INEOS Britannia, the British Challenger of Record racing for the Royal Yacht Squadron Ltd, is ready to battle the Italian team, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, for a place in the 37th America’s Cup Match. The two teams will race each other in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final, a first-to-seven series which begins on Thursday. The winner of the Final will take on Defenders Emirates Team New Zealand in the bid to win the world’s oldest international sporting trophy.
INEOS Britannia Team Principal and Skipper Ben Ainslie said he was expecting the final to be “a really close-fought battle”, especially after their match-ups in the Round Robin qualifying series, where INEOS Britannia won two out of its three races against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.
“I think we are two pretty evenly matched teams, so it’s going to be a really amazing final,” Ainslie said. “The beauty of this sport is that there are so many factors involved, from the human elements with manoeuvers and pre-start tactics to the technology with the design and engineering, as well as the weather – that's the complexity of this competition and that’s why we love it. Conditions are tricky and changeable here, we’ve all seen that, so Mother Nature and the Italians – that's what we are up against.”
Some sporting fans may be experiencing déjà vu, as it was the same two teams competing in the Challengers Final at the last America’s Cup in Auckland back in 2021. It was the Italians who came away from that final with the right to challenge the Kiwis in the 36th America’s Cup Match, with Emirates Team New Zealand going on to be victorious in defending the Auld Mug.
INEOS Britannia Co-Helm Dylan Fletcher said: “The team has been building through this whole campaign and it really feels like momentum is building now. It’s been a lot of hard work from the entire team so to be in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final is amazing and it feels like we have the legs to go all the way.”
Joining Ainslie on-board the team’s AC75 race boat, Britannia, for the Louis Vuitton Cup Final will be Dylan Fletcher as Co-Helm, Bleddyn Mon and Leigh McMillan as Trimmers and four Cyclors, cycling sailors, who powers to boat’s hydraulic system. The four Cyclors on-board Britannia come from a pool of nine athletes, who rotate on and off the boat between races to ensure maximum performance. They include America’s Cup veterans David ‘Freddie’ Carr, Ben Cornish, Matt Gotrel, Neil Hunter and Luke Parkinson, as well as America’s Cup rookies Harry Leask, Matt Rossiter, James Skulczuk and Ryan Todhunter.
Ainslie said the Cyclors were “critical” to the performance of the race boat, and were just as important as components on-board such as the foils, which elevate the AC75 out of the water, and the sails. “They are the powerhouses,” he said. “If we don’t have enough power, we can’t perform manoeuvers as we would like and our whole performance is compromised.”
Ben Ainslie’s British team progressed to the Final after beating Alinghi Red Bull Racing (SUI) 5-2 in their Semi-Final, while the Italians beat the Americans, NYYC American Magic, 5-3. Two races will take place each day, as both teams battle for survival. In the Round Robin series, each of the five challenging teams raced each other twice. The British crew ended up racing Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli three times, due to the two teams being tied on points and having to take part in a sail-off to decide the winner of the Round Robin stage. INEOS Britannia won the sail-off, taking its tally against the Italians to two wins and one loss.
The scoreboard will be wiped ahead of the Louis Vuitton Cup Final though, with both teams battling to be the first to win seven races and lift the Louis Vuitton Cup before challenging Emirates Team New Zealand in the 37th America’s Cup Match, which begins on 12 October. The Final begins on Thursday 26 September and UK viewers can watch all the action live on TNT Sports from 13:00 BST (14:00 CEST).