Sir Ben Ainslie has been candid about his team’s chances on the eve of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match in Barcelona.
Speaking on The Inside Tack Show on Thursday (10 October), the skipper and team principal of INEOS Britannia described the match with the defending Emirates Team New Zealand as “the ultimate challenge”.
Sir Ben said: “Of course it’s going to be seriously hard against the Kiwis. They’re a class outfit… But we’ve also got a great team, and we’ve got people that have actually been in the America’s Cup and won the America’s Cup.
“So we know what it takes to win at this level. We know the challenge is going to be — it’s the ultimate challenge. And…we’re the underdogs in this … But we’re up for being the underdog and we’re up for that challenge and for us ultimately there is nothing to lose here and everything to gain.”
The INEOS skipper reiterated his comments during the pre-match press conference on Friday morning (11 October), adding: “I’ve been really fortunate to have won the cup before, but not with Britain. But it’s not about me, it’s about the team.
“We know that the America’s Cup is the ultimate team game and that’s what motivates us as an organisation. We’ve been going for 10 years now on this mission to get ourselves into the final and what a great opportunity — we’re going to give it everything we’ve got.”
Looking towards the racing, Emirates Team New Zealand helmsman Nathan Outteridge was asked about the premium that was placed on the pre-start and getting off the line cleanly, commenting: “As everyone saw, the Louis Vuitton Cup Final was a great event and we saw some amazing battles in the pre-start and around the course as well.
“We’ve been watching pretty closely what Ben, Dylan and the team have been up to, trying to study their moves and counter-moves and I’m sure they will be trying to guess what we’re going to do come tomorrow as well.
An early morning photoshoot at the Basílica de la Sagrada Família for the four helmsmen that will contest the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match | Credit: Ian Roman/America’s Cup
“I think what we’ve seen in the racing is these boats are incredibly close in terms of performance and the start is going to be really critical and both teams are going to put a lot of effort into their starting execution. I can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow.”
Racing at the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup begins on Saturday 12 October with two scheduled races beginning at 1400 CET. Emirates Team New Zealand won the toss to decide the starting ends and they will start from port entry.
The forecast is for lighter airs over the weekend that will test the lower end performance windows of both teams but will make for a fascinating spectacle on the waters off Barcelona.
