‘The comeback is on’: Ainslie’s Britannia crew earn first America’s Cup points

You wait 90 years and six long days for a win, and then two come along at once. There’s been a sea change at the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona, where the waves have picked up enough to sweep Ineos Britannia to their first wins in the best-of-13 series.

The British boat, skippered by Sir Ben Ainslie, coped much better with the choppy water than Emirates Team New Zealand, and they won both of the day’s races. They now trail by four to two, ahead of the seventh and eighth races on Friday afternoon. “There’s still a long way to go,” Ainslie said, “but the comeback is on.”

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They were the first points Great Britain has won in the America’s Cup since 1934, when Endeavour, skippered by the aviation pioneer Sir Thomas Sopwith, lost 4-2 to the US yacht Rainbow, skippered by the railroad magnate Harold Vanderbilt. Endeavour was at a distinct disadvantage in the early races that year because, unlike Rainbow, it was kitted out with full accommodations for all the crew, including a bathtub in the captain’s cabin.

It was a strategic blunder which Ineos Britannia have shrewdly avoided repeating 90 years later, but, like Sopwith, who eventually tossed the tub overboard, they have been busy tinkering with their boat in an effort to find a little extra speed.

Emirates Team New Zealand decided to take the reserve day off on Tuesday. Ineos Britannia, on the other hand, spent a long, hard day out on the water, working on their boat in the difficult conditions. It showed. The New Zealanders, skippered by Pete Burling, were caught out by the altered sea state. They were forced into a calamitous mistake before the start of the first race, when Britannia pushed them to make a slow jibe to avoid a collision, and they dropped off their foils.

The light wind meant their boat, Taihoro, was left dead in the water while Britannia circled gleefully around them, trapping the New Zealanders in their dirty air. When the race started, Britannia sailed off into an insurmountable lead, while Taihoro squatted motionless on the start line.

Britannia’s second point followed soon after. This time, Ainslie’s superb manoeuvring during the pre-start meant they were able to roll from underneath New Zealand and arrive at the start line with a 10-knot speed advantage. That gave Ineos Britannia control of the race. Burling made a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes as he hurried to catch up and, while Britannia also splashed down after making their penultimate turn, they recovered well and went on to win by seven seconds.

“It was a good day for the team, we have bounced back from a difficult start,” Ainslie said, “I’m really proud of the way everyone has reacted to it and worked to find those gains over the last 48 hours.”

Ainslie clearly felt the New ­Zealanders had made a mistake by staying on shore on Tuesday. “It was a massive day for our team, that really made us believe that we can get back into this,” he said.

“We certainly feel like every day we are out on the water we are unlocking more potential in the boat. We’re focusing on our own performance, not necessarily what the Kiwis are doing, I can’t tell you what’s in their minds, what I can tell you is that our team is prepared to put the work in every day so we can find those gains every day. The trick is now that we’ve got to ride that momentum all the way.”

Ainslie was the tactician when Team Oracle USA came back from 8-1 down to beat Team New Zealand 9-8 in the 2013 America’s Cup in San Francisco. He drew on that experience on Monday, when Ineos Britannia went 4-0 down in the series.

“It’s a moment when you get everyone together and say: ‘Look we’re still in this, don’t let your heads drop.’ We knew it was going to be tough and the Kiwis came out of the blocks well, but we needed to keep faith in the team, and keep pushing to find those gains. Every day we get better, every day we unlock more potential in the boat,” he added. “We can sleep when it’s over.”