America’s Cup: What you need to know about INEOS Britannia ahead of match race with Team New Zealand
Tuesday, 8 October 2024
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Team New Zealand’s challenger in Barcelona’s America’s Cup match is the INEOS Britannia team chasing the nation’s first Cup win.
The match race, scheduled to start on Sunday (NZ time), will feature a British boat for the first time in 60 years.
Sir Ben Ainslie’s crew defeated Italian team Luna Rossa 7-4 in last week’s Louis Vuitton Cup final.
They claimed the prized opportunity to race the Cup defenders, Team NZ, in the 37th Cup match.
Here’s all you need to know about the British team aiming to take the Auld Mug from Team NZ.
How was the team formed?
British sailing icon Ainslie, an ex-Team NZ helmsman who beat the Kiwis to lift the Cup with Oracle Team USA in San Francisco in 2013, is determined to win the old trophy for Great Britain for the first time.
He launched a British team in 2012, but they were not a genuine challenger until 2017 in Bermuda, losing in the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals to Team NZ, who then regained the Auld Mug from Oracle Team USA.
The Brits were also beaten at the semifinal stage by Luna Rossa in Auckland in 2021. They have been the challenger of record in the Cup’s 37th cycle ahead of Barcelona.
Who backs Britannia?
Lucrative sponsorship deals are needed to start a Cup campaign, with other teams well supported by billionaires.
Initially aligned with Land Rover, Ainslie’s team was renamed Britannia after INEOS, the British chemical company giant, incorporated them into their sporting stable in 2018.
Their primary backer, INEOS is owned by British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, a self-proclaimed sports nut, who has been on a chase boat closely following Britannia in Barcelona’s challenger series.
He was nervously helped onboard Britannia’s boat as they were presented with the Louis Vuitton Cup last Saturday (NZ time) and was soon doused in champagne.
“He's got his sea legs slowly,” Ainslie said after beating Luna Rossa.
“He's someone who loves the ultimate challenge. It doesn't get any tougher than the America's Cup.
“That's the attraction for him. He was really proud of the team. Like the rest of us, he wants to go one step further.”
Ratcliffe’s fortune is worth an estimated US$16.5 billion (NZ$26.9bn), according to Forbes, making him one of the UK’s richest people.
INEOS’ sporting group includes the Mercedes Formula One team and English football giants Manchester United, of which Ratcliffe is a co-owner.
Cup teams spend more than three years creating the fastest boat possible, in line with the regulations agreed between the defending team and the challenger of record, and Britannia have had access to some of the world’s best design engineers working with Mercedes at the F1 team’s base in Brackley, England.
Britannia unveiled an impressive AC75 for Barcelona and will be confident of pushing the Kiwis onboard Taihoro.
What is Britain’s America’s Cup history?
Whatever happens in Barcelona, Ainslie’s team have already made history.
The last British challenge in the Cup’s match race was in 1964 when the Sovereign team lost to American syndicate Constellation in Newport, Rhode Island.
No nation has had more unsuccessful challenges than Britain. They contested the first match race in 1851 by the Isle of Wight, off the English south coast, but lost the Auld Mug to the New York Yacht Club, who held the trophy until Australia’s famous win in 1983.
Ainslie has jokingly referenced that America “stole” the Cup from Britain and that it’s his job to bring it home.
Britannia are also affiliated with the British Royal Yacht Squadron.
Who are Britannia’s sailors?
Ainslie, the team principal, is also one of the co-helmsmen alongside Olympic gold medallist Dylan Fletcher, who was in the pair which beat iconic Kiwi duo Peter Burling and Blair Tuke in the 49er event at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
Fletcher was an 11th-hour change for Giles Scott, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, in a move that appears to have been justified, despite raising eyebrows among the British press. Scott has remained with the team as a coach.
As well as the interchangeable cyclors, their trimmers are elite sailors Bleddyn Mon and Leigh McMillan.
Still, Ainslie is the team’s figurehead. Knighted for his services to sailing in 2013, the most decorated sailor in Olympic history is 47 and Barcelona might be his last chance to win the Cup for Britain.
How have Britannia performed in Barcelona?
They struggled in August’s preliminary regatta but have made a marked improvement to best the other challengers, Alinghi, Orient Express, American Magic and Luna Rossa.
Britannia were the leading challenger after the round-robin stage, defeated Alinghi 5-2 in the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinal and minimised mistakes in a tight final with the Italians to advance to the match race with Team NZ.
They have not beaten the Kiwis in a completed race in Barcelona.