At the pre Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match Press Conference the competing team helms faced the glare of the world’s media at the Press Conference.
Peter Burling and Nathan Outteridge represented the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand whilst for INEOS Britannia, the Challenger of Record, Sir Ben Ainslie and Dylan Fletcher took to the stage.
A coin toss was conducted during the Press Conference to decide the starting ends and with Emirates Team New Zealand winning the toss, they will start from port entry.
Traditionally the advantage is with the America’s Cup Defender who gets to set so much of the competition design and event rules.
And ETNZ team manager Grant Dalton has a reputation as a hard-headed, win at all costs boss . . . and with four Cup wins, Team New Zealand is the most successful team in America’s Cup history.
For this defence Dalton has made the most of all the levers at his disposal. He has put together a great package . . . for New Zealand. When he met funding and organisational problems at home, he upped and put the event up for bids around the world, settling on Barcelona, Spain.
The multi preliminary events, including the new stand-alone AC40 Championships he has developed to widen the scope of the event, and stretch the media interest timeframe, have also highlighted the difficult weather conditions of the venue, and their effect on race results.
Something we are likely to see over the coming days with the AC75 foiling design particularly vulnerable to wind and sea conditions . . . with teams going from boom to bust as wind conditions failed to provide an even playing field.
The New Zealand team were also handed prior knowledge of the racing performance of the challengers with their inclusion in the preliminary racing.
Where although not counting in the scoring their very presence was a disruptive factor, while providing valuable insight into the abilities and techniques of the opposition they would face.
So, victory for the British team will come, as always for a challenger in the America’s Cup, against the stacked odds.
But Ben Ainslie and the INEOS Britannia team are by far the best prepared entry Britain has put up for the Cup and it is within their grasp to finally bring the Auld Mug home.
