It is often said that the America’s Cup is a ‘design race with a regatta at the end’ and it’s an apt description of how detailed this meticulous challenge has been.
Undoubtedly one of the most watched teams in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup has been the Challenger of Record, INEOS Britannia who, from the very start, have placed design innovation at the heart of their campaign.
Sir Ben Ainslie the Chief Executive Officer and Helm for INEOS Britannia is looking forward to the upcoming third and final Preliminary Regatta – where they face the other Challengers and the Defender for the first time – and when asked how the team is, he responded:
“Yeah good, like everyone we’re excited about getting into racing and getting a better read on the competition – who’s going fast and in what sort of conditions and of course gauging what the racing is going to look like as we get into the round robins.”
“It’s our opportunity to gauge ourselves against the opposition and start to get match fit. Of course, we will inevitably still be making changes to the set-up of the boat through the Preliminary Regatta, then into the Round Robins and as we progress through the competition so it’s constantly tweaking the boat to try and find that optimum performance.”
Summer in Barcelona can throw up weather surprises and Ben is well aware that the conditions could well play into the overall results, saying:
“I think it’s inevitably going to be a big part of the outcome of this competition, but that said, as teams we’ve known that there’s this variability for a long time and that’s part of the design challenge, trying to come up with a package that’s fast enough in the majority of conditions.”
INEOS Britannia has looked weapons-grade on the water in recent sessions with a beautiful ride and effective end-plating through its innovative bustle/skeg and there’s a strong feeling that there’s plenty to come in terms of outright performance.
Ben confirms as such, saying: “I would say there’s probably somewhere between 5-10% of performance left in these boats, maybe more in certain conditions, certainly in the bigger sea states, maybe more, so a huge amount still to play for, a lot on the table and history tells us that the boats that develop the best through the competition are likely to come out on top at the end.”
Bringing the America’s Cup trophy back to the yacht club that started it all in 1851 would be the story of all stories.
History beckons but first the Preliminary Regatta that starts on Thursday 22 August in Barcelona where, as spectators, we will get a first read on the possible direction of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup.
Magnus Wheatley
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