INEOS Britannia, the Challenger of Record racing for the Royal Yacht Squadron Ltd in the 37th America’s Cup, has announced its race crew that will challenge to create history by becoming the first British team to win sport’s oldest international trophy.
Although the competition started in Britain with a race around the Isle of Wight in 1851, a British team has never won the iconic Auld Mug. Sir Ben Ainslie, Team Principal and Skipper of INEOS Britannia, hopes to change this with his latest race crew, featuring Olympic and World Champions, and their ‘Britannia’ AC75 Race boat, created by some of the brightest talent from the America’s Cup and Formula One.
Often considered one of sport’s toughest challenges, only four countries have won the America’s Cup in its 173-year history. The competition is unique as the winner decides the rules for the next event, making them extremely difficult to beat. James Allison, Technical Director of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team said: “People talk about the America’s Cup being like Formula One on water, the most striking comparison to me is that it’s difficult, this America’s Cup challenge is proper difficult!”
The current holders of the America’s Cup are Emirates Team New Zealand, and as the Defenders, they automatically qualify to race in the final match. Five teams, INEOS Britannia (GBR), NYYC American Magic (USA), Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (ITA), Alinghi Red Bull Racing (SUI), and Orient Express Racing Team (FRA) will compete in the Louis Vuitton Cup (Challenger Selections Series) to be the team to take on Emirates Team New Zealand in the final match race.
INEOS Britannia’s mission to make it to the final match race and bring the Cup home begins this weekend at the Barcelona Preliminary Regatta. Taking place between 22-25 August, the Preliminary Regatta will be the first time all six AC75 boats competing in the Cup will be raced against each other. INEOS Britannia partnered with Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team’s Applied Science Division to design and build its AC75, with the teams dedicating more than two-and-a-half years to the process.
INEOS Britannia’s AC75 will have eight crew on-board during racing; two Helms, two Trimmers and four Cyclors (cycling sailors). Joining Sir Ben Ainslie as co-helm aboard Britannia for the America’s Cup will be Olympic gold medalist Dylan Fletcher MBE, who won the 49er class at Tokyo 2020 and is also the reigning Moth World Champion. The two Trimmers will be Leigh McMillan and Bleddyn Mon, who are both on their third America’s Cup campaign with the British Team. The four Cyclors on-board will come from a pool of nine athletes, who will rotate on and off the boat between races to ensure optimum performance.
The on-board crew will be bolstered by a stellar line-up of support crew, including double Olympic gold medallist Giles Scott MBE as Head of Sailing, Olympic gold and silver medallist Iain Jensen as Trimmer Support, Emirates GBR SailGP Team Coach Rob Wilson, gold and silver Olympic medallist Xabi Fernandez and seven-time World Match Racing Champion Ian Williams as Coaches, as well as Pete Cunningham as Head of Human Performance.
Ainslie said: “The process of developing the sailing squad and defining what that race line-up looks like has taken some time. We have 15 sailors in our squad but eight sailors on the yacht at one time, so clearly we are going to have rotations. We have a bunch of really talented sailors, so in a way we are spoilt for choice. It’s a very difficult decision to define who you’re going to select in these roles, particularly when you have two such talented sailors in Dylan and Giles. It’s obviously going to be tough for the one that misses out but that said Giles has the key role of Head of Sailing in this campaign and is pivotal to the team’s progression.”
INEOS Britannia’s Cyclor crew includes returning America’s Cup athletes: Freddie Carr, Ben Cornish, Matt Gotrel MBE, Neil Hunter and Luke Parkinson. The further four Cyclors are America’s Cup rookies, with some never having sailed before joining INEOS Britannia. They include Olympic silver medallist Harry Leask, Matt Rossiter and Ryan Todhunter, who have all moved over from the world of rowing and were selected for their power potential. The 2019 Finn National Champion James Skulczuk completes the Cyclor line-up, having moved his attention to cycling to stay fit while the Covid-19 pandemic halted his sailing career.
Ainslie said: “We’ve got a great team together for this campaign, not just on-board the boat but also behind the scenes too, including our Technical Partnership with Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. We are lucky to have the support of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the INEOS team who have been instrumental in getting us to this point. It’s been a huge effort to get here so we’re all excited to get back into America’s Cup racing, three-and-a-half years after the last event in Auckland. The America’s Cup is the world’s oldest international sporting trophy, and it’s one of the hardest challenges to take on, but that’s why we love it. To be the first British team to win the Cup is a massive ambition for me and the entire team, and if we can do it, it will be a massive achievement for not just the team but also the entire country.”
The Barcelona Preliminary Regatta starts on 22 August, with four days of match races to find the two fastest teams. The top two teams will progress to the winner-takes-all final match race on the fourth and last day to decide the ultimate winner of the warm-up event. Races start at 13:00 BST each day, with UK viewers able to watch the action on TNT Sports. The Louis Vuitton Cup (Challenger Selections Series), then begins on 29 August. The series will determine which of the five Challenging teams will take on Defenders Emirates Team New Zealand in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match.
