INEOS Britannia is the Challenger of Record for the 37th America’s Cup. So how are they doing? Sam Jefferson caught up with the team to find out…
Yes, we’ve all heard it before: ‘The longest losing streak in sporting history’. That’s right, we plucky Brits can proudly lay claim to that title, having lost the 100 Guinea Cup back in 1851 and summarily failing to reclaim it since. Could this year be the one where we finally make the breakthrough though? No question, in Ben Ainslie and his team, we have the experience and with the backing of Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS, we also have some financial muscle too – plus INEOS has teamed up with the Mercedes Formula 1 team to further boost their expertise.
So how are we getting on? Well, in late March I was invited out to INEOS’ base in Barcelona to find out before chatting with the affable and extremely experienced crew member Freddie Carr to get a deeper insight into how it was going for him and his team.
The tour of the base was revealing; set in the heart of Port Vell, just a stone’s throw from Barcelona’s main street of La Rambla, this is an extraordinary spot to hold the America’s Cup and INEOS has its own hangar just along from Luna Rossa and opposite American Magic. At the time of writing, they were still awaiting delivery of their AC75, the great foiling beast that will do battle with five other challenging teams for the right to take on the current holders, New Zealand for the ‘Auld Mug’.
The new generation of AC75s are refinements of the last iteration of challengers and this is good because, as all the teams accumulate knowledge of the class, racing generally gets closer. One significant rule change is that the new generation of AC75s can have a winch system using cyclors – involving leg power and pedals – in addition to standard, normal grinders.
This is a massive game changer, as it means a new sort of fitness is required for the grinders. This had a profound effect for grinder Freddie Carr – more on that later.
General preparations
At present the team have been practicing with two of the smaller foiling AC40s in order to refine their skills as they await delivery of the AC75. Ainslie and co helm Giles Scott were being put through their paces by ex 49er ace Dylan Fletcher. Regrettably the two-boat trials came to an abrupt and spectacular end when one of the AC40s caught fire while out on the water thanks to a pr
