INEOS TEAM UK have earned themselves three weeks of development time and will be the next race on 13 February (Image Credit – COR 36 | Studio Borlenghi)
INEOS TEAM UK won the PRADA Robins Round Cup on Saturday, but what ‘s next for Sir Ben Ainslie and the British Cup team?
Well, the answer is three weeks of valuable development time they can spend making their BRITANNIA race boat, 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 defeat the defender, Team Emirates New Zealand in the 36th American Cup match.
The final game kicks off on March 6 and all levels of the American Cup challenge are live Sky Sports.
American Cup – Live on Sky Sports
| PRADA Cup Finals | January 29 – February 2 |
|---|---|
| PRADA Cup Final | February 13 – 22 |
| 36th American Cup Match | March 6 – 15 |
Flying in the Robins PRADA Cup Round
3:19 Watch the unique race between INEOS TEAM UK and Team Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, described by Sir Ben Ainslie as one of the most exciting races in which he was involved
The shape of the PRADA Cup meant that one opponent would be able to move straight from the rounds to the final.
On Saturday, INEOS TEAM UK secured their much-needed race win against Team Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and completed their ‘ghost race’ against New York Yacht Club American Magic, to the best of their ability. fast into the final.
Before he went to the water, INEOS TEAM UK captain and team principal Sir Ben Ainslie said it was “going to be a real battle” against the Italians, and his prediction was seen.
The competition was between the two teams as a whole – from the start having been postponed twice to at least nine lead changes when both teams were up and racing.
1:15 Listen to the pre-race analysis of the INNOS TEAM UK cunningham issues aboard BRITANNIA
The second delay initially came as a result of INEOS TEAM UK playing their ‘delay card’ which allowed 15 minutes of extra time to be added to the pre-start time.
The card was used to try to settle the cunningham ram issue on board; the cunningham is one of the main controls for the main pipe. In the time allowed, the British team did what they could to solve the problem, but in the end, they had to lock it up and go for it.
“We had to really measure up before we started about how much wind we were going to have, and where we were going to lock the cunningham at,” Ainslie said afterwards.
2:05 Check out when INEOS TEAM UK finished their race against Team Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli with a gutsy move that proved to be a certainty
“It was pretty upwind, but downwind we were in really fast and high mode, so we struggled a bit. I think that made it difficult, especially that last cross. – made that last cross even harder.
“It was a real sailor race, and both teams did a great job
“With the excitement in the prep, I thought it was the boys [on board BRITANNIA] he did a good job of keeping things so calm and getting the boat around the line in good shape. “
Win or lose, that was one of the best races you would want to see in a sailing. I thought it was a great show for the sport.
Sir Ben Ainslie – (Image Credit- COR 36 | Studio Borlenghi)
Time to grow faster
With the PRADA Cup final starting on February 13th, INEOS TEAM UK now has a little extra time on their hands and in the world of the American Cup, time is invaluable.
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 good chance that major improvements will be made again.
BRITANNIA flying out to the water (Copyright – HARRYKH)
As you’d expect, Ainslie isn’t going to share any information about their plans…
“We’re definitely going to do some training,” he said. “We had a few list of updates we could do with the boat, and it really depended on how the weekend went.
“Now, we have a little more time, so we may be doing a few more updates than we might have done before. Of course, we can’t talk about that!
Needless to say, we are trying to get faster like every other team out here; because we all know that that is the secret to trying to win the America ‘s Cup It’s that constant development and trying to be faster and faster every day. “
INEOS TEAM UK is unbeaten so far in the PRADA Cup (Image Credit – COR 36 | Studio Borlenghi)
All eyes on the PRADA Cup semi-final
As INEOS TEAM UK work through their list of improvements and their quest to grow faster each day, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli’s team and New York Yacht Club American Magic are at the winning semi-finals .
Despite what they lost Saturday, Team Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli is ready to go, but the New York Yacht Club American Magic have been in a race against time after passing the third race day.
PRADA Cup Semi Final – Race Schedule – Live on Sky Sports Mix from 2am on race day
| January 29th | Races one and two |
|---|---|
| January 30th | Races three and four |
| January 31st | Races five and six |
| February 2nd | Race Seven |
The heartbreaking incident, which caused extensive damage to the PATRIOT race boat, occurred as they steered around the final mark at a competition with the Italians.
The crash happened shortly before 6pm and rescue efforts continued long into the night, with PATRIOT finally making the 10.9-mile journey back to shore around 10pm.
2:05 Watch the impressive moment of the New York Yacht Club American Magic boat, PATRIOT
Afterwards, Terry Hutchinson, skipper and executive director of New York Yacht Club American Magic, said his team felt like PATRIOT was sinking and their campaign was about to end.
Six days later, Hutchinson said PATRIOT was recovering again ‘very quickly’.
He said work to bring her back to racing fitness had been happening earlier than expected and they were scheduled to be out in the water before the start of the semi-final on Friday.
2:18 Hear Terry Hutchinson’s updates on the progress being made to bring PATRIOT back
“The heartbeat is going again, which is very interesting,” he said.
“I will not be surprised by the quality of work done in our shed. Over the past three years, our onshore team has always been higher than expected and has always delivered on time, to a very high standard.
“They are making great progress and we look forward to getting back on course.”
The winning competition between Team Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and New York Yacht Club American Magic kicks off Friday and is a first to four-point semi-final. The PRADA Cup final, which will feature INEOS TEAM UK, is a competition for the first to seven points and will start on 13 February.
Watch every minute of the American Cup challenge, live on Sky Sports. Cover will continue with the PRADA Cup semi-finals on Friday at 2am on Sky Sports Mix, again at 9am.