Nhe can be copied. Also and especially not when it comes to everything. And so Sir Ben Ainslie, branded by some very early on as a surprising loser of this year’s America’s Cup, started the eliminations of the challengers on Friday with a double blow: The British first beat the Americans in the Prada Cup in Auckland, in the second race of the Day then against the Italians.
Christoph Hein
Business correspondent for South Asia / Pacific based in Singapore.
“If you write off Ben Ainslie, you are in real danger,” the New Zealander team boss, America’s Cup-tempered Grant Dalton, warned before Christmas. Until February 22nd, the three teams will sail the challenger for the New Zealanders in the fight for the oldest sports trophy in the world. Before Christmas, the British had seen their Armageddon in New Zealand. The boat is too slow, so the tactics are too shy. Everything looked like an elimination between the Italian Luna Rossa and the American Magic. But Ainslie is known for his mental strength and his bite.
However, anyone who saw him attempting to win the Olympic Finn dinghy for the sixth time in front of Fremantle, Australia, would never doubt Ainslie’s will to win again: After a photographer’s boat had cost him the victory, the fist came British whose helmsman is clearly too close. But it is precisely this unconditional will to win that can move mountains: At the America’s Cup 2013 in San Francisco, the Briton, who was hired at the very last moment, steered Oracle Team USA to victory – which no one had thought possible.
At that time, by the way, he was supporting the same Australian helmsman in American service whom he defeated in the second race on Friday: Jimmy Spithill, who was still a legionnaire for Team Oracle in 2013, will steer the Italian Luna Rossa this year. And Dean Barker, whom Ainslie sailed into the ground in the last hours of the Cup seven years ago, Ainslie’s ability was felt again on Friday: The New Zealander, who served his country in 2013, is steering the American yacht this year.
Neither Spithill nor Barker stood a chance against the four-time Olympic gold winner on Friday. Almost at will, the Britannia dominated their respective opponents in the bay off Auckland. After the technicians and boat builders had slaved through the nights and the AC75 was finally showing a competitive boat speed, Ainslie went aggressively into the pre-launch phase. He won both starts and then defended the better right side of the course.
With their double victory, the British brought the eliminations to the level they needed. This weekend it will show whether the Britannia can cope with lighter winds of less than 10 knots – so far her weak point.
Before the opening race, Ainslie himself had shed light on the efforts the financially best-funded team of the Cup had made in the past 25 days: “We have a new rudder, a new mast, the wings adjusted, a new mainsail, a new jib, Aerodynamically improved the fuselage and changed some systems – we were very busy. ”But then, typically Ainslie, he added:“ We improve every day. We could have stuck our heads in the sand. But we want to show some people that they were wrong about us. “
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