America’s Cup: Sir Ben Ainslie lifts the lid on Team New Zealand and Ineos Team UK’s plans for the next cup cycle

Ineos Team UK helmsman Sir Ben Ainslie has revealed why he thinks Team New Zealand is the best, and has welcomed reports of a unique America’s Cup challenge in the UK.

In a column for the Telegraph UK, Ainslie reflected on her team’s performance in this year’s race and highlighted Team UK’s successful bid as the next Challenger of Record in their quest to become the first British team to win the America’s. Cup.

“We are in a much better position now than four years ago,” he wrote. “It is true that no record challenger has ever won the Cup. And there is an argument to say that being COR can be distracting, taking your focus away from what you should be doing.

“Fortunately, I am not superstitious and I would say that if you are well structured and have a good relationship with the defender, which we do, we should be able to make it work for us. It may be less difficult.” advantage than it would be if you were designing an entirely new class of ship. But there will be changes in this class rule and being COR will help us understand them and being part of that development will be fascinating. “

Ainslie said that he believes Team NZ is “the best” because of their continuity and experience.

“We have stability now. We have continuity. We have learned a lot from our two Cup cycles so far. It is worth noting that the New Zealand team has been doing this for over 30 years. There is a reason they are the best.” .

Ainslie also touched on the class rule and said he was happy it stayed the same for the 37th America’s Cup, but hopes that in-air performance will be an area of ​​focus in developing the AC75s for the next cycle of the cup.

Light winds at Waitematā harbor during the America’s Cup match earlier this month caused multiple delays and race abandonment as teams struggled to stay on their foils.

“We have already made good progress. We are now committed to continuing in this exciting AC75 class, and as a mariner I am satisfied with that,” Ainslie wrote. “I think these boats are extraordinary; the scale of them, the speeds they are capable of generating. If there is a weak point, it is probably the performance of the light air. But that’s something we can work on.

“Whether we end up taking weight off the boat, use a different sail or foil setup, we should be aiming the boat effectively at 6 knots.”

Ainslie added that she hoped that by keeping the class rule, more teams would be able to compete in the event.

“We are committed to reducing costs as much as possible, limiting crews to the construction of a single new ship, standardizing certain non-essential parts, to encourage new entrants,” he said.

“I hope to see at least six teams in the next Cup and we should aim for ten.”

While it has not yet been revealed where the next America’s Cup will take place, a one-off match on the Isle of Wight next year, at the midpoint of the next Cup in 2024, is at stake.

Ainslie had high hopes that it would be confirmed.

“All I can say is that we would be delighted if New Zealand wanted to bring the Cup to Great Britain. It would be an incredible opportunity to harness the momentum that is coming from this Cup; give the country something great to scream out of Covid, give New Zealand the opportunity to increase business revenue and all other teams the opportunity to regroup, “he wrote.

Ultimately, however, New Zealand is a trade-driven team. They have to see all the options on the table.

“Most importantly, we are now committed to moving forward. That is huge for us in terms of planning for the future and trying to secure the people we love in the future.”