Portsmouth has proved a worthy venue for the America’s Cup, according to Britain’s leading sailor, Sir Ben Ainslie. The four-times Olympic gold medal winner was speaking after winds of more than 30 knots had caused the cancellation of the second day of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series on Sunday.
Organisers brought forward the two races by 90 minutes in to try to avoid the worst of the weather, which was moving in from the west. But when the wind limit of 25 knots was reached the waterfront arena and fanzone area were evacuated, before racing was called off.
But, according to Ainslie, the location had already proved itself on Saturday when his all-British Land Rover BAR team won the first race and came second in the next to take an overall lead before the series moves to Gothenburg next month.
He said: “The event has been a huge success. I’ve never seen anything like yesterday. I was just delighted we were able to perform well in front of our home crowd. This is a good start to bringing the America’s Cup to Portsmouth. We have seen how much actual support there would be for the event and what a great race course it is out there.”
The America’s Cup proper will be held in Bermuda in 2017. If Ainslie’s team get there and succeed in defeating the holders, Oracle Team USA, they will have the right to choose the venue for the next competition.
Ainslie had no complaints about the decision to call off the racing on Sunday. “It’s absolutely the right decision when you see the conditions out there, and these fixed wings,” he said. “The wind limit of 25 knots is the right limit – and it was clearly beyond that today. So it was the right call. If we had gone out there today quite a few of the boats would have capsized. People would have got hurt, been injured. We can’t mess around with these boats. They’re very, very powerful and, if they get out of control, it’s absolute carnage. So there is no question it was the right decision not to race.”
On Friday and Saturday the boats achieved speeds of 40 to 50mph and the skipper of the British team added: “With these wing sails you obviously can’t take them down, you can’t take shelter. And therefore, if you go out in unsafe conditions, it’s very dangerous.”
The Land Rover BAR team leave Portsmouth with 19 points from Saturday’s races, one point ahead of Emirates New Zealand, who were third in Saturday’s opening race before winning the second. Then come the Oracle Team USA (16), followed by the teams representing France (13), Japan (13) and Sweden (11).
These points – and double points were up for grabs on Sunday – will help decide who will take on the USA in Bermuda.
Asked what he had learned about the opposition over the weekend, Ainslie replied: “Nothing out of the ordinary. We expected Oracle to be strong and they were. I think [Sweden’s] Artemis had a tough day yesterday but they’re very strong. Both those teams have continued on from the last cup with similar personnel and you can see that the newer teams have had to bring in new people. It takes a while to build those relationships.
“So I’m so pleased that our team put on a really good show in the first time we’ve really raced together. It’s a good sign for the future. Now I’m looking forward to Gothenburg.”
