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Sir Ben Ainslie’s Ineos Britannia team won the Challenger Series at the 37th Americas. In the final of the Louis Vuitton Cup, the team defeated the Italian “Britannia” “Luna Rossa” 7:4. Co-pilots Ben Ainslie, Dylan Fletcher and their crew battled for a decisive seventh point victory on Friday in the last eleven meeting with the Azzurri.
“Britannia” with a win from start to finish in the cup match
For the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team, the defeat meant the end of racing team founder Patrizio Bertelli’s seventh Cup attempt since the turn of the millennium. With slightly weaker winds than the day before, the final race was rather unspectacular: the British had the bow slightly ahead at the start with a slightly better time. The eight sailors and cyclists of the power group on board “Britannia” turned a victory from start to finish.
Although the “Luna Rossa” leaders Jimmy Spithill and Francesco Bruni reappeared in the meantime, they did not ignore the pride of Cornwall, in whose performance Celle-born chief designer Martin Fischer played a major role. After the gala, “Britannia” made a strong impact with strong winds and rough waves, even in a wind of 13, 14 knots.
Great Britain’s America’s Cup hunters had to wait 60 years for the chance they had now won to return to a game for the Americans. In 1964, it was Tony Boyden’s British 12 meter yacht “Souvereign” who conceded a 0-4 victory over America’s Cup defenders “Constellation”.
37. America-Cup-Match: “Britannia” vs “Taihoro”
The first America’s Cup race took place in 1851 off the Isle of Wight in southern England. At that time, the US yacht “America” from the New York Yacht Club defeated 14 British boats. “America” won the famous ornate silver jug when it was still called the “100 Guinea Cup” – and took it across the Atlantic to his American homeland. The winners of the first cup named it the America’s Cup and also drew up the foundation deed that defines the competition to this day. For 173 years, the Gift Act has set the ground rules for the oldest international sporting competition still active today.
With victory in the Louis Vuitton Cup, the British racing team, funded by chairman and chemical entrepreneur Sir James Arthur “Jim” Ratcliffe, moves into the 37th game of the America’s Cup. The English will meet America’s Cup defenders Emirates Team New Zealand from October 12. With “Taihoro”, the Kiwis are aiming for their fifth win since 1995 and their third in a row. “No team has ever won a third in a row. It would give a unique stamp to the Emirates New Zealand team, which has been a long-standing brand,” said Grant Dalton.
We went through highs but also incredible lows. It feels really good.” Ben Ainslie
Sir Ben Ainslie, the most successful Olympic sailor in the history of the sport with four Olympic gold medals and one silver, and his Ineos Britannia crew will be fighting for even greater things: the first America’s Cup victory for the home country of the “Auld Mug”. “Today is a big day for all the team here on the water, on the ground, in Brackley and anywhere there are British supporters and fans. I’m so proud of the whole team,” Ben Ainslie said the evening after the win in Barcelona.
Jimmy Spithill ends an active Cup career
The 47-year-old man and his team have given themselves a historic opportunity with their victory in the challenging round of the America’s Cup. Ben Ainslie knows what awaits him in the America’s Cup duel: “We have no doubt how tough it will be against the Kiwis. It will be a huge challenge – we are up for it.”
The duel between the cup giants from the United Kingdom and the land of the long white cloud begins on their futuristic AC75 second generation propellers on 12th October. Whoever can win seven victory points takes home the “Bottomless Pitcher” first and decides the format, boats and next venue. That’s why the Cup teams that are gone and still active can’t answer some questions about the future.
In the evening, however, the first cautious voices from the Italian camp heard that there could be another campaign, perhaps, in light of the Red Moon. The Azzurri want to reveal more in the coming days. But one of them made it clear in the evening. Jimmy Spithill said: “This was my eighth consecutive America’s Cup. As an athlete it was definitely my last.” But Spithill will not disappear from the sailing stage because of this. You will soon see him with the Italian team in SailGP.
“Ah, your majesty, there is no second”
The man, who began his unique career in 1999 at the age of 20 as the youngest skipper in the history of the Cup, has not ruled out a future in the America’s Cup in a different role. Now 45 years old, he sees “great opportunities” in the next generation and “Italian sailing is in the best hands”. Spithill wants to watch the cup final between the Kiwis and the Brits “as a fan”.
The 37th game of the America’s Cup starts in just over a week. As usual, the historic slogan coined at the first performance in British waters in 1851 applies this time too. At that time, Queen Victoria – seeking compensation after the American victory – asked who came second. The signal master gave the famous answer that is still valid to this day: “Ah, Your Majesty, there is no second.”
Reloaded: The live coverage of the final day of the Louis Vuitton Cup: