Ben Ainslie’s £100m America’s Cup dream finally hit the water here on Saturday and a victory and a second place had an estimated crowd of more than 100,000 dancing in the Solent sunshine.
Two years after the last competition, and 18 months after they started building the boat for the America’s Cup proper, the battle for the Auld Mug, in Bermuda in 2017, Ainslie and his all-British Land Rover BAR team finally gave some credence to the vast investment, both financial and emotional, that has gone into the project. Suddenly, all that hype and optimism looks well placed. The world’s greatest sailor has raised the BAR.
The 38-year-old Ainslie, who has won a gold medal in every Olympics since Sydney in 2000, was leading his team against the holders, Oracle Team USA, the runners-up from 2013, Team New Zealand, and crews representing France, Sweden and Japan.
The first race was won at a watery canter, ahead of Oracle and Team New Zealand and then Ainslie led his boat from the back of the field to take second behind New Zealand.
But an even tougher challenge lies ahead. For Big Saturday will be followed by Super Sunday, when double points will be available and when the weather conditions will be more challenging. On Sunday, it seems, it will be raining cats and seadogs, with strong winds too.
After his vigorous statement of intent, Ainslie said: “It could hardly have gone better, but we’re certainly not getting carried away because there’s a long way to go. The next 12 months are critical in terms of the design and development phase but this will be a big boost for all our designers and engineers back at base.”
He seemed moved by the turnout, with an official attendance of 48,704 probably more than doubled by non-paying customers, including those watching from 2,200 boats. It was mind-blowing, even though, according to a local What’s On guide, the biggest competition came from the Jerk Off Festival in Fareham. “It was amazing, almost emotional, leaving the harbour and seeing thousands of boats out there,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like that in my sailing career.
“I can’t say a big enough thank you to everyone who made the effort and came out to support the home team, the America’s Cup World Series and Portsmouth.”
The teams were using identical 45-foot AC45 catamarans capable of speeds of up to 50mph. Cats may fly. They were so far above the water on their foils and daggerboards that they could almost have taken part in the aerobatic display that preceded the racing.
The Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series is a protracted qualifying in the buildup to the 35th America’s Cup itself. Points scored this weekend will help decide who will take on Oracle Team USA, the team Ainslie inspired to a 9-8 victory over New Zealand in 2013 – they were 8-1 when he was parachuted in to rescue them.
There is about Ainslie the lustre of legend. As sailors go he is right up there, rubbing damp shoulders with Nelson and Noah. He has traversed many seas since, aged eight, he awoke one Christmas morning to find a second-hand dinghy in his bedroom; wearing a duffle coat and a pair of wellies he immediately sailed it alone, to a local pub to join his family who were enjoying a festive lunch.
His only disappointment on Saturday was failing to make it a win double. He said: “We had a really good start and were leading and then we had to make a split decision, left or right downwind.
“We made the call to go right but unfortunately the guys that went left got a really good piece of wind and made huge gains on us. But the lads dug deep to push us through to come second.”
Glowing like Mars after his mighty exertions, he added: “The guys did a very good job in difficult conditions. The wind was up and down a lot. We used [the big] Code Zero sail a lot today which meant the difficulty level of sailing these boats goes up another level, so the fitness and choreography of the team did well to get us round the course in good shape.”
The last Battle of the Solent was in 1545, and resulted in the sinking of the Tudor warship the Mary Rose. The America’s Cup, the world’s oldest continually held international sporting event, was first staged in 1851, and Britain has never won it. In that first race, around the Isle of Wight, Queen Victoria asked who was in second place as the American boat flew past. An attendant told her: “Your Majesty, there is no second place.”
