Up for the Cup

Sir Ben Ainslie tells us how he is preparing to rule the waves, as the final countdown to racing for the 36th America’s Cup gets underway with the World Series event in New Zealand later this month

- Sir Ben Ainslie

As they launched Britannia II in Auckland, New Zealand, last month, the British Challenger for the 36th America’s Cup - Ineos Team UK – finally revealed to the world their second generation AC75 – the 75ft foiling yacht that they hope will bring them the ultimate sporting victory.

More than 90,000 design hours and some 46,000 construction hours have gone into this boat – a phenomenal undertaking. As the product of a symbiotic relationship between designers and sailors, Britannia II is awe-inspiring in appearance and the epitome of attention to detail – some 17,300 component parts make this boat fly.

Yet whether the boat is capable of fulfilling the long-held British dream of bringing the Cup home remains to be seen. Of the three second generation AC75s to have hit the water to date, Britannia II shows the most radical design jump, surprising many with her aggressive bow and a significant bustle running the length of the hull.

As Team Principal, Ben Ainslie has overseen the design every step of the way. He describes their second boat as “a significant evolution” from the first, and he’s clearly both proud and pleased with the result. The many obvious major changes suggest that much has been learnt by the team over the last 12 months – triggering alarm bells perhaps, until you remember the revolutionary nature of these extreme yachts.

Ainslie acknowledges: “Over the past two years our fundamental capabilities as a design group have evolved immeasurably and that’s resulted in this remarkable new race boat.

“Since developing our first AC75,the race area and condition limits have been clarified, and we have had the opportunity to sail an AC75 for several months which, as the end users of the boat, has enabled us to be much more specific in our requirements as a sailing team.