustee.

‘As a two-time winner of the Cup and a former Trustee ourselves, Alinghi will always feel a responsibility to the America’s Cup and believe that those who organize and run the event should always seek to put the collective interest of the Cup above all else.

‘Like Athena Racing and American Magic, we believe that a successful America’s Cup hinges on openness, trust, and a shared understanding among all participants. We remain hopeful that a protocol between the Defender and the Challenger of Record can be agreed that establishes an equitable sporting framework for the racing and a commercially viable event for all America’s Cup stakeholders.

‘If this can be achieved, then Alinghi is ready to explore ways that we can be part of that future, especially in the wonderful city of Naples in 2027, a truly fitting setting for the world’s greatest sailing competition.’

Alinghi are no strangers to Cup controversy themselves having been taken to court by Larry Ellison’s BMW Oracle after their succesfull defence of the America’s Cup. the resultant fall out saw several years of battle in the courts before a Deed of Gift match between the two teams in 2010.

Could the Cup be heading back to the courts once again?

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The statements, released Thursday 22 May, follow last week’s announcement by the America’s Cup defenders Team New Zealand that the next America’s Cup will be held in Naples, Italy. They apparently reflect frustration that six months of negotiation with Team New Zealand, headed up by Grant Dalton, have failed to result in a Protocol agreement.

First to be released was British Athena Racing. It reads:

“Athena Racing, representing Royal Yacht Squadron Ltd. as Challenger of Record for the 38th America’s Cup, is concerned by the ongoing lack of transparency around the recent announcement of a Host City for the Cup in 2027 and the impact this is having on the main goal of negotiating a fair sporting protocol.

“For seven months Athena Racing has been in negotiations on a protocol for the 38th America’s Cup with the Defender, Team New Zealand, on behalf of all the Challengers – with the aim to deliver a fair sporting framework and commercially viable event for all America’s Cup stakeholders. Despite recent progress being made, significant barriers remain.

“Typically, a host agreement has only followed the publication of an agreed protocol. In the absence of an agreed protocol, it is therefore difficult to understand what exactly has been agreed between Team New Zealand and the Government of Italy as the sporting framework and details of the event do not yet exist.

“Any hosting agreement will bind challengers to financial and organisational obligations, as well as potential liabilities, making its disclosure fundamental to teams’ participation and commitment to the 38th America’s Cup.

“While we have every confidence that Naples can be a magnificent host for the America’s Cup, we believe that transparency and cooperation between the Defender and all Challengers is vital for the Cup’s future and therefore the recent announcements from the Defender are premature, at best.”

The Protocol is due to be released in the next few weeks, though some details of a draft Protocol were leaked, it’s clear from today’s statements that those suggested terms were a long way from being unanimously agreed.

American Magic about to get the better of INEOS in the first start of the 2024 AC Preliminary Regatta. Photo: Photo: Ian Roman | America’s Cup

NYYC American Magic statement

The Athena statement was swiftly followed by one from NYYC American Magic, who were expected to challenge for the 38th Cup.

Their statement read: “Over the past seven years, we’ve competed with pride, purpose, and perseverance in two editions of the America’s Cup. It has been an honor to represent the New York Yacht Club and the United States on the global stage in one of the most storied competitions in sport.

“As we look ahead to the 38th America’s Cup, we find ourselves at a crossroads and feel that we must provide an update to our teammates, partners, donors, and supporters.

“Despite the best efforts of the Challengers – led by the Challenger of Record – to negotiate in good faith, the Defender has been unwilling to commit to the transparency and cooperation necessary to secure a fair Protocol. Without the structural framework necessary for challengers to pursue viable campaigns, it will remain extremely difficult to unlock the America’s Cup’s potential as a modern, globally relevant sports property.

“We continue to support the Challenger of Record in their efforts to secure an open and balanced Protocol, as without the meaningful changes they are advocating, it is difficult to see how NYYC American Magic can participate in the 38th America’s Cup.

“While we remain committed to the America’s Cup and would welcome the opportunity to compete under a fair protocol, we are equally committed to integrity, transparency, and the long-term health of the institution that is the America’s Cup. We urge the Defender, as Trustee, to work in good faith with the Challenger of Record to restore the elements of fair competition, transparency, and respect for all sailors, globally, who are ultimately the beneficiaries of this time-honored trust.”

It was recently announced that the Cup is headed to Naples, Italy

America’s Cup Protocol disputes

Neither team has specified which elements of the Protocol are in disagreement.

Areas that could potentially be sticking points include sailor nationality, particularly the widely leaked ‘non-compete’ clause which suggests that sailors who have competed in the previous America’s Cup could not compete for a different team in AC38. Such a rule change would have particular relevance now three-times Cup winning helmsman Pete Burling has parted ways with Team New Zealand.

Other areas that have been reported to be under discussion include a change to the ‘in country’ build rule, data sharing– and the future governance of the America’s Cup itself.

Although the Italian host city itself has been widely welcomed, key details surrounding race dates, team bases etc are also yet to be shared – and the clock is now running.

With less than two years until AC38 all teams will be in a race against time. For teams such as Athena Racing, who are also in a race to secure funding following the acrimonious split with previous backers INEOS, the lack of clarity about the shape of the next event will be particularly acute.

There has yet to be a response from the French team, who welcomed the Naples announcement as a positive in their bid to raise funding to challenge for AC38.

Nor from the Swiss Alinghi, who announced that they had withdrawn from the Cup and winding down operations – although Dalton recently hinted to a New Zealand news outlet that he believed the team were in fact recruiting.

The key response the statements are clearly intended to elicit, however, is from Team New Zealand – we’ll report more when we have it

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Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS Britannia will not compete in the next America’s Cup.

The release issued last night stated: “INEOS Britannia announces that it has withdrawn its intention to challenge for the next America’s Cup.

“The decision has been taken after a protracted negotiation with Athena Racing Ltd following the conclusion of 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona.”

This follows the dramatic split between team boss and skipper Sir Ben Ainslie, and twice Cup title sponsors INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe in January. INEOS Britannia became the first British team to reach a Cup final in 60 years, but lost 7-2 to Emirates Team New Zealand in Barcelona last October.

INEOS Britannia and Emirares Team New Zealand race in the Louis Vuitton Round Robin Series in 2024. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

The release went on to place the blame with Ainslie’s team for the fact that INEOS would not be competing in the 38th America’s Cup:

“The agreement that had been reached with Athena would have allowed both parties to compete in the next Cup, but it depended on a rapid resolution. INEOS Britannia had agreed the substantive terms very quickly, but Athena failed to bring the agreement to a timely conclusion. INEOS Britannia is of the opinion that this six-month delay has undermined its ability to prepare for the next Cup and so has reluctantly withdrawn its challenge.”

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman of INEOS, commented, “This was a very difficult decision to have taken following our challenge at the last two America’s Cups.

“We were the most successful British challenger in modern times with an exceptionally quick boat and we felt with the very effective input from the Mercedes F1 engineers that we had a real chance to win at the next Cup. Unfortunately, the opportunity has slipped away.”

This is a major reversal since INEOS’s first communication in January, which stated that the team “already have 100 scientists and engineers working on the design of our AC38 yacht” and had appointed Dave Endean as CEO.

As recently as early March, Sir Jim Ratcliffe told the BBC – in a long-form interview that addressed the many tribulations of his sporting investments – that: “We will be at the next America’s Cup and I think we will be there with a very quick boat.”

Grant Dalton congratulates INEOS Britannia backer Sir Jim Ratcliffe on winning the Louis Vuitton Cup Final. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Ainslie’s Athena Challenger of Record

Ainslie’s side has remained tight-lipped on the subject, after an initial release stating that they were “astounded” by INEOS’s announcement in January.

The Challenger of Record remains the Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes, UK. Shortly after the split, Ainslie quietly laid down a line in the sand with the team, now known as Athena Racing, describing itself as ‘the British Challenger for the 38th America’s Cup’ on the Athena team website.

This fact was equally discreetly confirmed by the Royal Yacht Squadron on its own website, with an update in February that: “Athena Racing represents Royal Yacht Squadron Ltd, the British entry for the 38th America’s Cup lead [sic] by Sir Ben Ainslie.

It went on to add: “Royal Yacht Squadron Ltd is honoured to be the Challenging Club for the British Challenger of Record Athena Racing for the 38th America’s Cup. We will work alongside The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron to deliver the protocol for the oldest trophy in modern sport.”

So far, so British.

Sir Ben Ainslie was skipper and team boss for INEOS Britannia in the 37th America’s Cup but has since split from the title sponsors. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Ainslie’s funding challenge

But the big question British supporters have been asking since the very public break up is: can Sir Ben get the funding he needs to build a competitive entry?

There are many with deep loyalties to Ainslie in the sailing world – from his early Olympic successes Ainslie was the figurehead of a wave of British Sailing Team successes that in turn attracted world-class funding and personnel, developing Team GBR into a ‘medal factory’ that was the envy of almost every sailing nation.

His successive Olympic victories, America’s Cup challenges, and most lately SailGP team ownership, have brought yet more sponsorship funding and employment opportunities for those good enough and lucky enough to join his squads. Off the water, many have also worked with him for decades – including his CMO Jo Grindley and others on the commercial side who, of course, got a British America’s Cup team to Bermuda long before the INEOS partnership .

Ainslie is also, as anyone who’s even remotely followed sailing will know, not a man to be underestimated, particularly when backed into a corner.

One good indication of the team feeling came after Ainslie’s Emirates Team Great Britain won the Sydney Sail GP, with plenty of posts on social media from key players praising Ainslie’s leadership.

Ainslie’s Emirates Great Britain team won the Sydney Sail GP event. Photo: Ricardo Pinto for SailGP

Of course, loyalty alone won’t pay the very substantial bills for an America’s Cup team, but both new backers and some of the original team founders were being courted in Barcelona.

Interestingly, the British SailGP F50 now carries branding for both JPMorgan and Howdens. JPMorgan has been associated with Ainslie since his Olympic campaigns, while Howdens insurance has now added sailing to a sporting portfolio that includes rugby (British and Irish Lions) and horse racing (Ascot Racecourse and the Bahrain Turf Club, among others).

Where next for America’s Cup?

Another challenge for Ainslie – or any other team looking to secure additional financial backing right now – is the uncertainty about where the next Cup might be.

It won’t be in Auckland, that much we know. It wasn’t an April’s fool, but Emirates Team New Zealand’s announcement – dropping into inboxes in the northern hemisphere just hours before April 1, certainly had plenty of us checking the date.

The statement read: “It would take a combination of private backing, local government as well as central government support to make it happen, but not at the expense of funding other priorities in the tough economic climate.

“In this time, the team have had comfort in the level of private support and have been working with Tātaki Auckland Unlimited who have been proactively spearheading the bid. So, it is with both disappointment and understanding to hear MBIE and central government have decided not to back the 38th America’s Cup in Auckland in 2027.

“While the significant economic benefits of hosting the America’s Cup and other major events are well proven, such as €1.034b (NZ$1.9b) of economic benefits in Barcelona in 2024, we understand there are other priorities for the New Zealand government right now.”

Auckland hosted a spectacular 36th America’s Cup – despite Covid restrictions – in 2020/21. Photo: ACEA

Other European options?

And so far, when it comes to the 38th America’s Cup venue, that’s all we’ve got.

Interestingly, at a few events recently both former team sailors and sponsors have quietly asked me ‘What do you know?’ And while I’m sure some of that is trying to figure out where any leaks are springing from, there’s also a genuine sense that no real information is forthcoming, so pretty much everything else is speculation.

Last year’s host city of Barcelona is known to not want to re-host. A play from Valencia, hosts of the hugely successful 32nd Cup in Spain in 2007, and the 2010 Deed of Gift Match, went understandably quiet after devastating floods hit the region.

The rumour mill is currently in overdrive suggesting alternative European venues. Naples is reported to be a forerunner, which would reward the longest standing entrants in the modern day Cup, with Italian syndicate Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. Although it would be unusual, to say the least, for a defeated Challenger to have the Cup held in their home country despite not having won it – and therefore not be hosting it.

Naples hosted a dramatic America’s Cup World Series event in 2012.

Italy would no doubt appeal to the luxury brands associated with the Cup – Prada from Luna Rossa, event partners Louis Vuitton, 37th Women’s America’s Cup partners Puig. And remaining in a European time zone would presumably help with negotiations when it comes to all-important TV rights. (Though to really build continuity of audience from Barcelona, what the Cup needs is some racing soon, which is looking increasingly unlikely…)

New Zealand news outlet Stuff – who always have their ears to the ground on the Cup, even if it’s hard to know who to listen to – are reporting that Greek shipping tycoon George Prokopiou is behind a bid for the country to host, with Athens a forerunner. It would be a spectacular venue for sure, but Greece has never entered the America’s Cup – it has no fan base nor physical base.

And though there is much less chatter about Jeddah or Abu Dhabi these days, the option of the event going to the Middle East – with all the financial and political ramifications that brings – still looms over the Cup.

Where next for the 38th America’s Cup?

Lost momentum?

For fans, it’s hard not to feel disappointment that the momentum of the 37th America’s Cup has faded – for British fans in particular, it’s a bitter disappointment that the opportunity to build on the best Cup result in 60 years has been lost.

There has long been sufficient depth of talent at the very top end of British sailing to support more than one Cup bid – between Ainslie, Dylan Fletcher, Giles Scott, Paul Goodison, Hannah Mills and others – but funding one viable and competitive team is yet again going to be the biggest challenge.

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“For 23 years I have had the privilege to call myself an America’s Cup sailor, but today is the last day of that for me. The body says it’s time to stop. I am done,” wrote David Carr – or Freddie, as everyone knows him – on 19 October this year.

The day INEOS Britannia bowed out of the 37th America’s Cup as Emirates Team New Zealand took victory marked the end of the third consecutive British campaign, and almost 10 years of trying (the British team did vow to continue on, though a recent high profile split has called into question the future of the British challenge).

Though for Freddie, and many others in Barcelona last summer, it has been a much longer process even that that.

Carr did not come from the Olympic pathway, as many Cup sailors do, but from crewing in dinghies he moved to match racing, and began a livelong love affair with the America’s Cup. “I was a reasonable Laser sailor, but never going to set the world on fire,” he recalls.

“When I was 15, I started sailing with Mark Campbell-James in First Class 8s, doing the match racing circuit around Europe. I just loved the teamwork aspect.

“From there, we won the Youth Match Racing Nationals. That year, in 2000, the Youth Match Racing Worlds were in Auckland. We won, and our coach was Bill Edgerton. A week later, he was umpiring in the America’s Cup. So we went out in the umpire RIB with him, and watched the Louis Vuitton final between America One and Prada, which just blew my mind.

“I remember they went downwind, overlapped the whole way, and [Paul] Cayard was screaming at his trimmer, trying to gybe to break and re-establish overlaps. I was only 17 at the time, and I just thought, ‘This is the coolest thing ever.’”

‘The collective effort that had to be put in every day to get faster, I’m just so proud of that’. Photo: Ricardo Pinto/America’s Cup

Nipper’s induction

Following the 2000 Cup, Sir Peter Harrison launched his GBR Challenge, with Ian Walker as team boss.

“I called him up and said, ‘Look, I just want to come and help. I’ve got a year off, I don’t want to get paid.’ I went there as the absolute nipper, the lowest of the low. I had the worst jobs you could imagine,” he recalls, including painstaking hours peeling stickers from sails inherited from other teams.

“But eventually, I got on the RIB, then I got on the boat. That summer, it was the America’s Cup Jubilee. We raced Prada and Team New Zealand, and that was me hooked.

“Then we travelled down to Auckland for 2003. I was learning from the very best British yachtsmen, guys who were probably on the forefront of professional sailing.

“I was getting NZ$500 a month, which at the time was about £180. I was working seven days a week, 14 hours a day, but I just didn’t care.

“When people ask ‘What set you up to be where you are today?’ That was it. Those two years working with Simon Fry, James Stagg, Ian Walker, Ado Stead… all of them. I’m so grateful to that generation for teaching me so well.”

GBR Challenge, Britain’s entry for the 2002 America’s Cup. Photo: Clive Mason/Allsport/Getty

Freddie’s apprenticeship wasn’t only in sailing. As the youngest and, by his own admission, one of the most annoying members of the team, he also got a thorough induction into British sporting culture.

“I’ve always had a bit of a sharp wit on me. But I definitely over-stepped the mark and wound up the old guys. If I was particularly cheeky, they’d put me in a spinnaker bag and hoist me up into the roof and then hit me with inflatable battens like I was a pinata!

“Every time I was walking down the dock at the end of the day, I would get pushed in the water. I was the team whipping boy, but there is a really fun Mickey-taking culture in all sports teams.

“I’ve always said to the new lads [in INEOS Britannia], it’s when I’m not taking the p*ss out of you is when you’re in trouble. When British people are taking the Mickey out of you, you’re loved and liked.”

Britain’s proposed Challenge for the 33rd Cup, Team Origin. Photo: Kos Picture Source/Getty

Band back together

The GBR Challenge disbanded, scattering into the 11 other teams in Valencia in 2007 – Carr to the Swedish Victory Challenge.

The net result: key GBR players were learning from other team’s approaches and banking valuable information. Ainslie was part of Team New Zealand, gaining insight into that squad – and them into him – both referred back to during the 2024 Cup.

Briefly, it looked as if the British Olympic sailing powerhouse, combined with improved Cup experience, could combine to make a seriously competitive challenge.

“On the back of the ‘07 Cup was when Sir Keith Mills started Team Origin, for the 33rd America’s Cup.

“I genuinely think that was the best team I ever sailed with,” says Carr. “We took core talent out of Alinghi and Team New Zealand.

“We had a sailing squad of 20 guys, six of which were America’s Cup Hall of Famers. We had this incredible afterguard with Ben [Ainslie] driving, Iain [Percy] doing tactics, and Bart [Andrew Simpson] doing strategy.

“When Team Origin folded, because it was clear that we were going to go to a Deed of Gift match, I actually had a little cry because I knew that group would disband and not sail together again. So whenever I look back at my America’s Cup career, that’s the one that got away.”

Winning the iShares Cup with Oman Sail’s Extreme 40 catamaran Masira – and gaining invaluable experience for when the America’s Cup turned to multihulls. Photo: Thierry Martinez/Sea&Co

Multihull experiment

With the prospect of another British Cup bid faltering, Carr was among the diverse group of sailors who jumped into the Extreme Sailing Series. Carr recalls the stadium-style racing in multihulls seemed like an enjoyable distraction at the time.

“I’d never sailed a catamaran, but it sounded great fun. I joined it as a break away from traditional keel boat sailing. Then, six years later, it turned into what the America’s Cup was.

“Luckily, I teamed up with Chris Draper on Oman Sail, and we went on to win the series in ‘09. A year later, all the Cup teams joined, and we were right in the thick of it.”

With the Cup hurtling into its multihull era, good Extreme 40 crews found themselves in demand. “At the beginning of 2011, Prada announced they were going to [challenge for] the 34th America’s Cup. Myself and Chris joined Prada on the back of our Extreme Sailing Series win, to go and sail their World Series catamarans in 2012-13.

“We ended up – amazingly – winning the America’s Cup World Series, which was my first taste of winning stuff in the Cup. And then we went on to sail the big catamarans in San Fran.”

Team Luna Rossa’s AC72 in San Francisco in 2013. Photo: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty

But Cup sailing suffered a huge loss in San Francisco, with the death of Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson when the Artemis Racing catamaran capsized and broke up in an accident while training in 2013. For many, the Cup lost some of its allure after the tragedy.

“Bart was [central] throughout my career so far,” recalls Carr. “He was the guy that said to me, ‘Look, you’re good, but you’re not going to be an Olympic sailor. You should look at match racing because I think you could be an amazing crew and team player.’

“His death was a huge pivotal moment in safety around sailing. Sadly, it took that accident for us to wake up and see that we were miles behind in terms of safety protocols because the boats were just getting fast for the first time.

“Whenever Ben and I have a beer we often reminisce about Bart, still. The day we won the Louis Vuitton final, afterwards a few of us were telling Bart stories. That’s how he sits with us all on the big days.”

Racing in the America’s Cup World Series at Gothenburg, Sweden. Photo: Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images

Flying the flag

After Oracle Team USA’s astonishing comeback win in San Francisco, with Ainslie calling tactics, the door reopened for a British bid for the 35th Cup.

“I had a conversation with Ben where he said, ‘Look, Freds, there’s a chance that we could get a British Challenger off the ground here.’ But I’d re-signed to go with Luna Rossa, I’d be giving up a guaranteed thing.

“I ummed and ahhed about it for a while. Something [my wife] Bianca said stuck with me was ‘How would you feel if there was a British challenge, and they went on to win it?’ That was it. I spent the next year in a tiny office in Whiteley Business Park.

“We had a sailing team of six that sailed this small test boat, T1, out of a tent in Southampton. Ben and Jo Grindley spent the best part of 2014 stomping the pavements of London, trying to drum up sponsorship, which they did unbelievably well. And by the end of 2015, we were fully funded in our big base in Portsmouth.”

For Carr, the beginning of the 35th Cup also signalled the beginning of a brutal physical training regime, a workload he maintained for 10 years. It began with shedding 10kg in six months to join the BAR squad.

He went on to compete in two Cup cycles as a grinder, endlessly spinning a pedestal winch to produce hydraulic power, before pivoting to become a cyclor. It required a total shift from the old-school ‘big boat’ mentality.

INEOS winter training in Cagliari, Italy. Photo: Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images

“In the last 15 years I’ve been on a total fitness and health journey, and I really value what it’s done to my mental and physical well-being. I’ve loved setting myself targets outside sailing that give me a bit of motivation to go the extra mile.

“We get fitness tested every quarter within the Cup world, so that’s my job. But I decided to make fitness my hobby as well, to run ultra-duathlons and marathons. I rowed at the British Indoor Rowing Championship. I did bike races as soon as the Cup went into cycling.

“The way I’ve always looked at it is how lucky am I to be getting paid to be fit and healthy?”

“But my God, it’s hard,” he admits. “In the last two years, I was so glad we moved away from grinding into a hydraulic pump, because my shoulders and my wrists would not stop clicking. My shoulders had given up the ghost after 20 years.”

With the 37th Cup came a shift to hours instead on a bike, but Carr was also working hard to hold back the years. He pledged to team boss Ainslie that he’d hit the team’s fitness benchmark on his 40th birthday.

“I gave myself four months to get that number. I trained like a pro cyclist, and I was a misery to live with! But I got the number.

Cyclor training required hours on static and road bikes. Photo: Cameron Gregory/INEOS Britannia

“It’s certainly been harder training for this cycle than the previous ones. When I was with BAR, I could do hard session after hard session. I was the fittest lad back then, and I would really enjoy beating the others. Now I’m at the other end of the scale where I was just so happy to be hanging onto these lads’ coats tails for this last cycle.

“I’ve had to really adjust my psyche. I’ve gone from trying to be an alpha male, to just trying to beat myself every day.”

The training regime was just the start. In the heat of battle – literally – the cyclors had one of the toughest physical challenges in sailing. “The environment that we’re operating in is not pleasant,” Carr said with some understatement.

Racing over the sweltering Barcelona summer, the cyclors deliberately lowered their core body temperature by wearing ice vests, drinking frozen slushies and dousing their skin with alcoholic sprays. “You want to get onto the boat shivering,” explained Carr. Their core temperature would rise by 4 degrees to over 40°C over the course of a race.

“We’re loaded into a little carbon box with no airflow and have to maintain clarity of thought to help get this boat around the course, while getting shaken around.”

Riding with the INEOS Grenadiers cycling team. Photo: Chris Auld Photography

To make it even harder, each grinder is operating in near isolation. “Even in the first version of the AC75s, we were in a trench with human contact.

“I could look down my line of grinders and get a head nod, or I could see where Ben was turning the wheel. You can take all of these visual clues, and that human interaction where you can build energy. In Version 2 of the 75s, we’re each in our individual pods. And that’s been hard for me.

“But actually the skill in being a cyclor is knowing when not to max out. It’s about recognising that you’ve just tacked off on the right-hand boundary, and you’re on a right shift. So you’re going to be on that daggerboard for 90 seconds. You trim back down, settle the boat. You’ve then got 45 seconds where we can return to baseline and suck up some oxygen.

“And that’s the skill. In recognising when not to be at max heart rate, so when you arrive at the windward mark, you can really put some watts down. That’s one of the biggest things we had to teach the rowers, because they’ve drilled their whole lives to go and rail it!”

Carr was one of two squads of cyclors which the INEOS Britannia team rotated, including switching out their custom-fit ‘bike’ seats and frames between races. The last race he took part in was on 16 October, the day Britain took two America’s Cup race wins against Emirates Team New Zealand. It was a moment he says 17 year-old teenage Carr in Auckland would never have believed.

INEOS Britannia battling it out with Emirates Team New Zealand off Barcelona during Race 7 of the 37th America’s Cup. ETNZ went on to win the Cup 7-2. Photo: Ricardo Pinto/America’s Cup

“Of this campaign, I’m honestly just so proud. From the end of the prelims to the end of the Louis Vuitton final, the collective effort that close to 150 people had to put in every day to get faster, I’m just so proud of that.

“And it was harder than I ever thought it would be. I still don’t think I’ve quite got my head around the effort that was required to get us to the Match.”

In the immediate future, Carr will be swapping clip-in cycling shoes for more conventional sailing boots. “I’m going to go actual sailing – TP sailing, Mini Maxi sailing. I’m not going to go cycling on a boat at 55 knots!

“But I’m still going to stay involved in the Cup. What that looks like, I don’t quite know yet. I would love to stay involved with the British Challenge and help bring on the next generation of sailors into this world because I think I’ve got a pretty unique set of skills that can help that.

“There’s absolutely no way I can walk away from this thing that has been my life for 20 years.”

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In a surprise announcement, INEOS – who backed Sir Ben Ainslie’s America’s Cup Challenges for the 36th and 37th America’s Cup – has reported that it has split from Ainslie and intend to launch a separate challenge.

The statement released this afternoon reads:

‘INEOS will enter a challenge for the 38th America’s Cup under the team name INEOS Britannia after parting ways with Sir Ben Ainslie.

‘Unfortunately, INEOS Britannia and Sir Ben could not find agreement on terms to move forward following the conclusion of the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona.

‘INEOS Britannia has appointed Dave Endean as CEO, who brings immense experience in sailing and the America’s Cup. INEOS will also continue to leverage the design and technology expertise of the Mercedes F1 Team under the guidance of Technical Director, James Allison.

‘Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman of INEOS said: “I am enormously proud of what we achieved in Barcelona in developing a British boat that was truly competitive for the first time in decades. It set new benchmarks for British sailing, including winning the Louis Vuitton Cup for the first time, and taking races off the Defender in the finals for the first time in 90 years.

“We will now build upon this for the 38th America’s Cup through the INEOS challenge and already have 100 scientists and engineers working on the design of our AC38 yacht.”

‘More details on the INEOS Britannia challenge will follow in due course.’

Ainslie ‘astounded’

Several hours after the INEOS announcement, Ainslie’s team issued their own update. It read:

‘The British Challenger for the 38th America’s Cup, led by Sir Ben Ainslie, was astounded to read today’s statement from INEOS and Mercedes F1 regarding their planned challenge for the 38th America’s Cup. This plan raises significant legal and practical obstacles for them that will play out in the coming days and weeks.

‘Furthermore, Sir Ben Ainslie’s British America’s Cup team will be known as Athena Racing going forwards, aligning with the British Women’s and Youth America’s Cup team, the Athena Pathway.’

Ben Ainslie (right) co-helmed the INEOS Britannia AC75 with Dylan Fletcher (left) in the 37th America’s Cup. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

INEOS ends Ainslie partnership

The announcement comes three months after INEOS Britannia were defeated in the 37th America’s Cup by Defenders Emirates Team New Zealand – the first time a British team had reached a Cup Match final since 1964.

It was confirmed at the time that the British would again be Challenger of Record, representing the Royal Yacht Squadron, for the 38th America’s Cup.

The RYS told Yachting World that this latest development is ‘purely a commercial matter between INEOS and Athena [Ben Ainslie]’.

RYS Limited is Challenger of Record for the 38th America’s Cup, and it’s not yet known whether INEOS Britannia may represent the RYS or challenge representing another yacht club.

There have been rumours that Ainslie’s relationship with INEOS founder and CEO Sir Jim Ratcliffe was foundering. At the press ‘mixed zone’ after the final race of the 37th America’s Cup Ainslie was noted to not be wearing INEOS branding.

Grant Dalton congratulates INEOS Britannia backer Sir Jim Ratcliffe on winning the Louis Vuitton Cup Final in the 37th America’s Cup. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Ratcliffe is renowned for his substantial investment in sports, including sponsorship of the INEOS Grenadiers cycling team (though the team has announced that they are looking for additional backers for the coming season), and notably ownership of Manchester United football team, as well as Lausanne-Sport and Nice football teams, and as principal partner of Mercedes AMG-F1.

The collaboration between Mercedes F1 team and INEOS Britannia America’s Cup team was widely credited as helping get the British team to the America’s Cup final, although it was also known to be a challenging relationship.

Ratcliffe is known to be undertaking cost-cutting exercises across many of his sporting investments. Ainslie confirmed after the 37th America’s Cup that they were seeking additional backers for the next challenge, telling Yachting World in Barcelona in October: “Jim’s definitely behind the team. Quite what that looks like, I think we’ve got to figure out.

“It would be good if we could bring in some other partners. Because really, he and his mates at INEOS have been phenomenal to back two campaigns on their own. Now it’s really time to bring in some other support.”

A British Cup without Ben?

This latest news creates a remarkable scenario: the possibility of a British team with a title sponsor not headed up (either on the water or off) by Sir Ben Ainslie (or even possibly competing against him).

Not only the most successful Olympic sailor of all time, Ainslie has been intrinsically connected to the America’s Cup for over two decades.

The 37th America’s Cup was his third successive Challenge as skipper of a British team – two backed by INEOS, the first in partnership with Land Rover.

Prior to that he won the 34th America’s Cup as tactician for Oracle Team USA, helmed by Jimmy Spithill, in one of the most remarkable sporting comebacks of all time.

Ainslie winning the America’s Cup with Oracle Team USA in 2013. Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget

His first involvement with a British Cup team was with Team Origin, a challenge formed by Sir Keith Mills and headed up by Ainslie, representing the Royal Thames Yacht Club, which folded under uncertainty regarding the format of the event (which later became the Deed of Gift match).

Prior to that he worked with Team New Zealand in their build up to the 32nd America’s Cup, initially as tactician and then as helmsman of the ‘B’ boat sparring with Dean Barker.

While each America’s Cup team in recent cycles has been structured slightly differently, each has a hugely respected figure at their head who is also a respected sailor – Grant Dalton at ETNZ, Max Sirena for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, Terry Hutchinson at American Magic etc. Ainslie was unique in being both team principal and skipper/helmsman.

As for who is now in charge of each element of the team, its staff, hardware, and precious and hard-learned IP and data – it’s fair to assume this will be one for the lawyers.

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It was one of the less well kept secrets in sailing, but yesterday it was confirmed that – fresh from their biggest success in the event in 90 years – Britain will again compete in the next America’s Cup.

As the victorious Emirates Team New Zealand team began their media rounds, Chief Operating Officer Kevin Shoebridge confirmed that a challenge had been accepted by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.

“We’ve accepted a Challenge this afternoon but we’ll leave that for a separate announcement,” he said initially.

However, shortly afterwards INEOS Britannia skipper and team boss Ben Ainslie confirmed that the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes had indeed challenged for the 38th America’s Cup, and their Challenge had been accepted. The British are now Challenger of Record for the second consecutive event.

Grant Dalton congratulates INEOS Britannia backer Sir Jim Ratcliffe on winning the Louis Vuitton Cup Final. Both teams’ yacht clubs, the RNZYS and RYS, will be represented in the 38th America’s Cup. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

“Yeah, well, the Royal Yacht Squadron have signed up again to be the Challenger of Record for the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron,” he told the waiting press.

“We had a great partnership through this last Cup. I think you saw with the Protocol – such a progressive protocol this time around, particularly with the Women’s America’s Cup.

“And there’s so much more we can do with the event. I think this has been a huge success, but there’s so much more potential in the America’s Cup. So it’s on us now to work with the Kiwis and try and help them as a Defender to promote that.”

Bertie Bicket, chairman of Royal Yacht Squadron Racing, being interviewed as the Royal Yacht Squadron is confirmed as Challenger of Record for the 38th America’s Cup. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Host venue for the 38th America’s Cup?

As ever, due to the unique structure of the America’s Cup, there are now many questions about what the event’s future might look like.

While the decision makers are all in Barcelona, the question of host venue is among the most pressing.

The Spanish city created a genuine spectacle for the final of the America’s Cup, with phenomenal crowds – including a truly impressive number of black shirted Emirates Team New Zealand supporters – lining Port Vell, a fleet of superyachts racked half a dozen deep and sparking sunshine yesterday setting up an event finale that will last long in the memory.

Superyachts and spectator boats accompany Emirates Team New Zealand, the winners of the 37th America’s Cup, back into Barcelona port. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

As a location, Barcelona also delivered handsomely with the team bases set around the port alongside comprehensive superyacht infrastructure (plus Palma is just a short hop away). Onshore, multiple event villages – all free to enter – generated a real sporting atmosphere, and the Mediterranean climate and ‘promenade’ tradition guaranteed good footfall. Though there were also protests at the event’s presence in the city, part of a wider discontent with Barcelona’s very high tourism numbers.

The acknowledged major negative of Barcelona as a venue – primarily the light, unpredictable winds at the close of season, combined with a challenging sea state – proved to be not as much of a problem as anticipated.

The spectator support for the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona has been impressive. Photo: Ana Ponce / America’s Cup

The AC75 rule changes, which were designed to ensure the boats could foil in lighter breezes, meant that we saw far fewer races decided by boats crawling along in painful displacement mode than in AC36. For much of the competition race days the breeze was, in fact, actually stronger than the worst case scenarios modelled by teams’ meteorologists.

There’s certainly been no confirmation that it will be Barcelona once again – though there are lots of positive noises being made about the venue.

When asked whether Barcelona would play a part in the event’s future, Kevin Shoebridge said “As a venue? I hope so, but no decisions about that stage. Hopefully in the next week or two we’ll put out a timetable when decisions like that will get made.”

Defenders Emirates Team New Zealand wouldn’t immediately be drawn on whether the event would return to Barcelona for the 38th America’s Cup. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Potential other venues for AC38?

Other venues which have been variously rumoured include Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which would be a fundamental change of tone for the event, but would likely come with significant financial support for the event.

And, of course, the Defenders could choose to take it home.

Auckland, home of the 36th America’s Cup, still has the infrastructure to support a return of the Cup, though it would be unlikely to generate the same level of funding that the notoriously parsimonious Kiwi team would need to lodge a fourth successful campaign.

But one thing was striking in Barcelona this autumn: the narrative from outside New Zealand in recent years might’ve been that public support for America’s Cup at home had waned due to bigger-picture issues. The global cost of living crisis makes sourcing public funding for a multimillionaires’ yacht race challenging in any country, but particularly in a nation as small as New Zealand.

Barcelona’s Port Vell, home of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Yet even the briefest walk around Barcelona revealed the passion and commitment of thousands of Kiwi supporters to back their team – flying tens of thousands of miles to do so. Perhaps there is pressure to honour that loyalty and commitment with a home event – a Preliminary event, if not the Cup Match itself?

In terms of time frame, Emirates Team New Zealand team boss Grant Dalton has dropped heavy hints that he would like to see a quick turnaround for the next Cup – telling New Zealand outlet Stuff back in September that he could “possibly foresee, very likely, a new edition of the Cup in 2026.” The timing would also depend on which hemisphere the Cup is set to be in.

Boat or crew changes for the 38th America’s Cup ?

It’s widely understood that there is an agreement in existence that the AC75s will continue as the class for the future Cup (though, as with all elements of America’s Cup, everything can theoretically be subject to renegotiation. The Cup is certainly no stranger to legal wranglings).

It’s definitely too early to speculate whether that would likely involve a refinement or a more comprehensive overall of the AC75 rule. But there have been some intriguing hints dropped by key players from both the Defender and Challenger of Record.

When asked about the development of the class in the pre-America’s Cup Match press conference INEOS Britannia skipper Ben Ainslie said: “It’s really interesting the technical development of these AC75 yachts, and the automation of how the yachts are sailed. And at what point does automation become too much and the human interface is not as relevant as it should be?

“I think we’re probably getting close to this line, but it’s been a fascinating development.”

Emirates Team New Zealand lead designer Dan Bernasconi – who will be pivotal in any rule change – also said yesterday: “We wouldn’t want to make changes that make the existing boats obsolete.

“We could probably look at the crew configuration again. and look again at the rules around how the controls work.

“There’s a lot of automation on these boats. In some ways that means there’s less need for as many sailors doing sailing roles. Personally I’d be keen to maybe remove a bit of that automation and have a need for more sailors actually sailing the boat.”

Emirates Team New Zealand lead designer Dan Bernasconi speaking after the team won the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Future of women in the America’s Cup?

So, there may be a drive to remove some of the automation of the AC75s, potentially increase the number of sailors on the boat, and to build on the momentum of the Women’s and Youth America’s Cups.

If that’s the case, then one possible avenue could be to create an additional ‘sailor’ role that would mandated as female (and/or youth) crew position within the America’s Cup crews.

“There’s no reason now with these boats not to have women on board,” Stephane Kandler, CEO of Orient Express Team France told me yesterday.

“And if we could put more sailors on board, we should have women on board for sure.

“We talked about it as challengers. And I think everybody’s quite keen, which is a big change.”

The first ever Puig Women’s America’s Cup has been widely heralded as a success, with the all-female crews using matched AC40s. But is there an opportunity to see women onboard the AC75s in the 38th America’s Cup? Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

One solution that’s been mooted would be to replace one of the ‘cyclor’ positions and use more stored power. “In reality, you don’t really need [the cyclors]. If you want, you could put two women on board – as a minimum or whatsoever. I think this would be amazing,” added Kandler.

Co-CEO of Orient Express Team France Bruno Dubois echoed the sentiment, saying: “I really hope there are some rules coming into place for that: on the 75 for Women and Youth. But for youth probably older than 25, so I would say under 30 like the Ocean Race would be better.”

In the interview linked above, however, Dalton has said: “We would never mandate a woman on the (AC75) boat, ever.”

Stephan Kandler of Orient Express Racing Team is among those who believe a women’s position on the AC75 would be a positive move. Photo: Ian Roman

We’ll have an in-depth look at the 37th America’s Cup and the future of the 38th in the next issue of Yachting World magazine, plus follow for all of our 2024 America’s Cup coverage.

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Emirates Team New Zealand have, today Saturday 19 October 2024, won their third straight America’s Cup and so become the first team in modern America’s Cup history to win three America’s Cups in a row.

Race Day 6 of the 37th America’s Cup dawned as last chance saloon for the British INEOS Britannia squad, with Emirates Team New Zealand leading the Brits 6-2 in the first-to-seven series.

The question for all onlookers was whether the British could win two straight races – as they did on day three of the event – to force the racing to continue for at least one more day.
“I’ve been in far too many sh*t fights in my career,” Britain’s Ben Ainslie had told us yesterday. “There were many scenarios, situations similar to this where it might appear pretty helpless, but actually you just never know what can happen.”

Once again the forecast was for extremely light winds in Barcelona and it was clear from early on that there would be a delay to racing as the breeze shifted. However by the time of the start, the sun was out and the wind had swung toward the sea breeze direction which implied there could be a thermal enhancement during the afternoon. But, at this time of year with the land also fairly hot, thermal enhancement is limited so wind in the double figures never looked particularly likely.

After a delay of just under an hour, the thermal breeze had built to provide almost 10 knots at the startline, but the windward end of the course was still overing just over the minimum 6.5 knots. To add to the pressure the wind also looked pretty unstable and pretty gusty too.

Race 9 INEOS Britannia Vs Emirates Team New Zealand

Skippers
INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainslie & Dylan Fletcher
Emirates Team New Zealand: Peter Burling & Nathan Outteridge 

In the pre-start it was the turn of New Zealand to enter first on port and the Brits gybed around to follow.

The Kiwis gybed at the right hand boundary and INEOS Britannia gybed inside of them to set up ahead and therefore to leeward. The Kiwis immediately tacked away and quickly tacked back, with the Brits following them and then tacking in front of them to lead back.

The Brits did a great job to control the situation and get a commanding position just below the New Zealanders out of the start, forcing the Kiwis to tack away straight after the gun.

So it was first blood to the Brits, who immediately tacked over to follow the Kiwis to the right of the course.

But the New Zealanders looked quick and when they tacked back onto starboard the port-tacked Brits were forced to duck them.

Consistently the New Zealand boat has looked fast in light winds and flat water and they have been the better boat through their tacks. Added to this, they also managed to get over into a bit of a puff on the left of the course and by the second cross Burling and Outteridge’s team were up to a 100m lead as they crossed the Brits on port.

Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Emirates Team New Zealand continued to extend throughout the whole of the first beat to lead by 19 seconds around the first windward gate. It was only moments after the start, but the British team were already going to be looking for something of a miracle to get back into this vital, match-point race.

But for those who thought the race was gone, the Brits picked up some decent breeze up the middle of the second beat and as the two came together again INEOS had taken some decent chunks out of the Kiwis, who tacked right in from of INEOS Britannia.

Ainslie and Fletcher immediately tacked away to the right again and by the time they came back on starboard they had gained once again. Again the Kiwis tacked in front of them and again the Brits tacked away.

When they met again, the Kiwis were forced to tack underneath the bow of the starboard INEOS. It was edge of the seat stuff as the Brits looked to have wrested control.

However, with both boats over lay, the Kiwis still had a small advantage and were able to lead the two boars into the windward gate taking the left hand mark looking upwind. INEOS tacked to round the opposite gate dead even.

But Burling and Outteridge had done a good job to pick the favoured mark and they eked back into the lead on the favoured side of the downwind, a lead they held to round the leeward gate 12 seconds up.

Emirates Team New Zealand rounded the right hand mark, while the Brits chose the left mark to force a split. But by the first cross the starboard tacked Kiwis were leading and tacked in front of INEOS to protect the right, which had worked so well for the Brits on the previous lap.

But the wind was looking a little stronger on the left for INEOS and for a time they were looking solid, but a port tack header as they came back across saw the Kiwis with a solid lead and once again they tacked to cover and protect the right at the top of the course.

Emirates Team New Zealand managed to step away on the final part of the beat and, having seen off the attack from the Brits, they rounded the last windward gate, 17 seconds ahead and set off on their last downwind.

It was, essentially, a victory lap (leg) for Emirates Team New Zealand who crossed the finish line over half a minute ahead to claim their third consecutive Americas Cup.

You have to hand it to Ainslie’s team, they won the start and caught the Kiwis napping on the second upwind. There isn’t much more that could have been asked of them in this race.

As for the Kiwis, they have once again shown themselves to be the best Americas Cup team. Their boat, in these conditions, was clearly quicker around the course and she was sailed well to make the best of their advantages.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” said Burling. “It’s been a tough week, but I’m proud of how the team just kept battling today. To be honest it’s still sinking in. This team has some bad memories from before my time of sitting on match point so it’s nice to get it done today.”

“It’s pretty special, its been a huge journey and I’ve loved every minute, it’s been a huge dream for quite some time,” said Outteridge for whom this was his first America’s Cup win.

“Firstly I have to say a huge well done to Team New Zealand. In my view, they are the best team ever in the America’s Cup,” said a crestfallen Ainslie. “To our team I can’t say enough thanks for all the effort they have put in to get us here. We had out moments but at the end of the day the better team won.”

“I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported us back home and in Barcelona. The support we’ve has has been amazing. We set out 10 years ago to win the Americas Cup and we’re getting closer each time, so we’ll get it next time,” Ainslie concluded.

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Nobody pours 10 years of their life – and millions of pounds of backers’ money – into a project that they don’t believe in. But right now, Ben Ainslie and his INEOS Britannia team will be digging deep into their reserves of self-belief.

The British America’s Cup Challengers are facing their final, most critical fight, with Emirates Team New Zealand driving home two dominant wins today to go 6-2 up. In the first to seven series, this is Match Point.

How the two teams respond to this final act will be fascinating. Both Ainslie and Burling are talking in the same terms of taking each race as it comes – but in reality, that means very different things for each of them. Racing is scheduled to resume tomorrow, though very light winds are forecast.

Brits making history

Ainslie, who told me before the regatta started that he was “quite happy being an underdog”, in truth would not have gone into this third Cup campaign without total confidence in his team’s potential.

History weighs heavily in the America’s Cup and the British had to achieve a greatness that has not been achieved in a century of sailing in order to take their place on the starting line alongside Emirates Team New Zealand this week. They were the first British team to qualify for the America’s Cup match in 60 years, and Wednesday’s double race wins were the first points scored by a British America’s Cup boat in 90 years.

But whilst what they have achieved is already exceptional, right now, they need to do something truly extraordinary in order to keep Emirates Team New Zealand, the most successful America’s Cup team in modern history, at bay.

INEOS Britannia racing on Day 5 of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

Both before and during this America’s Cup, Ainslie and the whole team have been utterly consistent in their view that they just need to keep improving, chipping away, making gains. But tonight they undeniably have their backs against the wall. Does this final act need them to find something beyond process and percentage gains – something more visceral, perhaps?

“I don’t think so. We’re not going to pull a rabbit out of the hat here. I don’t think anyone is,” Ainslie told me.

“It’s about this constant development. And I think we can sail faster tomorrow from what we learned so far through these finals, even though it’s very different conditions.

“We know the Kiwis are developing as well, and they got so much experience in the Cup and in these boats. And also we’ve got to go out and execute.”

Siege mentality for INEOS Britannia

Let’s not forget, Ainslie has been here before. He made his name in two epic dogfights against another Goliath of the sport – the legendary Brazilian Laser sailor Robert Scheidt in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, famously getting the better of Scheidt in 2000.

He faced losing at his home Games to Danish Finn sailor Jonas Hogh-Christensen, at one stage lagging by 10 points, before surging back on a wave of outrage following an on-water protest call to take a record fifth Olympic medal, and fourth gold.

And he famously joined the afterguard of Oracle Team USA when they were 8-1 down in the 2013 America’s Cup before performing one of the greatest comebacks in sporting history.

“I’ve been in far too many sh*t fights in my career,” Ainslie observed today. “There were many scenarios, situations similar to this where it might appear pretty helpless, but actually you just never know what can happen.

“And what you’ve got to do is just keep digging and keep fighting. Like I said, you just never know what might happen.”

INEOS Britannia trailing Emirates Team New Zealand on Day 5 of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

What would have to happen, of course, is for the British team to not drop a single point, and stage a comeback equal to that in 2013.

“Yeah, it’s going to need to be something like that,” Ainslie said after racing today. “It’s 6-2 down. We’re on the back foot, we don’t have any second chances, but that’s the nature of the game.

“We need perfection from here on in. We don’t have any second chances, but in some ways that’s easy. You know what you’ve got to do.

“We’ve come a long way through this competition and improved a massive amount. You’ve just got to keep that going, it’s different conditions tomorrow. Why not come out, get a couple of bullets on the board?”

Casting back to the conversation we had in the weeks before the Cup, Ainslie had described the team as having “a bit of a siege mentality, which is never a bad place to be.”

Right now, INEOS Britannia are truly besieged. It’s a place he may be more comfortable than most – but can he and his team fight their way out one final time?

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Today’s forecast was always going to be challenging and the first race of the day was held on a snakes and ladders course with big variations in both wind speed and direction across the course for Day 5 of the America’s Cup.

In the first race of the day Emirates Team New Zealand showed both confidence and fluid communication in their decision making to win the favoured side and go 5-2 ahead.

The Kiwi team then demonstrated that it was no single fluky shift which put them ahead, by again reading the wind conditions best to easily dominate the second race.

Key takeaways from the America’s Cup Day 5

• Emirates Team New Zealand halt INEOS Britannia‘s advance by dominating Day 5 in shifty conditions
• INEOS Britannia demonstrated both speed and manoeuvrability in Race 7 start – but the race was won by ETNZ picking the right lane on the first beat
• Emirates Team New Zealand sounding confident, with constant communication across the whole boat, slick boat handling, faster boat speed, and flawless decision making.
• British Challenge now in the last chance saloon. With light winds forecast tomorrow – potentially no racing possible – what can Ainslie and crew do to regroup?

Shifty conditions on Day 5 of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

Race 7 INEOS Britannia Vs Emirates Team New Zealand

Skippers
INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainslie & Dylan Fletcher
Emirates Team New Zealand: Peter Burling & Nathan Outteridge 

It was a stripey, snakes and ladders course for Race 7, with a 6-16 knot breeze that was extremely patchy across the racing area.

INEOS Britannia executed a slick and confident start, entering the box and swiftly throwing their AC75 through a tight gybe and circling, perhaps demonstrating some improved manoeuvrability, to keep clear of the Kiwis. The British boat then hit the line a nose ahead and at full speed, over 40 knots.

Emirates Team New Zealand tacked off right, immediately hooking into a favoured right-hand shift which saw them make early gains to take lead at the first cross.

Burling and Outteridge tacked immediately on top of the British boat, bouncing them back off to less favoured left, and were able to bank the gains of a 40-degree wind shift up the first beat. As the winds flicked across the course the lead varied from 200m down to 50m, but with each further shift the Emirates New Zealand Team were able to increase their overall advantage.

Downwind INEOS Britannia initially showed a click more speed, but ETNZ were better in phase with the shifts and quickly restored their lead to over 300m.

From there, there was nothing the British team could do – while the breeze was puffy and shifty across the course, there were no significant opportunities to pull back the Kiwis’ advantage, and by the final leg there was over 1km between them.

Huge crowds in Barcelona as the 37th America’s Cup nears its conclusion
Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

Peter Burling said after racing: “Obviously a completely different day, it’s really shifty tricky dynamics.

“We probably didn’t expect to do quite that many circles [in the pre-start], but they were obviously obsessed by trying to follow out to the boundary. We feel like we did a pretty nice job. We really liked that right-hand side and went back on some aggressive late times and that’s what gave us the early lead, and nice to be able to capitalise on that.”

Nathan Outteridge added: “It’s a very different day out here today, super dynamic, there’s a big hill upwind of us. Just got this gust-lull situation, where one minute you’ve got 8 knots, the next 13 or 14 and big shifts. but we were pretty switched on to what was going on.

“I think it kind of caught everyone a bit off guard how dynamic that start got. But it was great to get off the line nicely above and defend the right-hand side. But I’m sure the next race is going to be pretty different.”

British skipper Ben Ainslie commented: “Tough race for us, we looked like we were potentially going to be in good shape on the startline but the breeze just kicked in hard on the right.

“That was kind of it really.”

Race 8 Emirates Team New Zealand Vs INEOS Britannia

Skippers
Emirates Team New Zealand: Peter Burling & Nathan Outteridge 
INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainslie & Dylan Fletcher

Despite regatta director Iain Murray’s warnings that the breeze might fade this afternoon, instead it had built slightly for the second race of the day with puffs of 15 knots. Both boats downsized their headsails accordingly.

In the pre-start, rather than the dizzying circles of Race 7, Emirates Team New Zealand looked to have held INEOS Britannia up above the line. However, with enough separation between the two boats, the two started fairly evenly, ETNZ a click ahead and quicker, just 1m back from the line.

The British boat then tacked off to the right-hand side which had paid so handsomely on the previous race, but Burling and Outteridge confirmed their preference to each other to initially carry on.

When the two boats tacked and crossed, Emirates was easily ahead, and the Kiwis went on to pick up better pressure on the right-hand side of the course in the second half of the top leg. They rode a significant lift and around 3 knots more pressure into the top mark, and their lead quickly became unassailable.

EMIRATES TEAM NEW ZEALAND win the start of Race 8 in the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

A slight touch down for INEOS Britannia on the first downwind leg sacrificed another handful of metres, and with the two boats out of phase there was no coming back for the Brits. Emirates Team New Zealand near doubled their advantage on the penultimate leg, and crossed 1km and 55 seconds ahead.

This moves Emirates Team New Zealand to ‘match point’ on 6-2, with just one win needed to secure their third successive America’s Cup victory.

“It’s not over yet,” Ben Ainslie told his crew on INEOS Britannia as they crossed the line.

Skippers reactions on America’s Cup Day 5

Emirates Team New Zealand helmsman Peter Burling said after racing: “It was nice to bounce back from a few small mistakes the other day and put a couple of solid races on the board. Obviously completely different conditions to anything we’ve race in so far.

“It was just awesome. We were loving it, it feels like a south-wester at [home]. Super shifty, you had to use the modes a lot, and the team behind me on both sides of the yacht put in a huge amount of watts to give us heaps.

“Really proud of the way the team executed today. Obviously when you get a couple of losses it really puts you under pressure and the way the team responded to that today was awesome.”

Nathan Outteridge added: “Today you needed to get off the line, and if you got off the line well and you got your first choice of the first bit of pressure life gets pretty easy.”

Outteridge, who’s facing the possibility of winning his first America’s Cup said he was “Really stoked to be in this position,” but added, “I”m feeling like it’s not done til it’s done!”

INEOS Britannia skipper Ben Ainslie commented: “It wasn’t a good day for us. Hats off to the Kiwis they just sailed two really really strong races it that shifty stuff. They managed to pick the right side, do a nice job of defending, and put us in a bad spot.

“But we’ll take that on the chin. It’s still not over yet, so we’ll keep fighting.”

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Day 5 of the America’s Cup looks set to be a tricky and tense day for both Emirates Team New Zealand and INEOS Britannia.

As the teams docked out ahead of Races 7 and 8 in the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup, regatta director Iain Murray gave a summary briefing on conditions expected for the day.

“It’s a sailor’s day of opportunity today,” Murray said.

The breeze is forecast to shift from the north-west and west to the south-west, and potentially ease over the course of the afternoon.

“We’re expecting sort of 9-10 knots. Some of the models, the Arome model, have that fading down to 8 or 6 knots as time goes on. And there’s also the possibility that none of this could be right and the breeze could stay in the NW, try to go to the NE and dissipate completely.”

He outlined three possible scenarios for today’s weather:

“If it stays cold and stays in the west I think we’ll be just fine. If it starts to move through the left into the south-west it’ll get lighter, and if it goes into the NE we’ll probably come home.”

The race course for Day 5 of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup in Barcelona

The race course will be laid a new axis direction for the AC75s, although some Women’s and Youth racing was held in a similar wind direction. 

“With the windward marks up by the shore that presents probably the lightest and trickiest part of the racecourse next to the land, and we’re expecting it to be both up and down and left and right in terms of wind,” said Murray. “So that’s why we say it’s a sailors’ day of opportunity, but we’ll see.”

Today could be a day for some old-fashioned wind-spotting. It’s worth remembering that Emirates Team New Zealand’s co-helm Nathan Outteridge has the nickname of the ‘Wind Whisperer’ – but INEOS Britannia demonstrated on Wednesday that they can use light wind ‘holes’ to their advantage. It’s going to be tense.

A packed dock-out for INEOS Britannia ahead of Day 5 of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

First to seven wins

With some understatement, he added that “Saturday doesn’t look too good.” Currently all the weather models are forecasting 0-2 knots for tomorrow.

Although race organisers had made it clear that they were hoping to finish the regatta this weekend – and would not have raced today if ETNZ had won on Wednesday, rather than INEOS Britannia’s two victories – from hereon there will be no further laydays. Race organisers will race the AC75s every day they can until the first team has secured seven wins.

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It looked, initially, as if the America’s Cup was going to be a short, sharp, and bloody execution for the British Challengers, who went 4-0 down in the first three days of racing.

But today Ben Ainslie and team stemmed the tide, by winning two America’s Cup races on Day 4. It is a truly historic result for British sailing, the first wins in the America’s Cup in 90 years. But have they also done enough to reverse the momentum?

Yesterday in Barcelona was humid, overcast and breezy, while the Mediterranean was grey and lumpen. INEOS Britannia towed out, and stayed out for several hours practising what appeared to be tight manoeuvres. Today, the sun might have returned but the sea state remained, and INEOS Britannia won both pre-starts – and capitalised on them in order to win both races.

“The sea state was big yesterday, and it was big today,” commented Ainslie after racing.

“We certainly feel like every day we’re out in the water, we’re unlocking more potential than the boat. [Yesterday] was really focussing on our own performance and trying to figure that out – it wasn’t really necessarily about what the Kiwis were doing.

“I can’t tell you what’s going through their minds. What I can tell you is our team are prepared to put the work in, and effort into finding those gains and take it all the way.”

Emirates Team New Zealand also demonstrated today that they are not foot-perfect, making a couple of errors, but Ainslie explained that those errors were the result of situations the British squad have practised, and set up on the racecourse.

“That was a tricky position for them, but I think we forced it on them”. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

“Ultimately, we made them gybe in the pre-start dial down [in the first race], and I don’t think they had enough speed to gybe. Then we were able to get some gas on them as well, which got them off the foil. That was a tricky position for them, but I think we forced it on them.

“We’ve been practising some different approaches to the start, and [the second race] was one of them. We just made it work, but it was a powerful position for us.”

Trimmer Bleddyn Mon explained further: “[The second race] was obviously a slightly unconventional set up to what we’ve seen in pre-starts up until now. But it’s something we’ve been looking at in the simulator and analysing in terms of how the pre-starts have played out up until now.

Article continues below…

173 years of hurt: Ben Ainslie’s America’s Cup crew stands on the precipice of greatness

“If we go out there and get beaten, they’ll send us home. If, however, we win today, they’ll let us…

“We still have a few things left in our pocket” INEOS Britannia helm Dylan Fletcher on today’s historic win and facing the Kiwis in the America’s Cup

INEOS Britannia co-helm Dylan Fletcher says that the Louis Vuitton Cup final series pushed the British squad and boat harder…

“So yeah, it was a play that we had up our sleeve and worked out quite nicely. Obviously, we were close on the pin, but had good timing in the end and able to come away with a good start.”

Ainslie added: “The Kiwis are a great team, but they are capable of the odd mistake, and I think the trick for us is to really build on that and the momentum that we’ve got with our team and the confidence that that gives us that we can beat them, and keep putting the pressure on us.”

Now or never for Ainslie’s America’s Cup team

Tomorrow is a lay day – possibly frustratingly for the Brits, as it looks like the last day of solid breeze and wave state. Now INEOS Britannia have taken two races, Friday will once again be a scheduled race day. Meanwhile Saturday and Sunday currently look very light indeed. So what more can the British do with the time they have left?

“Every chance we get to get out sailing on this boat, I’m confident we find more performance. It’s now or never,” said Ainslie.

“I’m sure there’s plenty left in the tank. It’s just how quickly we can find that performance. That’s the trick for us. I don’t know. I need to have a look at the forecast tomorrow, whether we want to get out again. I think we’ve sailed something like five or six days in a row, which is pushing it. But I know we can get more performance.”

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It was high tension at the INEOS Britannia base ahead of today’s racing – Day 4 of the America’s Cup. The team had been out practising in stronger winds and a heavier sea state yesterday, and was clearly hoping that wavier conditions would give them an opportunity to switch things up.

Key takeaways from the America’s Cup Day 4

• Emirates Team New Zealand are not invincible – a single mistake by the Kiwi boat took them out of the Race 5 before the start
• Boat handling for both teams was knife-edge in the waves, but INEOS Britannia seemed marginally more sure-footed
• INEOS Britannia have been focussing on manoeuvres and performance in wavier conditions – but with lighter winds forecast for the end of the week, will they have enough time left in the event to capitalise on those gains?
• British win first America’s Cup races since Sir Thomas Sopwith’s Endeavour took two races from the NYYC’s Rainbow in 1934

Race 5 Emirates Team New Zealand Vs INEOS Britannia

Skippers
Emirates Team New Zealand: Peter Burling & Nathan Outteridge 
INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainslie & Dylan Fletcher

While the British were fairly open about their hopes that the increased sea state would help INEOS Britannia’s chances, 1m waves combined with super light wind speeds that were nudging the bottom wind limit of 6.5 knots were always going to make it exceptionally challenging for the crews to keep their AC75s on the foils.

And so it proved – as early in the pre-start ETNZ came off the foils to, apparently gybing through their own ‘wingwash’. With 50 seconds to go until the gun, the Kiwi team were down to just two knots of boat speed.

Emirates Team New Zealand off the foils before the start of Race 5 in the America’s Cup. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

The British, sensing an opportunity, sailed along the start line twice to use their own dirty air to try and keep the Emirates Team New Zealand boat down off their foils, before going for a dip start, crossing the line at 30 knots of boat speed.

Emirates Team New Zealand were further hampered by the boundaries as they tried to build speed and get back to foiling, finally crossing the line with the British AC75 around 800m along Leg 1.

From there it was a tense rollercoaster ride for INEOS Britannia, the big grey and black boat rolling over the waves as the team tried to minimise manoeuvres and keep in the best of the breeze. Emirates Team New Zealand did significantly reduce the advantage from around 1800m to 1200 by the final mark, but the British boat were sailing their own race, rather than covering.

Day for of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup was a critical one for INEOS Britannia skipper Ben Ainslie. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

British coach Rob Wilson was also confident that, despite boats not being close on the water, that INEOS Britannia was showing some speed improvements compared to the Kiwis. “The performance team and all the guys on the shore have worked bloody hard to make those improvements,” he told the commentary team, “Let’s hope we can see them in the next race.”

“That was a good win for us – we were training for these situations and managed to make it stick,” Ainslie said afterwards. “But there’s nothing comfortable about sailing these boats in this sea state, and the boys did a good job of getting around the course.”

Race 6 INEOS Britannia Vs Emirates Team New Zealand

Skippers
INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainslie & Dylan Fletcher
Emirates Team New Zealand: Peter Burling & Nathan Outteridge 

There were significantly different conditions for the second start of the day, with the breeze up to 10-12 knots and more solidly consistent across the course, but the rolling seas of earlier persisted.

Both teams swopped headsails and mainsails anticipating stronger breezes, but in these conditions it’s a tricky balance between the search for power to overcome the sea state and the need to keep the finely balanced A75s on their feet.

In probably best pre-start of the Match so far, Emirates Team New Zealand took control and nearly pinned the British out, but INEOS Britannia managed to gybe above them and accelerate over the top of the Kiwis.

October 16, 2024. Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup, Race Day 4, Race 6. EMIRATES TEAM NEW ZEALAND, INEOS BRITANNIA

Both teams were killing time on their approach to the line, diving low in the final seconds. INEOS Britannia went for the pin end, crossing on the gun at around 35 knots with impressively accurate time-on-distance. Emirates Team New Zealand split to tack off, crossing the line just a metre or so back but having shed 10 knots of boat speed in the manoeuvre.

“We had them on the ropes in the pre-start and just let them roll us, which was bit of a shame,” commented ETNZ coach Ray Davies mid-race.

At the first two key crosses on the upwind leg, INEOS Britannia led. But the British team chose to minimise manoeuvres rather than tack and cover, and rounded first by six seconds.

On the first downwind leg, Britannia gained around 3 boat lengths – but with the course extended to 8 legs there was no let up in tension.

Tension built too for Emirates Team New Zealand with a few wobbles during tricky bottom mark roundings in waves; potentially the Kiwis’s new super-slender rudder making life more challenging for helmsmen Burling and Outteridge.

Wavy conditions on Race Day 4 of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Match. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

On the second downwind leg the Brits gybed to cover ETNZ, but Emirates Team New Zealand kept the pressure on and by the third lap the breeze had faded to around 9 knots while the Kiwis had pulled back to within 120m of the Brits.

There were skittish moments from both boats, INEOS Britannia nose-diving on the penultimate leg before the crew managed to recover, and just 50m between the two boats on the last cross of the race. But Emirates Team New Zealand couldn’t get past and INEOS Britannia took their second win of the America’s Cup.

“That’s huge,” Dylan Fetcher could be heard telling his team as they crossed the line.

‘The comeback’s on,” Ben Ainslie said post-race. It looks like it really is.

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It has been a disappointing start to the America’s Cup for the British INEOS Britannia team, who have finished behind America’s Cup Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand in all three races to date.

With the Kiwis 3-0 in the lead in this best-of-13 race series, the Brits need to start getting some wins on the board if they want to have any impact on the series. Ben Ainslie’s INEOS Britannia have not looked particularly slow so far in this series, but they have not done well in the pre-start, which has seen them start most races on the back foot.

Once again the wind was fairly light in Barcelona with around 10 knots across the course at start time.

Key takeaways from the America’s Cup Day 3?

• The Kiwis have the pace to overtake
• The New Zealand boat continues to look very fast through tacks
• In a straight line there’s very little between the two boats.

Race 4 INEOS Britannia Vs Emirates Team New Zealand

Skippers
Emirates Team New Zealand: Peter Burling & Nathan Outteridge 
INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainslie & Dylan Fletcher

Emirates Team New Zealand were first into the start box on port tack and set off towards the right hand boundary before gybing close to the boundary and running down the edge of it. The Kiwis gybed around and the Brits, who had been following back, tacked around to gauge off to windward to set up a time on distance match back to the line.

At the start gun both boats hit the startline with the Kiwis at the bottom third of the line and the Brits up to windward. However Ainslie had done a great job of footing into their gap to leeward and at the gun the Brits had a couple of knots of boat speed over New Zealand. .

When Burling and Outteridge reached the left hand boundary the Brits were able to tack straight off their bow, and squeeze up to force the Kiwis to tack away immediately.

INEOS let them go the few boat lengths back to the boundary before tacking back as both teams headed over to the right hand boundary.

When the Brits tacked across they had starboard advantage and were able to force the New Zealanders to duck their transom.

The Brits were leading early on in the race. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

But at the next cross it was the Kiwis on starboard with the advantage and they elected to tack directly in front of INEOS Britannia, who tacked away to round the left hand gate mark (looking upwind), while the Kiwis continued around the right hand mark.

They both rounded their respective marks at around the same time, but the Kiwis had a touch more wind out on their side of the course and at the first cross downwind the Brits were forced to take the stern of the New Zealand boat.

At the next cross it was very cross with the starboard tacked INEOS just behind the Kiwis, but that would hand the starboard tack advantage to the Brits as they come into the leeward gate.

Burling and Outteridge were just able to gybe in front of Ainslie and Fletcher with the Brits gybing away immediately to take the left hand mark ,while the Kiwis rounded the right mark.

At the first cross New Zealand were just ahead again and tacked in a strong leebow position to force INEOS to tack away to the slightly lighter wind left hand side of the course.

By the next cross the New Zealand team had used the better wind on the right of the course to their advantage and had built their lead up to around 120m, the biggest it has been all race.

By the second windward gate the Kiwis had managed to build that lead a little more and both boats rounded the left hand gate mark with the Brits rounding 13 seconds behind the Kiwis.

That gap lead had built by a couple of seconds around the next leeward gate and, with the Kiwis keeping a tight cover pin their opposition it increasingly looked like the Brits would need a massive mistake from the Kiwis to avoid going 4-0 down in the series.

But the New Zealanders are America’s Cup Defenders for a reason and they do not often make mistakes.

In truth the race was gone by the end of the second beat, when Burling and Outteridge managed to covert a marginal lead into a significant gap by picking the right side of the course and showing their advantage in manoeuvres again – especially through the tacks.

“It was pretty tricky getting off that left hand boundary initially,” said Outteridge after the race. “When we had the opportunity to cross over to the right we managed to get a little gain and then get in there with the right turn,” h said of the key overtake on leg 1.

“We’ve made a good improvement with the performance of the boat and it’s tacking really nicely,” Outteridge concluded.

“It was a good race, we had a good start and got the first cross. But they are going well, they’ve been going really well,” Ainslie reflected.  “It was good to come out and have a strong start today. But as Ben said there’s some more work to be done,” Fletcher agreed.

Tomorrow is a lay-day for the competition with racing getting back underway on Wednesday 16 October.

What did we learn from the America’s Cup Race 4?

This race will be a really big concern for the British team having won the start and holding the lead halfway up the first beat they will be incredibly disappointed to have lost that lead. Once again the Kiwis real strength looks to be during tacks in this lighter weather with the Kiwis floating though the tacks a little more smoothly and managing to keep a slightly higher average speed through the turn.

There certainly doesn’t look to be a significant margin between the two boats, and it still looks unlikely this will be a total whitewash. But at 4-0 down in the first to seven series, the Kiwis now only need to win three races, while the Brits need to pick up seven wins. And that is starting to look like a very big ask…

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The first day of America’s Cup racing was a big disappointment for Ben Ainslie’s INEOS Britannia as the America’s Cup Defender Emirates Team New Zealand won both races to go 2-0 up in the first-to-seven-wins competition.

However, the 2-0 scoreline does not mean this is going to be a cakewalk for the Kiwis. INEOS Britannia still demonstrated decent downwind speed, while multiple place changes in the first half of Race 2 suggests it could be a close series. But New Zealand has looked very impressive upwind and their impressive form will be a worry for the Brits.

The third day of America’s Cup racing saw a light easterly wind of around 8 knots across the course, but the forecast was for this light wind to tail off as they day progressed. And sure enough, by the start time for the second race, the wind had dipped below the mandatory 6.5 knots and despite trying for 30 minutes, it was clear the wind was only going one way and the race committee cancelled racing for the remainder of the day with only one race run.

Key takeaways from the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Day 2

• Costly start error from the Brits leaves them 3-0 down and needing to find something special to have any chance in this America’s Cup
• Emirates Team New Zealand looked faster on all points of sail today
• Manoeuvring seems to be a key strength for the Kiwis, particularly tacks.

Race 3 Emirates Team New Zealand Vs INEOS Britannia

Skippers
Emirates Team New Zealand: Peter Burling & Nathan Outteridge 
INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainslie & Dylan Fletcher

Although the forecast was for light winds, the first race of the day got away without any delays, with the breeze across the course hovering just a touch under 10 knots.

INEOS Britannia were port entry and so first into the start box. The Brits – as has become their standard move – tacked around to try to follow the Kiwis and be the aggressor. However, Burling and Outteridge had clearly been studying the British team’s starts, and quickly looked to head them off on starboard tack.

With INEOS on port gybe and the Kiwis on starboard they got incredibly close and, though the Brits were gybing away, it was not fast enough and they picked up a penalty for their troubles. That penalty was a significant unforced error and put the Kiwis in the driving seat before the race had even begun.

“We tried that one yesterday but we didn’t get it quick right,” said Burling of the start incident after racing. “We’ve been working on little bits and pieces like that,” he added.

“I’m sure it’s a tough call, I felt like we were doing enough to keep clear, but obviously the umpires didn’t see it that way,” commented Ainslie of the situation.

Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

The Brits did a good job of clearing their penalty and getting split out to the left of the course. But the Kiwis were pretty happy protecting the right and tacked on the British team at every opportunity.

Initially INEOS Britannia managed to keep things quite tight and kept the Kiwi’s lead to around 100m through the early part of the beat, but New Zealand really extended in the final third of the leg and were around 20 seconds ahead rounding the windward gate for the first time.

New Zealand sailed a pretty flawless downwind to step away from the Brits even more and as they took the left hand leeward gate mark, they were 27 seconds ahead of Ainslie’s British team who rounded the left hand gate mark.

The Kiwis were quick to tack over to limit the separation between the two boats and, once again did a tidy job of keeping the Brits in their pocket throughout the course of the upwind.

There wasn’t much the Brits could do on the upwind with their opponents keeping a tight cover on them and by the next windward gate they’d leaked a few more seconds to their competition.

The wind continued to die away throughout the course of the race and, although the start had seen winds just shy of double digits, by the end of the second lap, it had dropped to around six to seven knots.

With the Defender in control of the race, the only hope for the Brits was for the wind to soften even further and the Kiwis to get stuck in a hole. But it wasn’t to be and New Zealand easily sailed on to a solid win, putting their series lead up to 3-0.

What did we learn from the America’s Cup Race 3?

Emirates Team New Zealand’s tacking looked much more tidy than the Brits, and it was clear that INEOS was slipping back through each tack. Worse, although yesterday’s racing had seen the British squad showing their trademark pace downwind, today it looked a lot more even with the Kiwis building their lead both upwind and down.

If the British team want to get a toe-hold in this competition, they will need to be close to flawless in their sailing and errors like today’s pre-start mistake simply wont cut it.

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The build up to today’s Puig Women’s America’s Cup has been tough for all the teams – there have been long days of boats held on shore, teams sent out to race only to sit through long postponements, and a major technical breakdown of the boat used by Athena Pathway which required a major rebuild.

The deciding races to determine which teams would make it through to the Women’s America’s Cup match ran late into yesterday afternoon, with the Italian Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and GBR’s Athena Pathway only securing their spots in the final race of the day. The Puig Women’s America’s Cup was decided by one single match race, held between the first and second races of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup this afternoon.

The Puig Women’s America’s Cup Final. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Vs Athena Pathway. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Vs Athena Pathway

Although this was the first and only two boat match race the Puig Women’s America’s Cup, there was little engagement in the pre-start, with both teams opting to focus on sailing cleanly to hit the line at speed.

The Italian Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team were marginally bow forward, and managed to hold onto their lead for the first lap, though the margins remained tight with just 50m between the two boats at the top mark.

In what appeared to be a repeat of the first match race in the America’s Cup series earlier today, the Italians were able to control the race, covering the British squad on the second upwind leg.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Women’s Team celebrate winning the Puig Women’s America’s Cup. Ian Roman / America’s Cup

“What do I do now?” Athena Pathway skipper Hannah Mills could be heard asking her team, looking for information that might give them any option to try and pass.

“We’re gaining on them in a straight line,” Athena Pathway co-helm Tash Bryant commented on the second downwind, and the Brits did seem to have solid boat speed while the Italian team’s AC40 could be seen bouncing slightly in the building sea state off Barcelona.

On the final upwind, the Athena Pathway headed to the shoreside of the course, apparently into more pressure. The Italians did not cover, and when the two boats crossed back together the deficit was down to 115m.

But despite British attempts to engage the Italians in tacking duel, the Italians didn’t put a foot wrong, and held to take the win by 8 seconds. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli are the first ever Women’s America’s Cup winners.

Italy win first Women’s America’s Cup

“I am speechless,” said skipper Giulia Conti after, while her team mates co-helm Margherita Porro, and trimmers Maria Giubilei and Giulia Fava piled into literal emotional bundle of joy on deck.

37th America’s Cup: Puig Women’s America’s Cup. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

“Massive well done to the Italian sailors, what amazing race. Just super proud of everyone – how they’ve handled themselves and delivered on the world stage,” said Athena Skipper Hannah Mills.

“It’s a been a long, amazing campaign,” she added with emotion. “We’ve put so much into this, and I’m just so proud of all our team who’ve worked so hard to get us to this point and obviously our friends at INEOS Britannia who’ve helped us as well supporting us in this journey.

“I think this for sure just the beginning of women’s sailing in the Cup, and I’m so proud to be part of the first ever women’s event.

“Obviously gutted to not deliver today, but for the sport and for the young girls watching, this happening – and it’s going to be your time next.”

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Today was reckoning day for the Defender and Challenger in the 37th America’s Cup – which team’s preparation would have been most fruitful? The battle-hardened Brits, competing in their first America’s Cup in 60 years? Or the seemingly omnipotent Emirates Team New Zealand, who’ve been calmly keeping their powder dry while waiting for the big match?

Barcelona seemed determined to build the tension, with some oppressive grey clouds and light winds leading to a short delay. But both two teams kept the AC75s up on their foils and the racing was more characterised by the need to find pressure, follow the shifts, and avoid mistakes.

Key takeaways from the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Day 1

• First reliability issue we’ve seen from INEOS Britannia in the competition so far before the start of Race 1 – and it was a costly day to have a ‘technical’ 
• Emirates Team New Zealand showed strong upwind pace and once clear ahead could control both races relentlessly
• INEOS Britannia still demonstrating downwind speed, while multiple place changes in the first half of Race 2 hints this contest could be closer than today’s scorecard suggests
• Skipper Ben Ainslie remains stoic about his team’s ongoing development potential.

Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup, Race Day 1. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Race 1 Emirates Team New Zealand Vs INEOS Britannia

Skippers
Emirates Team New Zealand: Peter Burling & Nathan Outteridge 
INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainslie & Dylan Fletcher

Things didn’t get off to an auspicious start for the British challengers in their first America’s Cup match race in 60 years, with INEOS Britannia late coming into the start box on starboard entry late due to a battery issue in the pre-start preparations.

In the light airs, port (first) entry boat ENTZ responded by tacking on top of them to try and give the British boat some dirty air on their entry to the start, but it didn’t knock Britannia off her foils, and the two boats lined up without any further engagement.

Emirates Team New Zealand hit the line on time and at around 35 knots of boat speed to take the early advantage.

On the first beat the Kiwi boat had more pressure on the left-hand side of the course to consolidate their advantage, building a 200m lead by the top mark. The British made some gains on Leg 2, suggesting that the strong performance INEOS Britannia has demonstrated downwind against the Challengers continues relative the Kiwis.

However, upwind Burling and Outteridge covered relentlessly, leaving the British boat continually sailing in their wind shadow and losing metres by metres, with Emirates Team New Zealand doubling their advantage by the second top mark.

There was no way back into it for the Brits: the Kiwis made no mistakes, were fast and controlled from start to finish. It’s not the start INEOS Britannia fans will have wanted for sure – the question is now whether without the pre-start issues INEOS Britannia will be able to engage Emirates Team New Zealand.

A tough first day in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup for INEOS Britannia. Ian Roman / America’s Cup

“Tough one guys,” said Ainslie to his team as they crossed the line. And there’s no doubt, it was a tough start to a highly anticipated Match series.

In post-race interview he added: “We didn’t have the perfect entry to the race, but actually the guys did good job to stay calm and recover from that.

“We were in a half-decent spot on the start line. It was just really dependent on where the breeze went – the Kiwis did a nice job. They got the left-hand pressure which put them in a strong position.

“Look, it wasn’t that we did do a whole lot wrong, they just sailed a slightly better race.”

Race 2 INEOS Britannia Vs Emirates Team New Zealand

Skippers
Emirates Team New Zealand: Peter Burling & Nathan Outteridge 
INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainslie & Dylan Fletcher

Race 2 saw much cleaner start for INEOS Britannia, who had port entry. Emirates Team New Zealand was marginally ahead at the start gun, but tacked off immediately towards the initially favoured left-hand side of the course.

The start of Race 2 in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup, Race Day 1. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

The first cross was extremely close – INEOS ducking. Then when INEOS came back on port tack Emirates Team New Zealand picked up a slight lift to cross ahead the second time. But all the way up the first beat there was nothing between the two boats: less than 10 metres heading into the top mark.

On the downwind leg, INEOS Britannia initially took the shore side of the course to pick up extra breeze and cross ahead, while the Emirates boat did the same for the second half of the downwind.

Close crosses in Race 2 of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

Both teams asked for a huge effort from their cyclors at the bottom mark, the British boat hovering perilously close to touchdown while rounding in just 7-8 knots of breeze, but digging their way out of trouble.

Emirates Team New Zealand initially extended on the second upwind, but the randomness of the course continued to be a big factor, with INEOS Britannia this time making big gains on the long starboard tack on the right-hand side of the course.

Meanwhile, on the second downwind the Brits were again first to get into the pressure, and pulled back to within 40m of the Emirates Team New Zealand.

There was another heart-stopping bottom mark manoeuvre for both teams, the boats splitting to two different marks and rounding within 10 seconds of each other, while on the final upwind the breeze had shifted to the left-hand side of the course, which the Kiwis sailed into.

There were some tense mark rounding for both teams in Race 2 of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

On the penultimate upwind the Emirates Team New Zealand were able to reassert their control, pulling away to over 400m, leaving them a much calmer final leeward mark rounding, and an untroubled path to the finish.

“It could have been an easier day,” Burling commented to his crew as they finished – whether he was addressing the fluctuating and shifting winds or his opposition isn’t clear, but it’s safe to say Kiwi confidence is riding high.

“Not the start we were looking for,” said Ainslie. “Obviously there’s a few things we have to work on and we couldn’t just match them around the track. But I’m confident the team will figure it out.”

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“Look, we’re the underdogs in this, without a shadow of doubt,” Ben Ainslie told the UK’s Guardian Newspaper in a recent interview looking ahead to Saturday’s America’s Cup.

On the face of it, he’s not wrong. Ainslie’s crew (the first British team to make it to the America’s Cup in 60 years) are up against the reigning America’s Cup champions, and a country which can lay claim to four America’s Cup wins.

Not only are Team New Zealand the most successful America’s Cup team in modern history; when it comes to match racing on foils they are unrivalled.

The Kiwis were first to introduce hydrofoils into America’s Cup racing back in 2013 when they and their foiling 72ft catamaran got to within one win of wresting the America’s Cup from then Defender Oracle Team USA.

The Kiwis were first to foil and America’s Cup class back in 2013

The following America’s Cup – by then sailed in 50ft foiling catamarans – the Kiwis won by a landslide.

In 2021, with the event sailed in the new AC75 foiling monohulls, they were imperious again, sweeping aside Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli to successfully defend.

A Luna Rossa team who, it must be noted, had crushed Ainslie’s INEOS Britannia 7-1 to secure their place in that America’s Cup.

Britain may famously love an underdog, and it seems that Ainslie’s INEOS team could yet again be the David going up against an all-conquering Goliath.

But if you put all that history to one side and focus on what we know just two days out from the start of racing, to my mind the most likely outcome is an incredibly close America’s Cup, much closer than 2017 or 2021.

INEOS Britannia and Emitares Team New Zealand race in the Louis Vuitton Round Robin Series. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

The Boats

What is notable about this second generation of AC75 is how close the performance of the boats has been to date.

This is often the case when a rule set is allowed to mature as relative advantages shrink with every iteration of the class.

With Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli’s AC75, the Louis Vuitton Cup Final featured the challenger that was closest to Emirates Team New Zealand in design philosophy.

INEOS, by contrast, is arguably the furthest away from Emirates Team New Zealand (with American Magic being a more radical version of the New Zealand and Italian philosophy in pure hull concept).

In terms of hull philosophy, INEOS is the biggest and most-muscular looking boat in the fleet, while Emirates Team New Zealand favours more organic lines.

INEOS Britannia is bulkier than most of the other AC75s. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

This certainly makes the British boat look – to the layman’s eye at least – less aerodynamically efficient. However, the team’s close cooperation with Mercedes F1 technologies, and use of their sophisticated aerodynamic and structural engineering tools, should have had a significant positive impact in this area.

In the words of America’s Cup designer Thomas Tison speaking to Yachting World, ‘it looks as though the British boat has been designed to both reduce drag and maximise lift.”

In flat water the British AC75’s significant skeg (or bustle) allows it to sail just kissing the water, sealing the gap between sea and water, maximising an ‘end plate’ effect, which is (very simply) aerodynamically beneficial to the sail package.

In wavy conditions we have seen the British team needing to sail with more leeward heel in order to keep this larger skeg / bustle out of the water.

The Emirates Team New Zealand boat is, in many ways, a further refinement of the AC75 that won them the last America’s Cup.

The team’s approach appears to have focussed around a meticulous attention to detail, such as the removal of vertical surfaces and the streamlining of the deck comings. These changes, while seemingly minor, should collectively contribute to significant performance gains.

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Team New Zealand’s skeg / bustle, is also designed to prevent wind from passing underneath the boat, making best use of the end plate effect.

However, theirs is significantly smaller than the INEOS design, which makes it less efficient in ideal conditions, but also less likely to hit the water when it’s wavy. As such when the sea state is up, the Kiwis will not need to sail with the same leeward heel (and thus slight righting moment loss) as the Brits.

Zooming in, you can see the blended bulb approach of INEOS over the less blended bulb of New Zealand. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

The Foils

Foils are the area about which we have the least information, especially when it comes to the New Zealand boat, as the teams have to declare what they are using, but they otherwise remain very closely guarded secrets

From what I’ve seen to date, it looks as though the Kiwis and the Brits are the two teams with the smallest foils – certainly the Brits had the smallest foils of the challengers.

Smaller foils mean less drag but less stability. Top speeds should be higher, and downwind performance should be better – but staying on the foils is likely to be harder and manoeuvrability can be limited.

But it’s important to remember that the drag tradeoff every team has to make when designing their foils can be counterbalanced by the drag tradeoff that teams can make in their sail plans.

Luna Rossa, for example, seemed to have larger (and therefore higher drag) foils than INEOS, but their sail control looked to be better and they were able to flatten their sails better to reduce sail drag once foiling. This led to similar performance just from a different direction – higher drag foils, lower drag sails.

Then Kiwi foil arm bulb is similar to Luna Rossa’s and puts weight low down and forward and remains clear of the water most of the time. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Both the Brits and the Kiwis feature a bulb on the foils in order to put enough weight into them to measure under the rules. Without these bulbs they would need much fatter foils with enough internal volume to add weight to measure, which would therefore be draggier over their total span.

Both boats have also added rule-required weight at the base of the foil arm. Here, New Zealand has a similar solution to Luna Rossa with a large bulb protruding forward from the foil arm, above the water when the boat is foiling normally.

The British solution is hydrodynamically better should the boat end up foiling lower than ideal (usually in waves). Ian Roman / America’s Cup

INEOS’s solution is for large ‘ears’ on the trailing edge of their foils which will be in the water more often, but will be less draggy when they are submerged.

In the wavier conditions of the Louis Vuitton Final we saw these bulbs on Luna Rossa hitting the water often and they looked particularly slow during those moments.

Under deck sail controls, and a less wide traveller are key features of the Kiwi boat. Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

Sail controls

The hulls are the most obvious difference between teams, and once they are racing differences in the foils are fairly easy to spot. But more tricky is the difference in sails and controls as much of this is hidden between the two sail skins.

As mentioned in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final it looked as though Luna Rossa had better control of their mainsail at the foot of the sail than INEOS, the latter often having a very full foot, which translates into drag at speed.

A much wider track n the British boat, and they have often struggled to flatten out the very bottom of their mainsail. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

Since its launch, one of the standout aspects of Emirates Team New Zealand’s new boat is in the operation of its twin-skin mainsail. Specifically, the way in which the team has integrated the mainsail hydraulic systems within the sole of the boat.

“Unlike other teams that house these systems on the deck, Team New Zealand has managed to embed them below, reducing the aerodynamic drag and the weight above the waterline,” Tisson explained to us in his analysis of the boat.

But it’s also thought that they have a much more refined control of the two skins individually than other teams, allowing them better control of the mainsail shape.

A great deal of software exists on these boats and a number of things have been set up to be, essentially, pushbutton. Modes like high mode or bear aways, or speed build after tacks are pre-programmed and selected by trimmers to provide the broad parameters within which they will fine-tune.

Luna Rossa had very impressive sail control. Photo: Ian Roman / AmericasCup

And here the Brits may have an advantage. It is well known that all the data from their boat and from race days is being pumped back to the Mercedes F1 factory in Brackley, UK where they are parsing it in real time and making software and other instrument adjustments to improve performance from day to day – at a minimum. It’s believed the team can even work on some of the data race-to-race if the gap between races is large enough.

Of course F1 is all about analysing, understanding and utilising data, so there is almost nowhere in the world better for this undertaking – and is a clear contributing factor to INEOS’ constant improvement to date.

Ainslie Vs Burling

Though all we’ve discussed so far is technological improvements, if the boats are close, the sailors will be the ones to make a difference.

Much is new in modern America’s Cup racing and in 2024 for all teams bar Luna Rossa – who invented the concept for 2021 – having two helmsmen is another wholly new development.

In 2024 duties have been shared on all the AC75s between the four team members on either side of the boat – a port and starboard skipper, port and starboard trimmer, and corresponding cyclor teams.

Billing this match up as Ben Ainslie Vs Peter Burling does a huge disservice to their two co-skippers of Dylan Fletcher and Nathan Outteridge.

But as effective team leaders, and starboard-tack helmsmen, Ainslie and Burling will be largely responsible for decision making in the pre-start – always a key part of America’s Cup match racing.

INEOS came out on top of the starts in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

In the Louis Vuitton Cup Final against Luna Rossa, INEOS was clearly the aggressor in each start and walked away with the series win.

But it should be noted that Luna Rossa were not looking to engage in the start box, despite having one of the world’s best match racers, Jimmy Spithill, as their starboard-tack skipper.

Quite why the decision was made to not engage in the start box remains unclear. It could well be that Luna Rossa saw some strength in INEOS (for example they thought the Brits were more manoeuvrable).

Equally it could be that a perceived upwind speed weakness of the Brits made an even start more desirable for Luna Rossa. The Brits have not often shown a strong ‘high mode’ so are less of a threat if they are to leeward off a startline than they might otherwise be.

Whatever the reason, INEOS go into the America’s Cup match having roundly beaten a very strong team in the crucial pre-start more often than not, and much of that can be attributed to Ainslie’s match racing aggression.

“I’m quite sure that the Kiwis are fast, but Ben is also fast and the thing that Ben has got up his sleeve is he’s such a match racer and he’s got a lot of match experience under his belt that the Kiwis don’t,” AC veteran and 2024 regatta director Iain Murray recently told Reuters.

Emirates Team New Zealand with a 26 year old Peter Burling at the helm won the America’s Cup in 2017. Photo: Ricardo Pinto

For his part, Burling came into America’s Cup racing as a generational high performance boat talent. He was the best Olympic 49er helmsman the class had seen for many years and he and long-term sailing partner Blair Tuke won every event they entered in the four-year build up to their gold in the 2016 Olympics.

Because the New Zealander got into America’s Cup racing so early (aged just 26 at his first Cup in 2017 in Bermuda) he does not have the long match racing pedigree as someone like Ainslie or Spithill.

Time and again Burling’s match racing prowess has been called into question ahead of America’s Cups. And time and again the deadpan Kiwi has proved more than up to the task.

The two Cup wins to date have been in far better machinery than their opposition (and as the saying goes, a fast boat makes a good tactician) but he’s never looked out of his depth in the cut and thrust of competition.

Burling may be considered the high performance talent of his generation, but Outteridge is every bit as quick and the two were training partners in the lead up to the 2012 Olympics where Outteridge took 49er gold and Burling silver.

In 2016 after all that 49er dominance it was Burling who took gold, but Outteridge who took silver, so the pair are very evenly matched. And Outteridge was every bit as effective on the foiling 50ft catamarans in 2017, his Artemis team simply did not have the pace to get to the America’s Cup final.

Fletcher and Bithell after securing gold in Tokyo in the 49er class, beating Burling and Tuke to silver. Photo: Sailing Energy / World Sailing

The newest skipper in this Cup by quite some way is Dylan Fletcher. Most assumed Giles Scott would be Ainslie’s co-skipper in this edition and it was Scott who had done much of the co-skippering to date.

Scott also took on the role of tactician in the 2021 America’s Cup regatta. But Fletcher’s skill and tenacity saw him selected shortly before the Round Robin racing began as Ainslie’s co-skipper.

Fletcher is the same breed of sailor as Burling and Outteridge and comes from a 49er background Like both of them, he has also spent plenty of time sailing foiling Moths (he was World Champion in 2022). Clearly, Fletcher brings a high performance edge to the boat.

It’s also worth noting that Fletcher and his GBR 49er crew Stuart Bithell took gold in the class at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, beating Burling and Tuke into silver. Knowing you beat your opposition in the last biggest event you sailed will certainly go some way to removing the perception of invincibility from the Kiwi team.

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The 37th America’s Cup is due to start on Saturday 12 October and will see America’s Cup Defender Emirates Team New Zealand taking on the first British challenger in 60 years INEOS Britannia.

The America’s Cup is a two boat match race and is a first to seven points competition (best of 13 races). Two races per day are scheduled and the competition will run daily until one team gets to the magic seven race wins.

Emirates Team New Zealand have won the last two America’s Cups but this second generation of the foiling AC75 class boats has seen all teams much closer in performance terms than the first time they were used in 2021.

For those wondering how to watch the America’s Cup there are a whole host of options and many of the America’s Cup streams are free depending which country you are in.

Read all our America’s Cup reports to catch up on the latest racing and our analysis of where each team stands.  

Looking for a free America’s Cup Sailing live stream? The event will be free in the UK on Youtube and the America’s Cup website. Full details on how to watch The 2024 America’s Cup live stream just below.

How to stream the America’s Cup in the UK for free

America’s Cup racing for the UK audience will be available on a number of platforms. The easiest way to watch the action for free will be via either the America’s Cup Website, via the America’s Cup Youtube Channel. The racing will also be available on TnT Sports – an add on to Discovery + with a cost of £30.99 per month. And it will also be available on Eurosport.

If you try to watch your domestic coverage from anywhere outside your home country, you’ll soon find a problem – geo-blocking. That’s where the broadcaster prevents you from watching your usual feed from abroad. It’s a common problem for sports fans all over the world.

By downloading and installing a VPN, you can effectively trick your computer into thinking that it’s back at home. Our sister title, TechRadar has done extensive testing of the best VPN service and Nord VPN consistently comes out on top.

How to use a VPN to watch the America’s Cup racing

Using a VPN is as easy as one-two-three…

1. Download and install a VPN – as we say, the top choice according to our sister title is NordVPN.
2. Connect to the appropriate server location – open the VPN app, hit ‘choose location’ and select the appropriate location, eg: ‘Australia’ for 9Now.
3. Go to the broadcaster’s stream – head to your home broadcaster’s site or app and watch as if you were at home – Youtube or the America’s Cup website for UK viewers.

How to watch the America’s Cup in New Zealand

New Zealand has a similar set up to the UK in that America’s Cup racing can be streamed free and live via the America’s Cup Youtube channel or via the Website.

Stuff Group and Warner Bros. Discovery earlier this year entered into a partnership with Emirates Team New Zealand to provide extensive, live and lively coverage of the America’s Cup in New Zealand. You’ll be able to watch all of their coverage live via Stuff and also ThreeNow.

How to stream the America’s Cup in the USA for free

For America’s Cup viewers in the United States the options are a little more limited. America’s Cup racing will be available to stream for free via the America’s Cup website, but it will be on a 24 hour delay.

Those living in the USA and wanting to watch the America’s Cup racing action live will need to sign up to ESPN+ for the duration of the event in order to watch live. ESPN+ is $10.99 a month.

When is America’s Cup Racing 2024?

America’s Cup Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta: 22-25 August 2024
Louis Vuitton Cup: 29 August 7 October
Youth America’s Cup: 17-26 September
Women’s America’s Cup: 5-13 October
37th America’s Cup: 12-27 October

We recommend VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:

1 – Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service)
2 – Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad

We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

The post How to watch the America’s Cup live streams appeared first on Yachting World.

The 37th America’s Cup is already rewriting the history books in many ways – today marks another major shift in the event’s evolution, with the beginning of the first ever Women’s America’s Cup.

Ahead of the AC40 competition, we visited the Athena Pathway base in Barcelona to chat to Hannah Mills, co-founder and Team Principal of the British entry into the Puig Women’s America’s Cup and Unicredit Youth America’s Cup.

Mills and the GBR Athena Pathway squad practising ahead of today’s Puig Women’s America’s Cup. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Mills, like her male counterpart Ben Ainslie, wears many hats within the Athena Pathway – she co-founded the programme, which ranges from training programmes for youth foiling talent, right up to the four women who’ll be racing on the AC40 this week. And, like Ainslie, she is also helm and skipper.

And while Mills and Ainslie launched the programme together, Athena is its own beast with its own sponsors (Cobham Ultra is their main sponsor, together with Rolex, while supporting partners include Musto and yacht brokers Cecil Wright). To set up a wholly new campaign, in a near-unknown boat, creating two squads of sailors with zero experience in large foiling monohulls, has been a very very big job indeed.

“It’s very, very hard. But great.

“I think for us, with Athena Pathway, it’s the little sister to INEOS Britannia, but equally, we’re very much in many ways running our own campaign, which has been more challenging probably than I ever imagined,” Mills admits.

Harder than an Olympic campaign? Yes, she says, almost before I’d finished the question.

The Puig Women’s America’s Cup is held in AC40s. Photo Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Did she know what she was getting into? “No, I definitely didn’t quite know. But in all of these things, you just learn so much along the way. For sure, as anything, if you did it again, you’d do some stuff very differently. But equally, we’ve got such an amazing team here that has just worked so, so hard to get us to where we are. I’m very proud of what we’ve done so far.”

Pooled AC40s for Women’s and Youth

The women’s and youth teams are all structured slightly differently. Each of the main AC37 teams (New Zealand, Britain, France, Italy, USA and Switzerland) entered both. These teams also purchased at least one AC40 (some purchased a second), which were pooled for use in the Women’s and Youth racing.

A further six entries, known as the Invited teams, were Sail Team BCN representing Spain, Jajo Team Dutchsail, Concord Pacific Racing representing Canada, the Artemis Technologies Swedish Challenge, and Andoo Team Australia. Budgets vary massively – some of the British team make wistful comments about the Swedish funding levels.

Some teams, particularly from the Invited group, had extremely limited time in the AC40 ahead of competition – something Mills says has been mission critical to Athena.

“I think ultimately for us, we always identified that time on the water was going to be the most important thing – but also the biggest challenge for these boats, because they are difficult to get hours and hours in.

Mills helming the Athena Pathway entry in the Puig Women’s America’s Cup. Ian Roman / America’s Cup

“You have lots of breakdowns, lots of sensors and hydraulic challenges, but then also you’re limited by the batteries. Each battery set lasts an hour and 45-ish, 2 hours, depending on what you’re doing. We’ve had lots of battery breakdowns. You’re always conscious of battery fires. All of these new challenges, I guess, that as dinghy sailors, we’ve never thought about.

“Just the operation to get the boat on the water is an hour at the start of the day, an hour at the end of the day, a big wash down. It’s a whole team effort.”

The INEOS Britannia programme bought two AC40s, which were used for two-boat training ahead of the AC75 launch. One of which dramatically caught fire while training off Barcelona towards the end of the men’s AC40 training block. The boat – nicknamed ‘Crispy’ by the team – subsequently became the Athena squad’s practice boat.

“The rebuild of that AC40 has been hugely challenging and definitely cost us a good amount of time in the water – which we always knew was going to be the case. But we made the decision to get that boat back up and working so that when the other boat went into the pool for the racing, we still had a boat to sail. So hopefully, we’ll see that dividend pay off.”

Shared knowledge

There’s a stark contrast between the INEOS Britannia high-tech base and the shared boatshed the Athena Pathway squad works from just along the waterfront in Barcelona.

While the AC75 bases have segregated areas of top-secret technical zones and corporate hospitality bars, the women’s and youth teams set up is much more collaborative.

The British Athena squad shares a large hangar with American Magic and the Artemis-sponsored Swedish Challenge. Bench seats built out of pallets are dotted around, with team zones demarcated only by a few flags. While the jobs list in the INEOS base is a digitally generated maxi spreadsheet running continually on a large screen, there’s a whiteboard tacked to a pillar in the Athena base, with some cartoons doodled in green marker pen for extra motivation.

The atmosphere when we visit – admittedly before competition begins – is friendly, almost collegiate. The teams are all in this together and sharing knowledge only helps raise the level.

It’s not just knowledge they share – the AC40s are also pooled, so upskilling whoever is driving your rental for race day is in each team’s interests.

“That’s definitely been a consideration. We’ve tried to talk through the handling, because actually at slow speeds, it’s where stuff goes wrong because the boats are quite unstable just bobbing around – with the chase boat coming in alongside and the possible damage to the foil, if we get that wrong.”

The Athena Pathway women’s sailing squad and reserve sailors. The opening sailing squad saw Hannah Mills and Tash Bryant co-helm, Saskia Clark and Hannah Diamond take the two trimmer roles. Photo: S.ENAULT / INEOS BRITANNIA

Tricking the AC40 autopilot

The AC40s are semi-automated, which in many respects levels the playing field. Strength becomes suc a non-factor that when I ask trimmer Saskia Clark whether there’s any physical training element she just waggles her thumbs – they are the muscles that work hardest. The Athena squad had done some work on neck and core strength, F1-style, to counter the G-forces the sailors will be facing on the racetrack.

But semi-automated doesn’t mean simplified, as Mills explains: “You’re constantly trying to trick the autopilot to do what you wanted to do.

Understanding the limitations of the autopilot and how you can optimise it is just another big challenge.

“For the event, we will all get given the same targets in the boat. So on your data screen, you have targets for your cant number, which way you put the foil, the mainsheet tension, just everything is a target. That’s what’s imputed by Team New Zealand. It’s optimal in, say 10 knots, where you should set everything to make the boat go fast. So we’ll all have the exact same.

“This is just the boat saying, ‘if you set me up like this, this should be good.’ But you can put things wherever you want. And so you decide to go, ‘I want more Cunningham and a bit less mainsheet tension.’”

Things get trickier in conditions like Barcelona’s confused sea states where waves rebound from the port wall – factors the humans can see, but the machine can’t.

“And when you put the boat on a race course, suddenly you’ve got a lot of gas from the other boats. You’ve got boundaries coming up. So many things that mean putting something to a number just isn’t the right thing to do. It’s definitely nowhere near as simple as pulling things to a number.”

What next for women in the America’s Cup?

For Mills the team selections for the Athena Pathway squads have been a juggle between building a legacy, creating a team of women and youth who can carry this torch next time –  and also wanting to be competitive.

“That’s always been the balance for us. We’ve got so many amazing talented sailors in the UK that I would love to be a part of this. But ultimately, the time in the boat is so limited that at some point you have to put performance over opportunity. Because we want to win.

“Going forward, we’re hoping there’s quite quickly some continuity, particularly with the Women’s Cup and the Youth Cup. I think if we can get that continuity then it becomes much easier to broaden it out and to build more opportunities for more people to get experiences and learn.”

Eight teams will be taking part in the Puig Women’s America’s Cup. Photo: S.ENAULT / INEOS BRITANNIA

If Mills were writing a Protocol for the next Cup – would she like to see women on the senior America’s Cup boat, or another Women’s America’s Cup event?

“Oh that’s hard. I think definitely another Women’s Cup. I think there’s so much importance in a stand-alone event to give that opportunity to upskill and to get the experience, that’s what’s always been lacking.

“And whether you mandate [women on the boat] or whether you just do it on merit, I think, is an interesting discussion. I sit on the fence a lot of the time on that and swing one way or the other.

“But I think what the women’s event does is provide the opportunity for women to get there on merit regardless. And I think that’s exciting. This is just the start.”

The post “This is harder than the Olympics” Britain’s Hannah Mills on the Women’s America’s Cup appeared first on Yachting World.

“If we go out there and get beaten, they’ll send us home. If, however, we win today, they’ll let us stay and fight again tomorrow. And if we keep winning, we’ll leave this country with the America’s Cup.”

That is the cold logic which John Bertrand laid out for his Australia II crew ahead of their fifth race in the 1983 America’s Cup, when the Australians were 3-1 down in the best-of-seven series.

What followed was one of the most historic moments in sporting history as the Australian crew took the win. And they continued to win until, on 26 September 1983, they crossed the finish line ahead of the New York Yacht Club’s Liberty to secure a stunning series victory.

12m Australia II on her way to secure a famous America’s Cup victory. Photo: Carlo Borlenghi / America’s Cup

That America’s Cup win was the end of 132 years of New York Yacht Club domination, the longest winning streak in sporting history, and it took the Cup out of America for the very first time.

One imagines Ben Ainslie may well use similar cold logic to temper any excitement in his crew as they look to make America’s Cup history later this month.

But make no mistake, history has already been made by his INEOS Britannia team. On Saturday 12 October 2024 they will become the first British crew to compete in the America’s Cup in 60 years.

All racing up to this point has been purely to see which Challenger would have the right to face the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand in the 37th America’s Cup itself. The actual America’s Cup competition has not even started.

For Ainslie everything – despite his unrivalled Olympic record and all – has been leading up to this moment.

INEOS Brtiannia celebrate winning the Luis Vuitton Cup. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

A long history

The last British boat to line up in an America’s Cup match was the 12-Metre yacht Sovereign, skippered by Peter Scott, in the 1964 Cup, well before Ainslie and most of his team were born. Ainslie would be wise to avoid referring back to this most-recent British effort, as Sovereign lost in a 4-0 trouncing.

Overturning a 60-year drought is but a sliver of the history the British team are looking to rewrite this October.

At a Royal Yacht Squadron meeting in 1851, a £100 Cup was waged for a race around the Isle of Wight, with which new club Commodore, the Earl of Wiltonwith, hoped to attract international participation, in particular from the United States.

The NYYC took it upon themselves to create a vessel capable of showcasing the great skills and innovations of US shipbuilding and thus America was born.

America crossed the Atlantic early that summer, raced around the Isle of Wight against 15 other British boats and duly beat them all, to claim the Cup.

The trophy which becomes and obsession to many. Photo: America’s Cup

During that win, the quote which has become indelibly attached to the trophy was supposedly uttered to Queen Victoria by a signalman onboard the Victoria & Albert Royal Yacht.

“Say signal-master, are the yachts in sight?” The monarch asked.
“Yes, may it please Your Majesty.”
“Which is first?”
“The America.”
“Which is second?”

“Ah, Your Majesty, there is no second.”

Misquote or otherwise, this has remained the motto for the event through 173 years of vigorous (and almost always controversial) competition.

Should Ainslie’s INEOS Britannia team go on to win the America’s Cup the trophy will return to British shores for the first time in nearly two centuries and this team’s names will be indelibly daubed into the history books of sport.

Should they lose, they simply become another failed attempt in a long line of failed attempts.

After all, there is no second place…

Kiwi children learning the unofficial motto of the America’s Cup. Photo: America’s Cup

Italian hearts broken

It may be of little surprise that a competition that has run for so long – and which inspires dedication verging on obsession within those who challenge for it – is rich in history on all sides.

The team the Brits beat in a closely contested Challenger Selection Series, the Italian flagged Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, have been a consistent Cup presence and first competed in the 2000 edition of the event.

Since that time, the team has taken part in every event since (with the exception of the unique 2010 Deed of Gift match and the 2017 event from which they withdrew after an argument around a change of boat in the cycle). The commitment of former Prada CEO Patrizio Bertelli in backing the Italian team is almost unrivalled. This was Bertelli’s sixth Cup campaign, with loyal team director Max Sirena.

The Italian team has a long America’s Cup history. Photo: Prada/Luna Rossa

In 2021 the Italians went through to the America’s Cup itself for the second time, losing at the hands of Defender Emirates Team New Zealand.

One of their helmsmen, in both 2021 and this edition, is another name which has become synonymous with America’s Cup racing: Jimmy Spithill.

Incredibly this is Spithill’s eighth America’s Cup campaign and – even more incredibly – this will be the first America’s Cup in 17 years which will not feature the Aussie. However, it seems that the Spithill may well be retiring from America’s Cup racing.

Emirates Team New Zealand are four-time Cup winners and will go into the event as favourites.

The all-powerful Kiwis

If the British America’s Cup Challenger wants to make history they will need all their skill, technical ability and no small amount of luck to emerge victorious.

The team the Brits will face in Emirates Team New Zealand is one of the most storied in the modern America’s Cup era.

With four America’s Cup wins (two as Challenger, two as Defender) under their belts, Team New Zealand can claim to be the most successful America’s Cup team in modern history.

And though the Kiwis may style themselves as ‘David’ up against various billionaire-backed Goliaths, make no mistake they are the all-conquering powerhouse of this competition.

The personnel has changed over the years but 2024’s Emirates Team New Zealand is, in many respects, a continuation of the 1995 team who first won the America’s Cup for the Kiwis.

Their ability to learn over the years, to keep improving as a unit, and to adapt and innovate, has long been key in making the New Zealand team so strong.

Integral to the current DNA of Team New Zealand is deeply embedded experience of decades of Cup racing. Each failure or mistake rectified in the future, each wrong decision informing the next campaign to make a team that is incredibly strong.

The Kiwis will be using all of their skill and all of their phenomenal technical knowhow to ensure that, come the close of the best-of-17 series, 173 years of British hurt continues just a little further.

Follow all of our 2024 America’s Cup coverage

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INEOS Britannia co-helm Dylan Fletcher says that the Louis Vuitton Cup final series pushed the British squad and boat harder than they could ever have imagined – but that they still have a few tricks up their sleeve ahead of racing Defenders Emirates Team New Zealand in the America’s Cup Match, which starts on October 12.

The Louis Vuitton Cup final series saw the British and Italian teams racing in everything from zephyr light conditions that ultimately saw racing cancelled, to strong Garbi winds which pushed the boats to the limits of their design margins, as well as a decisive day of mid-range wind strengths with intimidating sea states.

As preparation for the big test – racing Defenders Emirates Team New Zealand – has the punch-for-punch series been valuable for the British squad?

“Obviously, you always want an easy run in. We’d have rather won seven races in a row. But I guess this has probably been a blessing in disguise in terms of being pushed so hard by the Italians,” says Fletcher.

“Just six weeks ago, we raced [Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli] in the practice racing before the prelims, and they absolutely destroyed us in 15 to 18 knots. So to have turned the performance around on Britannia and to be there racing so close with them is great. And on the starts, they pushed us incredibly hard.

Fully loaded: INEOS Britannia hit over 55 knots on Day 5 of the Louis Vuitton Cup Final. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

“So I think it’s put us in good stead for the Kiwis. We’ve been watching them training on their own, and they’re pushing hard, but it certainly feels like we’ve been pushed harder than we’ve ever sailed the boat before.

“And we’ve seen that with things like we did 55 and a half knots the other day – which is something that we didn’t know that was actually possible from Britannia!”

The British squad has always been bullish about the fact that while their muscular AC75 design was not the fastest out of the blocks, they were confident they would maximise more and more of its potential as the competition went on. So far, that plan seems to be working.

“We’ve had a good programme from the development point of view, and we still have a few things left in our pocket.

“It’s always that balancing act with the America’s Cup, how much do you bring for the final, and how much do you wait and try and develop as late as possible for the Cup match?

“So I guess at this point, it feels like we picked to keep the right balance because we got that win against Luna Rossa and we know we’ve got some things to provide us some more performance ahead of the Cup next weekend.”

Confirmation that Fletcher (left) would co-Skipper Britannia alongside Ainslie (right) came fairly late in the day. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

The weight of expectation

Fletcher, who was announced as co-helm of INEOS Britannia on the eve of the Preliminary Regatta, says that the team approached today’s historic race just like any other.

“Honestly, it felt the same as the rest of the races with Luna Rossa. They’ve been incredibly close, as I’m sure you’ve seen, and the margins are super fine. You can see that both boats have a bit of a pattern, and we’re both good at what we’re good at. So for us, it was nice to deliver a good start and control the race from there.

“They definitely got close. There was a good shift for them at the bottom mark when we chose the right turn, which was the biased mark. But they got a good shift in really difficult conditions today – it was a bit colder and a lot more unstable compared to what you’d expect from that wind direction. I guess we got into position nicely from there to control it.

“But they’re an incredibly good team. We lost to them last time around in the Louis Vuitton final. So it feels a bit deserved to get one over them this time and finally be in that America’s Cup match.”

At what point did he relax? “Once we crossed the finish line, not until then.

“I guess it’s easy to see how the boats kind of look on rails. But in reality, they’re incredibly hard to sail and it only takes one of the eight people to make a mistake and we can be off the foils. And that could be the end of the race for us.

“So we’d got our foot down and pushing hard. But yeah, an amazing feeling once we finally crossed that finish line.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli leads INEOS Britannia back to the startline durning Louis Vuitton Cup racing. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

“We were just really happy we got to deliver as we have done in the last few races. And happy for the team to be in the Cup final after a 60-year drought for Great Britain.”

The celebrations at the INEOS Britannia base in Barcelona were in full swing this afternoon, but the Challenger of Record has just seven days to prepare for the biggest fight of their lives.

“I think we’ll probably have a day off, but in reality, probably not more than that.

“It’s certainly at this stage of the game, we’ve just got to keep our foot down, keep pushing hard, and make sure that we’re firing next weekend. I’m looking forward to the challenge ahead.”

Follow all of our 2024 America’s Cup coverage

The post “We still have a few things left in our pocket” INEOS Britannia helm Dylan Fletcher on today’s historic win and facing the Kiwis in the America’s Cup appeared first on Yachting World.

After many days of windy conditions, the forecast was for all change today Friday 4 October 2024 in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final. With two wins yesterday INEOS Britannia went into the days two races at match point in the best of 13 series. For Luna Rossa, they would need to win both of todays races to level the score and force the racing to continue tomorrow.

Despite an unstable forecast predicting very light winds, the breeze did slowly build a little from the light winds in Barcelona this morning to see 12 knots around the race course in the build up to the first start. But, although the wind pressure from the south was a little higher than predicted, the shifty patchy nature of the wind (which had also been predicted) was very much present.

The vast majority of the Louis Vuitton Cup Final to date has been raced in windspeeds in the high teens, so relative performance between these two teams in the lighter weather remained something of a question mark.

But from everything we have seen to date, these two teams appear very evenly matched. Could today be the day INEOS send Luna Rossa home, or would the master of America’s Cup comebacks, Jimmy Spithill, strike again and force a tie-breaker race tomorrow?

INEOS were leading off the startline. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

Race 11 INEOS Britannia Vs Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

Skippers
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli: Jimmy Spithill & Francesco Bruni
INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainslie & Dylan Fletcher

With the wind slightly higher than forecast, the first race of the day today got away without any delays.

It was quickly obviously looking at the AC75s that the wind was very puffy and very shifty. This would be a tense battle.

INEOS Britannia were first to enter the start box, but as has been their tactic throughout the final, the Brits tacked around to follow Luna Rossa. The Italian team gybed on the right hand boundary and the Brits gybed around in front of them.

Both teams were very early back to the line and needed to kill plenty of time. With the Brits parked up on the line the Italians pushed hard to try to accelerate better than the Brits, who followed them to reach down the line and they both hit the startline broadly even with the Italians just to windward of the Brits.

But Luna Rossa was slightly slower than INEOS off the startline and were a little closer than they would have ideally liked. Ainslie and Fletcher were able to convert some of their speed into a high mode and forced the Spithill and Bruni to tack away early.

INEOS immediately followed and looked to have the advantage as both teams headed toward the right hand boundary.

When Luna Rossa tacked, INEOS were clear ahead and tacked dead in front of the Italians. Spithill and Bruni immediately tried to accelerate to leeward and get an overlap to force a windward / leeward penalty, but the Brits accelerated out of their tack impressively to prevent it.

From there INEOS stuck a tight cover onto Luna Rossa and had built a handy lead over their competition, rounding the right hand windward gate mark (looking upwind) with a 10 second lead over Luna Rossa who rounded the left mark.

On the downwind, INEOS continued to show their intent to lock out the race keeping firmy between their competition and the next mark, allowing Luna Rossa to reduce the lead to 9 seconds around the leeward gate, but remaining in control.

Tight and tense racing. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

Luna Rossa followed the Brits around the left hand gate buoy and Ainslie and Fletcher continued to keep a loose cover on Spithill and Bruni preventing them getting any significant separation.

Once again Luna Rossa tacked around the windward gate to try to split away from the British team, who had gybed early to get out to the right hand side (looking upwind) and close down the separation.

Luna Rossa were looking quick on the downwind and managed to eat up some of the distance to the Brits, who again looked to match the Italians gybe-for-gybe.

At the leeward gate Luna Rossa had reduced their deficit to 7 seconds and also managed to split out to the right hand mark, while INEOS went left.

The bottom right of the course looked strong and Luna Rossa had cut the lead even more. At the first cross INEOS were still ahead but it was close and, once again the Brits tacked right in front of Luna Rossa, to force the Italians back out to the right of the course.

Luna Rossa had gained again on the right and at the next cross with INEOS on port, they were too close to cover their competition and stood on to the right hand boundary.

But the top right of the course looked a touch stronger and the Brits had made some good gains enabling them to tack onto port right in front of Luna Rossa, who followed them around the right hand gate mark by 4 seconds.

Again the Brits were keeping a close cover on their competition matching them gybe-for-gybe on the downwind and managed to step away a touch with a couple of better gybes.

And once again the Brits rounded the left hand gate mark, 8 seconds ahead (looking upwind) an Luna Rossa gybed though the gate and out to the right.

The Brits tacked early to get across to the Italian team as, once again, there looked to be a little more pressure in the right of the early part of the beat.

The earlier tack worked to get them over to the right a bit earlier and the Brits were comfortably able to tack on their competition at the next cross, forcing the Italians back to the right of the course.

This final upwind was a better leg than the previous upwind for the Brits who, having held on by the skin of their teeth last lap looked a little more in control, once again keeping a tight cover on their competition and forcing them to sail in their dirty air all the way into the final gate mark.

INEOS Britannia elected to tack and bear away at the final windward gate to round the right hand mark (looking upwind), while Luna Rossa stood on for the left hand mark. The wind did look stronger on the right of the course, but it was a big manoeuvre and a big call from Ainslie to take the relative loss to get into the stronger breeze.

But it was quickly clear it was the right call and INEOS had extended a touch at the first cross to 150m in front. A 150m lead is far from comfortable in these boats, but the British team looked assured as they made their last gybe to the finish line.

And so INEOS Britannia sailed across the finish line to win the Louis Vuitton Cup and will become the first British team in 60 years to challenge for the America’s Cup when they take on the Defender Emirates Team New Zealand on 12 October 2024.

Skipper, Dylan Fletcher (foreground) and David ‘Freddie’ Carr celebrate crossing the finish line

“It has been a while [since Britain was in the America’s Cup],” said Ainslie. “It’s a massive day for our team and I’d just say I’m so proud of every member of our team. So this is for all the team. And for all our fans and supporters back in the UK, it’s a massive moment.

“We started this team 10 years ago and Britain was not in the America’s Cup and we got a lot of great support and then of course Jim [Ratcliffe] stepped in too, so really thanks to all of them too.

“I want to say a big, big shout out to Luna Rossa, they have a huge history in the Cup. Thanks for an amazing competition I know it’s going to be a touch moment but you guys were a force and pushed us all the way.”

“It’s obviously a very tough moment for me personally and for the whole team,” reflected Bruni. “I think we did an amazing job as a team and we just didn’t deliver it in this Final, but I’m vert proud of what we’ve done and I thank everybody on this team for what they’ve done.”

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To date, the racing in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final (the America’s Cup Challenger Selection Series) has largely taken place in pretty windy conditions. Today, Wednesday 2 October saw the wind conditions moderate slightly into the mid-teens.

However, where the last few days of racing has seen the South Westerly Garbí wind the predominant factor, racing today saw the wind coming from the east. As such, while the forecast was for 15-18 knot winds again, the direction would make both the wind speed and the shifts much more unstable, possibly meaning more passing lanes in today’s racing.

The change in weather conditions also meant that an increased and more confused seastate was present – particularly compared to the flat water over the last few days. And it was these lumpy sea conditions that would really challenge the teams today in their foiling AC75s.

So far this has been an incredibly tight regatta with both teams heading into today’s racing with four wins apiece in the best of 13 (first to seven) series.

Key takeaways from the Louis Vuitton Cup Final Day 6

• INEOS are now 1 win from the America’s Cup
• Luna Rossa need to win all three races on Friday and Saturday
• Luna Rossa looked weaker in today’s wavy conditions
• INEOS minimised mistakes and sailed a controlled couple of races

Race 9 Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Vs INEOS Britannia

Skippers
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli: Jimmy Spithill & Francesco Bruni
INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainslie & Dylan Fletcher

At the start Luna Rossa were first into the startbox and INEOS Britannia immediately gybed round to follow the Italians out to the right hand boundary.

The Italians gybed at the boundary and the Brits gybed in front of them, allowing Luna Rossa to use their overspeed to try to get over the top of the Brits. But Ainslie and Fletcher were alive to the situation and carried enough speed to be overlapped to leeward and luffed to try to get a windward / leeward penalty against the Italians. But it was called no penalty.

However, the Brits were in the control position with both teams a little early for the line and the Italians elected to tack onto port instead of being pinned and forced over the startline early.

Luna Rossa tack onto port out of the start. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

When the Brits got to the left hand boundary they looked to be fractionally ahead of the Italians, who were on the opposite boundary, but a poor tack from INEOS gave up some ground and, at the cross, INEOS had to duck the starboard tack Luna Rossa.

By the time the two teams bounced off the next boundary it was Luna Rossa needing to duck INEOS and the boats remained dead level as they rounded the windward gate with the starboard tack Luna Rossa tacking onto port and rounding the right hand buoy (looking upwind) and the Brits tacking onto starboard to round the opposite gate mark.

Luna Rossa looked a little shaky round the windward mark with the seaway causing foiling difficulty for both teams and it was INEOS Britannia who were ahead on the first cross downwind.

The British AC75 has looked quick downwind all series and they managed to step away a bit on the first downwind to lead at the leeward gate by 12 seconds. But at least some of the gains from the Brits came from them sailing in better pressure on the downwind and that tiny mistake by the Italians at the top gate.

With manoeuvres potentially costly INEOS did not keep a close cover on Luna Rossa on the upwind, occasionally allowing them to split away in order to reduce manoeuvres and it was the Brits who continued to lead at the top mark by 9 seconds.

On the next downwind it was the turn of Luna Rossa to get the best of the pressure and the Italians rounded the leeward gate mark only 7 seconds behind.

But the Italians rounded directly into a big wave and they lost grip on the rudder to skid sideways and drop off the foils. It was only a brief wobble and they were foiling again quickly, but it was enough to let the Brits extend their lead to 250m.

“It’s so difficult out here it’s right on edge, so the teams are really just nursing [the boats] round,” explained British coach, Rob Wilson of the wavy conditions. “The waves put the rudder right on edge so if you go too traveller up or you haven’t got the loading just right you lose the rudder,”

Philipe Presti, Luna Rossa’s coach later admitted that his team had started the race with a smaller than ideal jib as they expected a little more wind. So it seems likely this was the cause of Luna Rossa’s slight imbalance.

It was that mistake which spelt the end of the race for Luna Rossa. Although they were able to make gains here and there it was a comfortable lead for the British team, who were able to cover loosely upwind too lead around the final windward gate with a 13 second lead, which they converted to a race win.

“We ate on  a knife-edge today with the waves rather than yesterday with the wind speed. But to be honest it’s pretty much as difficult on both conditions,” said Ainslie after the finish.

What did we learn from Louis Vuitton Cup Final Race 9?

This was certainly the least controlled that Luna Rossa have looked this series and a number of their manoeuvres they appeared to be on the very edge of control. It’s certainly unusual to see from a team who are normally so controlled and smooth. Of course the question will be how much that came down to sail selection. “We were just struggling a little bit with the jib… we were not set up well,” said Franceso Bruni.

INEOS looked pretty impressive in these conditions and, more encouraging the team did not get too lost in worrying about being denied a penalty in the start that looked marginal, but on first glance certainly looked like it could have gone the way of the British team.

INEOS have the advantage at the start of race 10. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Race 10 INEOS Britannia Vs Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

Skippers
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli: Jimmy Spithill & Francesco Bruni
INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainslie & Dylan Fletcher

In the break between racing Luna Rossa had elected to sail with a larger jib for this second race of the day today, so this race should prove whether it was that decision alone that accounted for the Italian’s instability in the last race.

INEOS Britannia were first into the startbox on port tack and Luna Rossa gybed strait away to follow the Brits. But once again the Brits clearly wanted to be the chasing boat and tacked around the follow the Italians out to the right hand boundary.

Again the Italians gybed on the boundary and INEOS gybed dead in front of them. And it looked like the Spithill and Bruni might be able to get underneath the Brits and hook them, but Luna Rossa slipped to leeward on her foils and the Brits were able to sail across their bow and get into position to leeward.

The Italians did a very good job of building height to give themselves a decent gap. However, both boats were early for the start, so the Italians had to foot into that space so they were not over at the start.

At the gun INEOS Britannia were sightly ahead of Luna Rossa and very close to leeward. Luna Rossa could not live there too long and tacked a little before the boundary immediately followed by Ainslie and Fletcher.

The Italians tacked in the middle of the course and INEOS tacked straight on their face forcing Spithill and Bruni to tack away immediately.

Tough conditions in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

Instead of going back with them INEOS decided to not to keep a tight cover on they competition to minimise risky manoeuvres. At the windward gate it was INEOS with a 3 second lead heading around the right hand buoy and Luna Rossa splitting to the left buoy.

Once again INEOS looked to have a tiny advantage downwind and manoeuvring today and managed to step away from their competition on the first downwind to lead a the leeward gate by 11 seconds.

Once again on the upwind it was a question of choosing manoeuvres and Ainslie and Fletcher looked happy to sail the shifts and puffs over and above just keeping a tight cover on their competition to lead around the windward gate by 12 seconds.

But at the bottom third of the next downwind the Brits had a big wobble, losing the rudder and having to drop a windward board into the water to settle the boat down. That wobble allowed the Italians to close right up and they followed the British team around the right hand leeward gate only a couple of boatlenghts behind.

Luna Rossa managed to initiate a tacking duel up the beat and looked strong, but the Brits then elected to settle for sailing the puffs and shifts over and above engaging with their competition and still led at the windward gate by 8 seconds. But that did not translate into much of a gap as the Italians followed them around the right hand mark.

Once again the Brit’s pace allowed them to extend a little on the downwind to lead around the leeward gate in by 12 seconds, but there was very little in it for the final upwind and the gap had reduced to 9 seconds by the final windward gate rounding.

The Italians were really on the charge on the final downwind, managing to make some gains on the Brits, but it was never going to be enough this late without a mistake from the Brits and INEOS crossed the finish line to take the win 8 seconds ahead to go 6-4 up in the first to 7 series.

“It was a good effort from the team. It’s bloody hard to sail these boats in these waves. The team did a good job and it’s great to get two ahead but there’s a way to go and we still need to get to 7,” said Ainslie after racing.

“It was really challenging conditions. Full credit to INEOS for getting the wins. We’ll come out the next day swinging,” said Spithill. “They obviously had an edge in the first race but in the second one I though [the performance was] similar.”

INEOS are 1 win away from the America’s Cup. Photo:Ian Roman / America’s Cup

What did we learn from Louis Vuitton Cup Final Race 10?

This was a huge day, no matter how you cut it and INEOS looked the stronger of the two boats today. By some distance in the first race but still by a little in the second. And now the Brits are sitting 1 win away from the America’s Cup you have to say they are far and away the more likely team to go through.

I’ve been critical of the Brits for a number of unforced errors previously, but today saw the team looking very strong in very tough conditions and they fully deserved to win both races today.

However, Luna Rossa are perfectly capable of taking three race wins in a row and are a long way from being out of this.  And Jimmy Spithill has previous in coming

Tomorrow, Thursday 4 October is a reserve day in the competition and the forecast of for much lighter wind on Friday when racing resumes.

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“I genuinely think Race 8 today was the fastest sailing race ever,” INEOS Britannia cyclor David ‘Freddie’ Carr tells Yachting World after Day 5 of the Louis Vuitton Cup final.

“I think you would struggle to find a sailing race that is faster than that. It was unbelievable. Not only just the top end speeds, but the average speeds, the wind angles, the VMGs. I cannot think of a race in my, or in anyone’s lifetime, that would be faster than that from two exceptional sailing teams operating at the top of their game.”

In today’s Garbi conditions of 18-21 knots with flat water, the INEOS Britannia AC75 hit a blistering top speed of 55.6 knots.

INEOS Britannia at full speed in Garbi conditions in Barcelona during the Louis Vuitton Cup finals. Ian Roman / America’s Cup

These conditions were not what everyone was expecting at this stage of the America’s Cup cycle.

“It’s been really funny. It’s that classic case right now, of ‘it’s never normally like this here’, as you always get when you go to yachting events. 

“I mean, if you’d told the design teams that four out of the first five days of the LV final would be sailed in over 16 knots, they’d have told you you’re mad. 

“The fact is we’ve done four days bouncing off the top of the wind limit and one day bouncing off the bottom of the wind limit.”

Tomorrow, Day 6 of the Louis Vuitton Cup finals (Wednesday 2 October), is expected to see a different forecast. 

“There’s two fighting weather scenarios coming our way. But in broad brushstrokes, it’s between 9 and 14 knots. And a little bit more sea state, maybe like a 0.8 of a metre, where the last few days has been probably half of that. So the waves will come into play tomorrow, where they haven’t really in the last two or three days sailing.”

Freddie Carr during cyclor changeover on Day 5 of the Louis Vuitton Cup Finals. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Change of tempo?

That could change things in this super tightly fought, evenly matched series which sees INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli pinned on four points apiece in the first-to-seven contest.

“We haven’t actually sailed in this 9-14 knots that historically is the traditional wind strength for this time of year. So that will be interesting to see how the boats go against each other in what we would imagine most America’s Cup boats are designed for, that wind range. 

“So it will be a telling day,” says Carr looking ahead to the Louis Vuitton Cup final Day 6.

“The traditional wind speed at this time of year in Barcelona is between 8 and 15 knots, and we haven’t really seen that yet. So it will be a different race course tomorrow, as opposed to the first five days we’ve seen.”

INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli split tacks on Day 5 of the Louis Vuitton Cup Final. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

Reliability proves key

Long before their AC75 was even launched, the INEOS Britannia team were talking a lot about how key reliability of components would be, and why that was a focus of their work with the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team.

The British have now taken two race points from the Italians due to gear failure in strong winds – one caused by batten damage and today’s first race when Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli spectacularly nose-dived, ripping fairings from the foredeck.

Is reliability proving as key as expected? “It is,” says Carr. 

“I’m going to find some wood to touch because I’m really superstitious, so I don’t want to jinx it. But we worked really hard at that. And it’s been comforting to know that there’s so many people in the background making sure that the boat is tip top and ready to go.

“As a sailing team member, as a member of the coaching staff, we all feel very happy to have such good on shore and on the water support if anything, heaven forbid, doesn’t work out how it should do mechanically on the boat.”

Fully loaded: INEOS Britannia hit over 55 knots on Day 5 of the Louis Vuitton Cup Final. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Taking gear failure out of the equation, how much is it taking from the team in the shed just to keep the show on the road and maintain the phenomenally complex AC75s in optimum condition while they’re being thrashed this hard on the racecourse?

“I think we fell into a really nice rhythm with the shore team probably two months ago, where we started properly operating night shifts. 

“Now, a lot of this boat performance is around the foil finish and how close we can get the foil finish to the optimal design that we came up with months ago back in Brackley. 

“The six or eight guys that are working overnight to make sure our foils are as close to perfect for the next racing day, they’re equally as important as the sailors. Those guys who are doing the night shifts and finishing the foils to the level that we need them to are the unsung heroes of the campaign in my opinion.

‘We’ve trained for two years for this week’

And what of his cyclor team? How are they holding up in massively demanding conditions – with this week’s layday becoming a race days the power squad are seeing little recovery time.

“Everyone’s in the zone. Everyone is super-focused, but we still have a very nice energy around the group. There’s not been anybody, for want of a better description, lose their s**t,” says Carr.

“We have a very relaxed energy around the group when we can. Then when we need to collectively step up and get our race heads on, we’re managing to do that. 

“Obviously, with the big delays in racing that we’ve had due to the big breeze and the light breeze, it’s really important to collectively be able to detune and find an hour to switch off and then instantly get your race head back on and go racing. 

“But honestly, we are genuinely enjoying it. It’s a real privilege to be in this series against such a polished team as Luna Rossa and be sailing our boat as well as we are and have the support from home that we’ve got as well. It’s not stressful – at least I don’t find it stressful. I find it more fun!

Cyclers onboard INEOS Britannia catch their breath after a tough light winds race on Day 2 that demanded maximum ‘oil’ creation

“It has been hard. But as a few of the rowing boys said, this is why we’ve trained so hard for two years for this week. Right now, we’ve worked our asses off for two years. 

“You know the racing is going to be hard, and you don’t train to make the racing less hard, you train to tolerate the pain better. And that’s the mindset we’re in. All the cyclors are backing each other up and checking in. Everybody’s recovering well. Everybody’s doing really good powers on the boat. And we’re in a happy space with all of our nine lads.

One race at a time

So what’s it going to take to break the gridlock? “It’s one race at a time. It’s one mark rounding at a time. It’s one pre-start at a time. 

“We are super sticking to our processes, we love our processes. They’ve got us this far in a really positive mindset with good sporting energy. It is every tack at a time, every bear away at a time. And you piece those things together, and hopefully it falls in your favour.”

The post INEOS’s Freddie Carr on why today’s Louis Vuitton Cup was the ‘fastest yacht race in history’ + why Day 6 conditions could be ‘telling’ appeared first on Yachting World.

In stark contrast to the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta and Louis Vuitton Cup Round Robin and Semi-Finals, the Finals of this event have consistently seen windy conditions. And today’s racing on Tuesday 1 October delivered top end conditions once again with 16-22 knots blowing across the course at the expected start time of 15:15 CEST.

So far there has been little to choose Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and INOES Britannia and both came into today’s two head-to-head races with three wins each in the best of 13 series. And as the competition wears on, the pressure continues to pile on the teams to ensure that they do not go more than one race behind.

Key takeaways from Louis Vuitton Cup Final Day 5

• Recurring damage is becoming a concern for Luna Rossa
• INEOS looked fast but costly errors are mounting up
• Both teams will need to up their game if they go up against Emirates Team New Zealand

Race 7 Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Vs INEOS Britannia

Skippers
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli: Jimmy Spithill & Francesco Bruni
INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainslie & Dylan Fletcher

Despite the windy weather the first race of the day got underway right on time with INEOS Britannia with Port (and thus first) entry into the start box.

We have consistently seen the British team preferring to chase in the start box and, once again they tacked around early to allow the Italians to lead out to the right hand boundary.

As the Italians gybed around, the Brits gybed in front of them to get into position as the leeward boat at the start.

Luna Rossa scramble to fix their AC75. Photo: Ricardo Pinto

It was from exactly this position that Luna Rossa managed to win the second race of the day yesterday. But Ainslie and Fletcher closed the gap a little more today and really tried to put the squeeze on Spithill and Bruni.

But the Italians did an impressive job to live to windward and slightly bow-forward of the Brits and as INEOS tacked at the left hand boundary, Luna Rossa tacked in front and to leeward in a strong lee-bow position.

Ultimately that was a spot that the Brits could not live in and they tacked away in pretty short order.

Luna Rossa went all the way to the right boundary before putting in their tack to come back on starboard. However during the tack, they struggled to get the windward board down fully, delaying their tack fractionally.

This coupled with a slight port tack lift for the Brits saw them clear ahead at the cross, allowing INEOS to tack right in front of Luna Rossa just coming into the windward gate.

Luna Rossa tacked around to take the opposite gate mark, but suddenly the Italian boat had a huge nosedive shortly after their bear-away and dropped off her foils. It was immediately clear that there was some significant structural damage to the Italian team’s boat.

That put an end to the Italian’s race, but they opted to remain on course and not get any shore crew onboard in order to force INEOS Britannia to finish the course – if shore crew stepped onboard the boat, Luna Rossa would be disqualified for outside assistance and the race win would automatically go to INEOS Britannia. Better to force the Brits to sail the course just in case they picked up any issues themselves.

Ultimately, though the Brits immediately went into conservative mode, sailing the downwinds with both foils down and, after a couple of laps, the Luna Rossa shore team requested the abandonment of the race, clearly hoping to get onboard the boat and asses the damage full ahead of the second race of the day.

It is unclear the extend of the damage as I write this. But it looks as though the damage to Luna Rossa was as a result of the huge nosedive, and not the cause of the nosedive. The only visible damage is the fairing on the deck around the point at which the jib sheet goes under the deck. But the worry is that this is indicative of a serious failure under the foredeck.

“We had a problem at the top mark and we stuffed the bow in the water and had a lot of water come on deck. So we lost the instruments and part of the fairing. But I’m sure we can fix it before the next race,” said Francesco Bruni.

This damage will be of concern to the Italian team not only as it comes at a crucial moment in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final, but it adds to damage we have seen on the Italian boat before, missing a races previously from a dramatic traveller failure in the Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Final and a lost race in this Final series due to batten breakage in the windy conditions on Sunday.

The start was an exact copy of the second race yesterday. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Race 8 INEOS Britannia Vs Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

Skippers
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli: Jimmy Spithill & Francesco Bruni
INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainslie & Dylan Fletcher

The wind was always due to build a little throughout the day and as the start time approached for the second race of the day, the breeze was up to 20 knots in some areas of the course, begging the question whether the second race would even go ahead – if the wind is averaging over 21 knots then a race cannot be started.

And sure enough at the first attempt to run the race, the wind was just over limit causing a delay to the start. Finally, the wind did moderate enough (and for long enough) to get a race underway after around 15 minutes of delays.

With the wind blowing at the very top end of the limits, the question was, would the Italian team’s AC75 hold up to the conditions?

Luna Rossa had port (first) entry into the start box and led out towards the right hand boundary, with the Brits again happy to follow. And once again the Italians slowly looked to work their way down the boundary, looking to sail deep into the start box.

Instead of gybing around and following the Italians down the boundary as the Brits have done in several start sequences, they decided to go for a late, risky tack close to the boundary and managed to pick up a boundary penalty for their troubles. “We just got out of position and in these conditions you just can’t throw the boat around in the same way you can in lighter airs. So that was our mistake,” said Ainslie at the close of racing.

The Brits might have got a slight skid to run over the boundary, but with all the advantage on their side, it’s hard to argue that was other than a massive unforced error from Ainslie and Fletcher.

With the penalty to scrub immediately, the Brits crossed the startline well behind the Italians to lose the distance straight away, putting Spithill and Bruni in control.

The Italian team then put a solid cover on the Brits all the way up the beat to lead at the windward gate, rounding the left mark (looking upwind) by 12 seconds over the Brits who took the right mark.

INEOS had come back into it in the first downwind, once again displaying their pace, and by the leeward gate, the Brits had closed up to 8 seconds and had split the course, with INEOS Britannia on the right and Luna Rossa on the left.

But at the first cross it was still Luna Rossa who crossed clear ahead with a reasonable 150m lead.

Luna Rossa elected not to put cover on the Brits and the teams continued to split sides of the course all the way up the beat, but it was INEOS who looked to be closing the gap, particularly on each tack and gybe where the Brits seemed to be making the biggest gains.

At the windward gate, both teams rounded opposite buoys, with Luna Rossa heading right (looking upwind) and leading by 7 seconds – a gap that remained the same at the leeward gate with the teams once again splitting the course.

Up the penultimate beat Spithill and Bruni did an excellent job of protecting the right of the course that had become slightly favoured to keep the charging Brits at bay.

Through the gate Luna Rossa took the left hand mark and had extended to 9 seconds ahead of the Brits who took the right mark. Although INEOS Britannia was on the windier side of the course, it was Luna Rossa who extended with a good shift on the downwind, building their lead to 12 seconds at the final leeward gate.

But for all the seeming advantages to the Brits today they simply could not get close enough to pull off a pass and amazingly, once again the day finishes with the scoreboard all square at 4 wins each.

INEOS Britannia were masters of their own downfall in the second race of the day. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

What did we learn for Louis Vuitton Cup Final Race 8?

Given their boat was held together with tape for the second race of the day, Luna Rossa had no right to take the win, but win they did. Spithill and Bruni did a very impressive job to hold on minimising their manouvers and picking the best of the shifts to keep INEOS at arms length.

As for INEOS themselves. You can only say they brought that loss on themselves. Their boat looked quicker today and really they only needed to be conservative in the start to give themselves the best shot at going two races ahead. Instead they sailed themselves out of bounds to throw away the race before it had started.

It’s hard to imagine the pressure these teams are under in this regatta and in these conditions. But if the Brits want to win the America’s Cup they’ll need to be better than today’s showing. And if the Italians want to win, they’ll need a boat that stays in one piece.

Who will win in tomorrow’s forecast lighter conditions? Who knows…

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The post Damage to Luna Rossa hands race victory to INEOS Britannia but the Italians fight back + full Louis Vuitton analysis appeared first on Yachting World.

The fourth day of Louis Vuitton Cup Final racing took place on Monday 30 September and saw INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli continue their fight to become the official challenger of the America’s Cup.

Once again the day dawned with decent breeze – though not quite the top-end conditions that contributed to yesterday’s impressive racing. And with flatter water the two AC75 crews were clearly a lot further from the edge of control that we saw yesterday.

The day started with both teams on two wins apiece in this first to seven wins series.

Key takeaways from the Louis Vuitton Cup Final Day 4

• This slug-fest of a series looks like it will run and run
• Luna Rossa looked (fractionally) stronger today being more comfortable in their win
• INEOS sounded calmer today compared to yesterday’s slightly frantic racing

The crucial moment just before Luna Rossa dropped off her foils in the pre-start. Photo: Ian Roman / AmericasCup

Race 5 Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Vs INEOS Britannia

Skippers
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli: Jimmy Spithill & Francesco Bruni
INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainslie & Dylan Fletcher

At the start Luna Rossa were port entry and so first into the start box and gybed around at the right hand boundary to run down that boundary. This put the Italian team very, very deep into the startbox.

INEOS followed the Italian team and, as they rounded up to head back to the line, the Brits accelerated over the top of the Italians. But Luna Rossa picked up some ventilation on a foil and flopped off her foils as they sailed though the wake (sail wake and foil wake) of INEOS.

That error handed the start to INEOS Britannia who were a way back from the startline at the gun, but crucially well ahead of Sphihill and Bruni, who tacked immediately onto port, followed by INEOS.

The Brits then kept a tight cover on their competition but traded the option to cover tightly towards the top end of the course to protect the right initially and then to let the Italians go again to reduce their manoeuvres into the top mark.

As such it was the Brits who were in the lead around the first windward gate rounding, setting off to the right of the course (looking upwind), while the Italians rounded the left hand mark 6 seconds adrift.

And once again the performance profile of the two challengers looked very evenly matched rounding opposite sides of the next leeward gate with the same 6 second lead to the Brits.

Once again Ainslie and Fletcher looked comfortable allowing Spithill and Bruni to get some separation, not always opting for a tight cover, but making sure they sailed the shifts and hurt the Italians as and when they could.

The British team were looking confident and slowly managed to extend their lead throughout the race to give themselves a 14 second lead over the Italians by the second leeward gate rounding.

But INEOS was never more than that ahead, which is roughly 100-150m. And things got extremely close when, on the final leeward gate rounding, the Brits got a big sideways slide on the rounding allowing Luna Rossa to close to within a handful of metres.

But Spithill and Bruni were not able to convert that pressure into an overtake and the Brits defended well to eventually take the win by 12 seconds.

“It was a great race,” said Ainslie after racing. “They came back well. They obviously had a bit of an issue at the start but they came back well.”

Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

What did we learn from Louis Vuitton Cup Final Race 5?

INEOS once again showed some decent downwind pace, which was enough to keep the race under wraps even with a massive leeward slide around one of the leeward gates. It was noticeable how much calmer things sounded on INEOS in this first race compared to yesterday, where the team sounded a bit out of sorts.

But Luna Rossa never went away and this series will be won and lost by fine margins and / or mistakes. I’ve maintained from the start that Luna Rossa has seemed the most measured team on the water and they have always looked very locked in through manoeuvres. But that does mean they are immune from mistakes and we saw another pre-start error today.

A cloise cross in Race 1 today. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

Race 6 INEOS Britannia Vs Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

Skippers
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli: Jimmy Spithill & Francesco Bruni
INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainslie & Dylan Fletcher

The wind was similar for the second race of the day with a marginal increase in the breeze to see the wind in the high teens – occasionally hitting 20 knots.

Into the pre-start the British team were first into the start box but chose to tack around and then gybe to follow the Italian team out to the right hand boundary.

Just like in the first race of the day, with Luna Rossa heading back to the line, the Brits again footed over the bow of the Italians to round up to leeward of them to try to control the return to the line. But Spithill and Bruni were able to gap off to windward pretty well.

Both boats were early coming back to the line, so both needed to scrub off a fair amount of speed before accelerating just before the start and after the gun had fired it was pretty much even at the start with Luna Rossa to windward.

The British team went int a very high mode to try to force the Italians to tack away early. Which they duly did and the Brits followed to set up a drag race out to the right hand boundary.

But it was very close and as Luna Rossa tacked onto starboard at the boundary the Brits tacked too, to try to set up just to leeward of the Italian team. The Italians did a slightly better job of the tack and were able to stay high enough to be in no danger of a luff from the Brits.

It remained even between the boats until they got to the windward gate layline, at which point both boats tacked forcing the Brits to follow the Italians into the mark rounding 4 seconds behind.

Once again the gap remained much the same on the downwind and Luna Rossa managed to step away a touch on the second upwind with a reasonably tight cover on the Brits. By the next windward gate rounding the Italians had a pretty solid looking 12 second lead.

We’ve seen passing lanes are few and far between in this series and, in truth, INEOS never really looked like a threat to Luna Rossa after the second tack of the first upwind. Ainslie and Fletcher managed to split the course on several occasions, but that only really meant they ended up out of phase with the shifts much of the time.

“I think the boat was sailing well today. It was a pity about that mistake in the first race as I think we could have picked up that point as well,” reflected Francesco Bruni. after the finish.

Luna Rossa heading to victory in the second race of the day. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

What did we learn from Louis Vuitton Cup Final Race 6?

Looking at the day as a whole Luna Rossa will be very pleased with their performance today. In the first race, the Italians were always looking like a threat and any significant errors from the Brits felt like they would lose the lead. But when it was Luna Rossa leading in this second race the win was a lot more comfortable.

The overall impression from the racing we have seen between these two to date is of Luna Rossa having a slight upwind advantage and INEOS having a slight downwind advantage. Certainly that would be supported by the British team being a little more aggressive in the pre-start while the Italians consistently seem keen not to engage and just get off the line in clean air.

Certainly as a racing sailor, I’ve always preferred upwind pace over downwind as your first crucial leg is always going to be upwind out of the start, so any speed edge there is amplified. Plus as boats go slower upwind than downwind a higher proportion of their race time is spent on upwind legs.

Roll on tomorrow (Tuesday 1 October) for more racing.

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After Saturday’s lost racing due to light winds, Sunday 29 September dawned with 17-22 knots in Barcelona as Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and INEOS Britannia continued their fight to win the Louis Vuitton Cup Finals and go on to face Emirates Team New Zealand in the America’s Cup itself.

Ahead of the Louis Vuitton Cup Final starting, INEOS was considered to be the favoured boat in higher wind conditions. But the first (and to date only) day of racing in this competition saw the teams competing in conditions that were at the top end (racing cannot start is the wind us over 21 knots) and both teams took a win apiece, with Luna Rossa looking to be fractionally the top performer.

As if to prove just how top-end the conditions were, Alinghi Red Bull Racing (out training in their AC75 after being knocked out the Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Final) managed to capsize their boat, demonstrating just how on-edge these foilers are in 20+ knots.

Key takeaways from the Louis Vuitton Cup Final Day 1

• For the second time in the Louis Vuitton Cup series the umpires made the wrong call. A worrying precedent.  
• The boats continue to be very evenly matched and this series looks like it will remain close to the very end
• A day of bad and good luck for Luna Rossa

Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

Race 3 Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Vs INEOS Britannia

Skippers
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli: Jimmy Spithill & Francesco Bruni
INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainslie & Dylan Fletcher

Like Thursday’s Louis Vuitton Final racing, initially today’s racing was postponed due to the wind being over the upper wind limit of 21 knots. And while the teams were awaiting the start in winds over 20 knots, Luna Rossa managed to damage their mainsail, breaking a number of battens in their port mainsail skin, that could be seen poking their way through the sail.

The AC75 America’s Cup class is a massively complex boat and a simple mainsail change can take at least 30 minutes to get done. But Luna Rossa had no choice other than to try to make the change in time and hope that the wind delays continued.

Unfortunately for the Italian team the wind did moderate a little while they were in the process of changing their sail and with the shore crew aboard Luna Rossa was immediately disqualified from the race for having outside assistance. 2-1 to INEOS Britannia…

Lun Rossa gybe in front of INEOS in the startbox. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

Race 4 INEOS Britannia Vs Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

Skippers
INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainslie & Dylan Fletcher
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli: Jimmy Spithill & Francesco Bruni

It was a long wait after the first day’s non-race as the wind continued to flick over the top limit for racing. But finally after more than an hour of waiting, the third race of the Louis Vuitton Cup Final got underway in top-end conditions.

As we saw ahead of the first race of the day, sitting around awaiting racing in windy conditions is pretty tough on these high performance machines and, while awaiting the second race of the day it was INEOS’ turn to pick up some damage, breaking a batten on their jib.

But the headsails are much more simple than the mainsails, and it was a pretty quick job for the British team to drop the sail, replace the broken batten, and rehoist they jib while awaiting the start.

At the start Luna Rossa were late to get into the start box and needed to avoid INEOS who were on starboard by gybing round in front of the Brits. That allowed INEOS to get into a dominant position behind the Italians to push them back to the start early, with both boats on port.

Luna Rossa reached along the startline and were in a very precarious position as a tack would put them over the line and, with INEOS just behind and to leeward, they would likely infringe the Brits should they try to gybe, needing to keep clear as windward boat.

They decided on the later option and – to my eye – clearly infringed the Brits in gybing, but the umpires inexplicably called it no-penalty, much to the chagrin of an audibly outraged Ainslie and Fletcher. “It was a tough one, we obviously thought we had them locked up and they threw a crash gybe in. But obviously the umpires saw it differently,” said a diplomatic Ainslie after racing.

As such, out of the startline it was Luna Rossa who had the advantage, hitting the line with the Brits just to windward and slightly behind.

The Brits tacked away to the right and were followed out to the right hand boundary by the Italians, who were clear ahead at the cross and able to tack right in front of the Brits eventually forcing them to tack away.

At the first windward gate it was a tight race with Luna Rossa leading around the right hand mark (looking upwind) and the Brits rounding the left mark just 4 seconds back. We have seen that these boats are incredibly evenly matched, and once again the similar performance was on display today as the boats rounded the leeward gate with the same gap, more or less, with the Italians heading right and the Brits to the left.

At the first cross, Luna Rossa again tacked in front of the Brits, who were able to foot underneath the Italian team and luff them calling for a protest. But it was a lot less clear than the previous incident and the Judges (correctly) flagged it no protest.

Both boats continued to work up the right hand boundary with the Italians keeping a tight cover on the Brits, who ended following around the left mark (looking upwind) a few seconds behind.

The Brits gybed away immediately, but Spithill and Bruni were happy to let them go and gained several boat lengths through staying on the favoured side of the course to properly extend for the first time all race, consolidating to an 11 second lead around the leeward gate.

Once again Ainsle and Fletcher split the course heading right while the Italians went left and, again on the favoured side, it was Luna Rossa who were able to step away and started to look as through they would cruise out to a decent victory.

But in the final upwind, the Brits picked up some good shifts and showed decent pace to round the final gate a mere 6 seconds behind the Italians. What followed was an absolute thriller of a final leg with a fast-charging INEOS Britannia really pushing hard.

But ultimately it was the Italian team who crossed the line a couple of seconds ahead of the Brits to, once again, tie the series.

Tight racing in windy conditions. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

What did we learn from the Louis Vuitton Cup Race 4?

Once again the teams looked pretty evenly matched. And once again the Italian outfit did look a little more assured around the race course. But for INEOS Britannia to claw their way back into it was impressive and could not have been achieved without at least a touch more boatspeed. And once again much of this speed was on the downwinds.

That being said the Brits will be pretty unhappy to walk away from today with the scores all square, when it really could have been a 4-2 series lead.

Everyone makes mistakes but it’s a shame the key talking point from today will be the umpires no-penalty call in the pre-start, which handed advantage to Luna Rossa. It was (and remains on reexamine) an incorrect call, with the Brits clearly the right of way boat. The umpires to have access to more angles and technology than the rest of us, and they are all qualified professionals, so it will be interesting the hear the reasoning. For my money this is the second time this regatta that we have seen a black-and-white decision incorrectly called.

But it certainly contributes to a fascinating series between these closely matched teams. Roll on the next races on Monday 30 September (officially a reserve day, but now being used after yesterday’s lack of racing).

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INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli lined up for a tense second day of racing in the Louis Vuitton Cup final in Barcelona today – after Day One’s even match in conditions that pushed the upper margins of acceptable for the foiling AC75s, today was always going to be at the lower end of raceable.

It would also be a key indicator of performance optimisation heading towards the America’s Cup itself – if both boats had proved evenly matched at the top of the wind range, who would have the edge in the light stuff?

In the event no results were scored – but with five and a half laps of a six-lap course completed, there were still learnings to be had.

Key takeaways from the Louis Vuitton Cup Final Day 2

• Both teams have improved their super-light airs moding and boat handling but attempting to foil a 7-tonne 75ft boat in sub-7 knots remains somewhere between marginal and impossible
• INEOS Britannia was just metres from the win when the time limit expired.
• The boat that is supposedly weakest in light conditions today demonstrated an impressive low wind mode, while Ainslie-Fletcher kept good control of the race in fluky conditions. It’s hard to imagine the Brits didn’t feel a bit robbed of a valuable point today after the N flag went up .

Race 3   INEOS Britannia Vs Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

Super light winds for Day 2 of the Louis Vuitton Cup Final – INEOS Britannia led until the time limit saw all racing abandoned. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

Skippers

INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainslie & Dylan Fletcher
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli: Jimmy Spithill & Francesco Bruni

After a nerve-shredding two hour delay, the race committee repeatedly setting the clock for a start only to fail the minimum wind reading – a consistent five minutes of 6.5 knots across both top and bottom of the course – racing eventually got away around 4pm local time in 7-8 knots. A six-leg course was set, rather than the extended eight-leg course we saw on Day 1 in much punchier conditions.

INEOS Britannia had port entry – so far the winning starting position of every race in this Louis Vuitton Cup final – and chose to minimise manoeuvres and take a conservative approach to the line. The Italians gave themselves a tougher job, heading to the line with time to kill. At the gun the two boats started fairly evenly, the Brits to windward.

The biggest gains came for the British team when they took advantage of an early significant right-hand shift that left Italian co-helm Jimmy Spithill saying they were in ‘damage control’ mode.

It looked, briefly, as if the race could be sewn up before the first top mark – assuming both teams could stay on the foils. The minimum boat speed for reliably successfully tacking in the AC75s is around 26-27 knots, and the first beat was right on the edge of that.

Rudder control was tricky in the light airs. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli were first to come off the foils during the Louis Vuitton Cup Final on Day 2, but neither team completed the course. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

Early in the first downwind leg it looked as if the Italians might have been able to reverse the situation by some old-fashioned picking their way to better pressure. They sailed to the shoreside of the course to pick up stronger breeze and briefly took the lead.

However, the huge differences just a single knot of wind speed equates to in boat speed was evident. The Brits came down with marginally more wind but 2+ knots more speed to roll the Italians and bounce them back out to the left side of the course.

A heart stopping moment came for the Italians that had Cecco Bruni calling he had lost rudder control, though they managed to save it. As commentator Glenn Ashby explained, in these conditions the AC75s are sailing with very deep mainsails, and some windward heel, which adds to the load on the extremely high profile rudders.

Having maintained a slim margin of advantage over the first lap, the British team were able to choose their route around the course to the better breeze. By the end of the second downwind leg INEOS Britannia were over 1 minute ahead.

Midway up the final upwind leg, INEOS Britannia dropped to the danger-zone of 16-17 knots, the cyclor team putting in a huge effort to keep the British AC75 on the foils, before managing to recover it. “Really focus in here boys, this is everything,” encouraged Ainslie, while the cyclor teams audibly groaned at the huge effort.

One minute later, the Italian team dropped off the foils. Then conditions inevitably got the better of the British too, the crew losing steerage through a tack and also coming off the foils. Both boats were left picking their way up the course in displacement mode at 6 knots or less. Though the British boat had a 600m advantage it would become negligible if either boat could get back up onto the foils first.

A huge effort for no reward for the cyclors onboard INEOS Britannia on Day 2 of the Louis Vuitton Cup Finals. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

With ten minutes left on the race time limit to complete the final downwind leg, Dylan Fletcher asked ‘Are we going to get there, VMG it?’. The answer, sadly, was no – even sailing the most direct route in displacment mode wouldn’t get them across in time. The Brits tried valiantly to get back up to foiling with glimmers of 9-10 knots boat speed, but it wasn’t enough, and the time limit elapsed with INEOS Britannia halfway down the final leg.

All further racing was abandoned – a frustrating day for sailors, spectators, and most of all, the British squad.

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