With the 37th America’s Cup just days away, Sir Ben Ainslie, CEO and helmsman of INEOS Britannia, has shared insights into the team’s final preparations and prospects.

In a recent interview with Matthew Sheahan of PlanetSail, Ainslie explained the focused atmosphere as they enter the final push. “We’re in a much better place than we were in Auckland,” Ainslie stated, referring to the previous Cup campaign. However, he acknowledged that its a “development game,” whereby improvements are still needed. “There are still some areas of our boat where we can jump in performance, and frankly, we’re going to need to win this thing.”

Sheahan asked about the nature of the upcoming preliminary regatta despite the results not counting toward the final Cup or challenger selection. “There is little time between rounds to affect changes to the boat,” Ainslie explained. “The preliminary regatta is important to make sure you are on pace.”

The interview discussed the evolving nature of America’s Cup racing, touching on the importance and challenge of dual helm communication and the critical role of simulators in today’s campaigns. “Without a decent operating simulator, you are at a serious disadvantage,” Ainslie said.

Sheahan asked Ainslie – who now co-helms – how much competition helming has changed, as well as regarding data and technology, to which Ainslie responded: “Each team has its own approach. A huge amount of technology and development goes into the HMI and is a big part of the relative performance of each boat.”

Regarding INEOS Britannia‘s performance compared to others, Ainslie remains cautious, stating that practice races in lighter winds don’t provide a definitive gauge for performance. Earlier practice races for the team haven’t been without incidents; during one in February, INEOS Britannia suffered damage to one of its one-design supplied AC40 training boats, Athena, after an electrical battery fire onboard.

Ainslie noted that each team has advantages in bigger sea states and wind ranges, making Barcelona’s conditions a particularly challenging venue from a design perspective. “How much faster are the other teams?… Time will tell.”

The stakes in the competition are high, with Ainslie starkly reminding Sheahan: “One team is going home on the 8 September; that’s going to be pretty brutal. No one is taking that for granted, and you want to make sure that’s not you.”

Image and video courtesy of Matthew Sheahan, Planet Sail. 

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