Britain beat Italy to qualify for first America’s Cup in 60 years

Sir Ben Ainslie’s Ineos Britannia beat Luna Rossa 7-4 in Barcelona and will now face New Zealand in America’s Cup, starting on October 12

As Ben Ainslie and Sir Jim Ratcliffe popped the champagne on stage in the race village in Barcelona’s Port Olímpic and held aloft the Louis Vuitton Cup, it was clear to see what this victory over Luna Rossa meant; to Ainslie, to the Ineos Britannia team, to the whole of British sailing.
Many of those who had helped Ainslie down the years, from RYA coaches to Royal Yacht Squadron commodores, had been dockside to watch. Many of them could not believe this day had finally arrived. Not since the 12-metre Sovereign in 1964, 60 long years ago, has a British challenger made it through to an America’s Cup match. Talk about a curse. That is even longer ago than England’s World Cup win. And unlike Sir Alf Ramsey’s boys, Sovereign did not get the job done, losing 4-0 to the New York Yacht Club’s Constellation in Newport, Rhode Island.
Britain has, of course, famously never won the America’s Cup, the oldest international trophy in sport, despite the fact it was born in British waters, in Cowes, in 1851. The challenge now for Ainslie and his Mercedes F1-backed team is to bring the America’s Cup home.
The Louis Vuitton trophy is all well and good. And this 7-4 victory over Italy is certainly not to be sniffed at. It was incredibly impressive given the quality of the opposition, showcasing a quantum leap in performance from boat and crew. And if Britain’s challenge falters at the last this will still have been a successful campaign.
Ainslie, a regular target for armchair admirals around the world who claim he is over the hill or juggling too many balls, has proved conclusively that the partnership with Mercedes is no gimmick and that he knows how to run an America’s Cup team.
But the most successful sailor in Olympic history is not a man who will be satisfied with anything less than gold. Perhaps the most significant thing said in the immediate aftermath of Friday’s series-clinching win was muttered by the British skipper to his crew just after they crossed the line: “One more to go, boys.” Bring on the Kiwis. The America’s Cup match starts a week on Saturday.
What a challenger final this was. As Ainslie told the Telegraph in an interview on Thursday, it will go down as one of the great slugfests. From too little breeze, which cost Britain an early win, to too much breeze, via umpiring controversy, 50-knot nosedives and broken boats. It was a week of see-sawing emotions, with Britain and Italy trading haymakers for the first four days, going 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 and 4-4.
In the end, though, after all the drama, it was pretty convincing. As they did all through this challenger series – from a shaky preliminary regatta back in August – Ineos just kept on improving. Their communications, their choreography, their boat speed.
Needing one more win to wrap up victory on Friday, they did at the first time of asking. The big question at the start of the day had actually been whether there would be enough breeze to get racing. But this Cup continues to confound. A steady 12-15 knots greeted the boats as they made their way out to the race course, and that was right in Ineos’s sweet spot.
Britain won the start, hitting it at 40 knots and just about getting their noses in front, forcing Luna Rossa to tack away. A tight leg ensued as the two boats once again showed how evenly matched they were, but Ineos were able to execute a leebow tack towards the top of the beat as Luna Rossa came across on starboard, and from there they were in control, the excellent relationship between Ainslie and his co-helm Dylan Fletcher, who replaced Giles Scott at the 11th hour in what was a very bold call by Ainslie, on full display.
From 10 seconds at the first gate, they went on to win by 17 seconds, leading to a big release of pent-up emotion both on shore and on dry land. Cyclor Dave ‘Freddie’ Carr, for whom this is a sixth America’s Cup, went absolutely ballistic.
Luna Rossa, to their credit, were magnanimous in defeat. Jimmy Spithill, Italy’s skipper and two-time Cup winning helmsman, praised the British. “When you look back to the preliminary regatta, I really felt they made the biggest improvement amongst the challengers, so to Ben and to Dylan, you know, congratulations.”
It was only later that the Australian effectively announced his retirement; one of the greatest sailors of his generation quietly bowing out. “When I look at the talent coming through, in Italy but also the rest of the world, they’re at a much better level than I ever was,” Spithill commented. “You’ve got to be realistic. I wasn’t good enough. It’s probably time the gloves were hung up.”
Spithill, at 45, is two years younger than Ainslie. And who knows, perhaps the four-time Olympic champion will follow his old friend and rival by announcing in a week or two that he too has helmed his final America’s Cup race. But first things first.
“This is a big moment for British sailing, that’s for sure,” Ainslie reflected of what it meant to reach an America’s Cup match. “It’s been 60 years. This is for so many people who have supported British sailing not just over the last couple of years but going back decades; backers, sailmakers, shore team, designers.. anyone who has supported British sailing. This is for them.”
Would they allow themselves time to celebrate? “Not really,” Ainslie admitted. “It’s important to decompress so we’ll take a couple of days. But then we’ll be right back at it. We’re under no illusions how tough it will be against New Zealand. But that’s what we came here for.”