After the two victories of INEOS Britannia, which have put the score of the America’s Cup final at 4-2 in favor of Emirates Team Zealand, the main helmsman of the British, Sir Ben Ainslie, fuels the possibility of a comeback, as happened in 2013.
Ainslie has been the protagonist of the last day, which ended with two victories for the British, and the main helmsman of AC75 ‘Britannia’ has recalled that the situation is not new for him: “The comeback is underway. The team made a great effort today, both in the crew and in the ground team.”
“We managed to recover some performance from the boat. We still have more to improve and a long way to go. I don’t think it was any surprise that we have managed to obtain a better performance,” he insisted.
Ainslie wants to lift the first America’s Cup for the United Kingdom, a trophy it has not achieved in the 173-year history of the America’s Cup
And he has also issued a warning to his rival, who did not train in the water on the reserve day (rest). “One cannot afford to rest on one’s laurels just because one has won four rounds,” he indicated.
At 47 years old, Ainslie is the most successful Olympic sailor in history (4 gold medals and one silver) and 8 world championships, but for almost a decade he has had one goal: achieve the first America’s Cup for the Kingdom United, a trophy that has not been lifted in the 173-year history of the competition.
In Barcelona, the British team managed to beat the Italian Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in the final of the Louis Vuitton Cup – Challenger Tournament – (7-4) and take a British team to the final of the America’s Cup after 60 years of absence (in 1984).
Things did not start well for Ainslie, as Emirates Team New Zealand, with an intractable Peter Burling as helmsman, overcame INEOS Britannia, and won the first four rounds of the Final (4-0) in convincing fashion.
The Ineos Britannia has become the official challenger of Emirates New Zealand.
Only three wins away from renewing its title, it would be the third in a row, and, after a day of rest (reserve), the English team’s AC75 ‘Britannia’ surprised its rival and defeated it twice (4-2)
Although they were other crews and Team New Zealand’s rival was the American Oracle Team USA, with Jimmy Spithill as helmsman, Ben Ainslie’s entry into the American ranks in the fourth round of the final of the 34th America’s Cup in San Francisco in September 2013, led to the greatest comeback in the history of top-level sailing.
The ‘Kiwis’ led 8-1, but the Americans turned the situation around, with eight consecutive victories to win 9-8.
That defeat caused profound changes in the Team New Zealand crew and of that team, today Grant Dalton, Glenn Ashby and Ray Davies (now ETNZL coach) were on the crew and they have not forgotten it.
That final, the longest in the history of the America’s Cup, began on September 7, 2013 and ended on the 25th of the same month in San Francisco Bay and with the AC72 foil catamarans (22 meters in length and 14 beam) with 11 crew.
“One cannot afford to rest on one’s laurels just because one has won four rounds”
The Americans went 8-3 and in three days they obtained a partial 6-0. Although Spithill was the helmsman, Ben Ainslie was the executor of the maneuvers and tactics, with an AC72 that improved its performance, to win 9-8. It was the end of New Zealander Dean Barker in Team New Zealand and the beginning in 2017 of a renewed team with Peter Burling as leader.
Precisely, the Young team of Team New Zealand, formed by Peter Burling, Blair Tuke, Andy Maloney, Jono Spurdle, Sam Meech, Jason Saunders and Guy Endean, was the winner in San Francisco. The first three are today in the crew of the team for this Final.
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