36th America's Cup: What's next for INEOS TEAM UK after winning the PRADA Cup Round Robins?
The British team now have three weeks to continue developing their race boat BRITANNIA. They will next compete in the PRADA Cup Final, which starts on February 13, live on Sky Sports. The other two challengers will take to the water on Friday for the PRADA Cup semi-final.
Monday 25 January 2021 05:54, UK
INEOS TEAM UK were victorious in the PRADA Cup Round Robins on Saturday, but what comes next for Sir Ben Ainslie and the British America's Cup team?
Well, the answer is three weeks of valuable development time which they can spend making their race boat BRITANNIA, faster and more efficient ahead of the PRADA Cup final.
The PRADA Cup must be won before a team can think about trying to win the America's Cup and beating the defender, Emirates Team New Zealand in the 36th America's Cup match.
The final match starts on March 6 and every stage of the America's Cup challenge is live on Sky Sports.
Flying in the PRADA Cup Round Robins
The PRADA Cup's format meant one challenger would be able to progress straight from the round robins into the final.
On Saturday, INEOS TEAM UK secured the race win they needed against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team and completed their 'ghost race' against New York Yacht Club American Magic, to secure the fastest route into the final.
Prior to taking to the water, INEOS TEAM UK's skipper and team principal Sir Ben Ainslie said it was "going to be a real battle" against the Italians, and his prediction was spot on.
The contest between the two teams had it all - from the start being delayed twice to no fewer than nine lead changes once the two teams were up and racing.
The second delay to the start was a result of INEOS TEAM UK playing their 'delay card' which allowed 15 minutes of extra time to be added to the pre-start period.
The card was used to try and fully fix a cunningham ram issue on board; the cunningham is one of the key controls for the mainsail. In the time allowed, the British team did what they could in order to fix the problem, but in the end, they had to lock it off and go for it.
"We had to guess really before the start about how much wind we were going to have, and where we were going to lock the cunningham off at," Ainslie said after.
"It was pretty good upwind, but downwind we were in a very fast and high mode, so we were struggling a bit. I think that made it tricky, particularly that last cross - it made that last cross even trickier.
"It was a real sailor's race, and both teams did a great job
"With the turmoil in the pre-start preparation, I thought that the boys [on board BRITANNIA] did a great job to keep things as calm and get the boat around the track in great shape."
Win or lose, that was one of the best races you would want to see in sailing. I thought that it was a fantastic showcase for the sport.
Time to get faster
With the PRADA Cup final starting on February 13, INEOS TEAM UK now have some extra time on their hands and in the world of the America's Cup, time is incredibly precious.
In the 26 days between the end of the PRADA Christmas Regatta and the start of the PRADA Cup, INEOS TEAM UK completely transformed the performance of BRITANNIA, so there is a real chance of significant improvements being made again.
As you would expect, Ainslie is not going to share any information about their plans…
"We are definitely going to be doing some training," he said. "We had a bit of a list of upgrades which we can make to the boat, and it really depended on how the weekend went.
"Now, we have got a little bit more time, so we can maybe make some slightly bigger upgrades than perhaps we would have done before. Obviously, we cannot really talk about that!
"Needless to say, we are trying to get faster like all of these other teams out here; as we all know that is the secret to trying to win the America's Cup. It's that constant improvement and trying to get faster and faster every day."
All eyes on the PRADA Cup semi-final
While INEOS TEAM UK work through their list of improvements and their quest to get faster each day, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team and New York Yacht Club American Magic have a winner-takes-all semi-final to endure.
Despite their loss on Saturday, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team are ready to go, whereas New York Yacht Club American Magic have been in a race against time after their dramatic capsize on the third race day.
The heart-stopping incident, which caused significant damage to race boat PATRIOT, happened when they were leading around the final mark during a contest with the Italians.
The capsize happened shortly before 6pm and rescue efforts continued long into the night, with PATRIOT eventually making the 10.9-mile journey back to shore around 10pm.
In the aftermath, Terry Hutchinson, New York Yacht Club American Magic's skipper and executive director, said his team felt like PATRIOT was going to sink and that their campaign was going to be over.
Six days on, Hutchinson said PATRIOT was coming to life again 'pretty quickly'.
He said the work to restore her to racing-fitness had been happening ahead of schedule and they were planning to be out the water before the start of the semi-final on Friday.
"The heartbeat of the boat is going again, which is really exciting," he said.
"I am not surprised by the quality of the work being done in our shed. Over the last three years our shore team has always exceeded expectations and they have always delivered on time, to a standard that's very high.
"They are making really good strides and we are looking forward to getting back out on the course."
The winner-takes-all contest between Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team and New York Yacht Club American Magic starts on Friday and is a first-to-four-points semi-final. The PRADA Cup final, which will involve INEOS TEAM UK, is a first-to-seven-points contest and that commences on February 13.
Watch every moment of the America's Cup challenge, live on Sky Sports. Coverage continues with the PRADA Cup semi-finals on Friday at 2am on Sky Sports Mix, repeated again at 9am.
