Ben Ainslie vows to come back stronger after ‘tough’ race between INEOS Britannia and Emirates Team New Zealand.
For the first time in the Preliminary Regatta, Challenger of Record INEOS Britannia faced Defender Emirates Team New Zealand in their AC75 race boats.
It wasn’t the result the British team was hoping for – with the Kiwis taking the win after INEOS Britannia fell off the foils in the action packed pre-start.
Skipper Ben Ainslie said the crash down happened as the team tried out a new pre-start tactic.
“We tried something a little bit different and it didn’t work out for us,” he said. “But it’s better that we tried it now and learned from it rather than doing it next week when the event starts.”
Ainslie and his team have been working hard with their start coach, Ian Williams, on what is and isn’t possible in these new AC75s, as the teams battle to gain an edge at the start gun.
But it wasn’t to be for the British boat though, as the team gybed inside the New Zealand boat to lead back to the start line, the Kiwis gained control.
The British tried a difficult “double-tack” move to break clear, but dropped off the foils on the second of the manoeuvres, and that was the end of the race as a contest.
Ainslie said that although the team’s result was “tough”, he felt positive that the team could build on their performance.
“We will take a lot from that race,” he said
“We can learn from that and have a debrief with Ian Williams, our start coach, and come back stronger.”
Saturday INEOS Britannia has a double race day, facing Alinghi Red Bull Racing and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.
The Preliminary Regatta culminates on Sunday 25 August.
Next up will be the Louis Vuitton Cup (Challenger Selections Series) starting 29 August – the real deal.
That series will determine which of the five Challenging teams will take on Defenders Emirates Team New Zealand in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match.
