Great Britain Reaches Its First America’s Cup Final in 60 Years
Could a British team take back the America’s Cup that it lost in 1851?
The possibility came one step closer today when Ineos Brittania defeated Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli for the Louis Vuitton Cup. The winner of that will face the America’s Cup defenders, Emirates Team New Zealand, for the event’s overall title.
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The Kiwis have won the America’s Cup four times, including the most recent event in Auckland in 2021, but the Brits have never claimed it and have not been in a position to compete for it in the last 60 years.
Ineos Britannia claimed the Louis Vuitton Cup in the best of seven series, after both teams ended some impeccable races within seconds of each other. The first eight races of the series, which were tied 4 to 4, had both teams on equal levels. But in the last three, the British maintained better boat positioning and speed to create small advantages that allowed them to win all three races—and the series.
Today’s conditions were ideal for these boats—12 to 15 knots of wind and flat water—which allowed both to sail flat out on the fast, nimble 75-foot AC75 foiling monohulls. The British team, with only a small lead, raced flawlessly while the Italians waited for mistakes that never came. After Ineos finished 17 seconds ahead of Luna Rossa, the British captain, Sir Ben Ainslie, flexed his arms in triumph.
A few minutes later, Jean Arnault, the Louis Vuitton watch director, came aboard the boat to give a gleaming Louis Vuitton Cup (much more stylish than the America’s Cup) to the team. Moet & Chandon Champagne was uncorked and sprayed with abandon.
After praising his opponents, Ainslie said: “To get to this point has taken 10 years of hard work, so I am incredibly proud of the team.”
Dylan Fletcher, the port helm driver, noted that it has been 60 years since a British team was in the same position to compete for the Cup final. “It’s always been difficult in the America’s Cup to get to this point,” said Fletcher. “But we’re looking forward to the task ahead.”
The last time Britain sailed in the America’s Cup was in 1964. Sir Peter Scott skippered the boat, the son of the Antarctic explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott.
The biggest differences, of course, are the boats. “The latest generation of AC75 yachts can reach speeds unimaginable a few years ago,” said an America’s Cup official. “In this final, hard yards were won by both teams. In the end, the trophy went to the Brits.”
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