Sir Ben Ainslie believes his Land Rover BAR team can be the first British crew to win the America’s Cup having seen all contenders for the title in action for the first time on the Solent in Portsmouth.
Six teams took to the water on the south coast before this weekend’s World Series competition, where points can be earned for 2017 America’s Cup qualification in Bermuda.
Following the series – which includes regattas in Gothenburg and Bermuda this year before a number of others in 2016 – the best of five crews will challenge the current holders Oracle Team USA in the final.
Ainslie dramatically won the America’s Cup with Oracle in 2013 and the four-times Olympic champion has played a pivotal role in bringing this World Series event to Portsmouth. The various teams will practise on the water for the final time on Friday before competitive racing begins over the weekend.
Crowds well in excess of 100,000 are expected over four days to watch crews from Japan, Sweden, New Zealand, France and America as well as Ainslie’s Portsmouth-based Land Rover BAR. He said: “It’s fantastic for us to be racing in front of a home crowd. We want to get a great result and put on a show. We’ve got some fantastic teams here, I think it’s going to be incredible.
“We’ve been working really hard for this event, we’ve been out on the water training hard and out in the gym getting the fitness going. It’s a lot easier nowadays to make the transition from Olympic sailing to America’s Cup sailing.
“Things are starting to ramp up nicely, it’s good. Speed-wise we’re OK, the guys have been doing fantastic work and we’re in good shape, but ultimately we’ve got to go out on Saturday and Sunday and get it right on the day.
“For me it’s been a lifelong ambition to win the America’s Cup. I was fortunate to be with Jimmy [Spithill] and his team to win it last time and now we want to win it for Britain and bring it back home.”
The last America’s Cup took place in San Francisco, and the long-term ambition for Ainslie is to bring the next final of the competition after 2017 to Portsmouth. The winners of the America’s Cup, which started in 1851, have the right to select the next venue.
