England’s World Cup wait is nothing next to British sailing’s quest for the America’s Cup

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — English soccer fans have been waiting almost a lifetime to win another World Cup. Just imagine what British sailing fans feel when the America’s Cup rolls around.

Their best yachtsmen have been trying — and failing — for 173 years to conquer the Holy Grail of sailboat racing.

The schooner America won the race’s very first edition back in 1851 in a loop around the Isle of Wight, where Queen Victoria herself was in attendance as the Royal Yacht Squadron was bested off the English coast. Since then, no country has challenged to win the Auld Mug as many times as Britain — only to always come up short.

And this for a country that holds a record 30 Olympic medals in sailing and whose ships used to rule the oceans in the times of empire.

Ben Ainslie, the most successful sailor in Olympic history with four golds and a silver, heads the latest British effort to end the wait for the oldest international trophy in sport.

“It’s massive for us because we’re a proud sporting country and our maritime heritage is massive for us as an island nation,” Ainslie told The Associated Press after a race in Barcelona. “The America’s Cup is the one international sporting trophy Britain has never won. And it originated in the UK.

“So that’s a big motivator for us to try, as we say, and get the America’s Cup back home.”

Ainslie’s description of the weight of history on his team’s shoulders echoes that of England’s soccer team, whose anthem, “Football’s coming home,” sums up the mission of trying to lift its first title since winning the 1966 World Cup.

While the country is soccer crazed and its wealthy Premier League the envy of the sport, Britain’s history has for centuries been closely linked with its nautical might.

The 47-year-old Ainslie has the unique role at the America’s Cup in his dual position as INEOS Britannia’s skipper and its team principal. That means he runs the team in every facet and calls the shots on the waves from his starboard cockpit on the 75-foot foiling monohull.

Britannia has made a promising start and topped the challenger standings in the opening round-robin phase, which included beating a strong Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli of Italy twice.

That gave the British team the right to select its rival for the challenger series semifinals, and on Friday it picked Switzerland’s Alinghi Red Bull Racing. That meant Luna Rossa was paired with NYYC American Magic in the other series to be decided by the first boat to score five victories.

The last boat standing after the playoffs will win the Louis Vuitton Cup and face defending champion New Zealand in the America’s Cup finals.

Ainslie already knows what it feels like to win the America’s Cup, albeit for the Americans.

He was on the 2013 winner Oracle Team USA. After the Americans fell into a large early deficit against New Zealand, Ainslie, a tactician, was promoted from the backup crew to the race crew. New Zealand expanded its lead to 8-1 and match point, but Ainslie helped the American-flagged crew pull off one of the greatest comebacks in sport, winning eight straight races to become the first British sailor to win the America’s Cup in 110 years.

As to why the cup has proven so elusive to a nation that excels at sailing, Ainslie insists that it is just “incredibly hard” to dethrone a sitting champion in a winner-takes-all event like no other — the champion sets the rules, picks the venue and gets a ticket to the final of the next edition.

“(So) much goes into the competition, the technicality, the boats and the competitive nature of it,” he says. “And the fact that we know that the defender is really in the hot seat. They’re rewriting the rules for the next event and are in the final. So if you have a strong defender, like the Team New Zealand that we’ve seen in previous America’s Cups, it’s very, very hard to beat.”

Britannia has the backing of billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, the owner of petrochemicals giant INEOS who bought into storied soccer club Manchester United this year. His sailing outfit also shares a technical director and design expertise with the Mercedes Formula 1 team.

Ainslie first challenged for the cup in 2017 in Bermuda. INEOS came aboard the following year and they made a run at the cup in 2021 in Auckland. Both times New Zealand won.

The America’s Cup was born some four decades before the modern Olympic Games, and only four countries have even won it. The Americans successfully defended the title 24 times until that incredible 132-year run ended in 1983 at the hands of the Australians. The Swiss were the last country to join the select club.

The first step for the Brits is emerging as the best challenger. They haven’t reached the match final since 1964.

“The only thing we have in our mind is trying to win the thing. I think we can win it,” Ainslie says. “If we can keep that momentum going, we can be dangerous. Are we going to do it this time or not? Only time will tell.”

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