36th America's Cup: The radical version: Sir Ainslie's team christened "Britannia"

As classic as her name "Britannia" is, her lines are just as radical: The reactions to the christening of the Britannia on Friday afternoon in Portsmouth were not long in coming. The first of the two Cup yachts from Sir Ben Ainslie's Ineos Team UK attracted a lot of attention, and not just in England. With its extremely aerodynamically shaped bow, the AC75 yacht is not a classic sailing beauty, but as one fan put it: "She'll be beautiful when she's fast." Another Facebook comment reads: "This is not a she. This is a he. Darth." The aggressive-looking lines are compared to the dark-looking Star Wars protagonist Darth Vader. The British yacht visibly focusses on aerodynamic advantages. The first tests on the water will show how many concessions have been made to hydrodynamics.

The boat was christened on Friday afternoon by Julia Ratcliffe, daughter of team founder and owner Jim Ratcliffe. The Englishmen chose the name as a tribute to the British racing cutter "Britannia", which in turn was named after the patriotic song "Rule Britannia!" written by James Thomson in 1740. The original "Britannia" was built in 1893 for King Edward VII. King George V later took over the "Britannia" and transformed her into a J-Class racing yacht. In her active racing days, "Britannia" achieved 231 race victories and 129 podium places.

Why the British chose the most classic name of all for their new Cup yacht

Unlike her historic predecessor, the new "Britannia" has been created as an important building block on the way to exactly one victory: the 36th America's Cup. The Ineos Team UK has invested 90,000 hours of design and 50,000 hours of construction in its first of two new builds permitted in this Cup cycle - more than the other three major teams that have already completed their world premieres. Chief Designer Nick Holroyd, who spent 18 years with Emirates Team New Zealand and sailed for Team Japan in the last Cup, describes the complexity of the challenge: "This AC75 yacht is the first foiling monohull of its size. It is unlike anything we have experienced on the water before. The whole thing is extremely ambitious and results in a completely new type of boat. With only 18 months to design and build, there have been a number of challenges, but that's what makes the Cup so exciting."

The experienced Cup designer Rolf Vrolijk, who has won the Cup with Team Alinghi in the past, was also involved in the design process and said in Portsmouth: "Our boat is certainly the most extreme in terms of the box rule. Overall, we see two tendencies: We are more like the Americans, the Italians more like the New Zealanders. It's clear that all the concepts are not yet fully developed before we start building the second yacht soon, but we have lost some time due to the late delivery of the foil arms. There is not much time left now before the start of construction of the second yacht."

"Britannia" consists of 25,000 individual parts and is expected to reach a top speed of around 50 knots (92.6 kilometres per hour). Including the bowsprit, the projectile is 22.76 metres long. Without the bowsprit, it is 20.70 metres long. The maximum width is five metres. "Britannia" weighs just under six and a half tonnes and her hull is made of carbon fibre. It is powered by eleven sailors, whose total weight must not exceed 990 kilograms. The crew will begin initial tests immediately and then move to Sardinia for further winter training, where the first regatta of the America's Cup World Series will take place from 23 to 26 April 2020.

The home club of the British challengers is the Royal Yacht Squadron. The team is led in sporting terms by four-time Olympic champion Sir Ben Ainslie and in the shore organisation by CEO Grant Simmer. The Australian was already in Cup action when his compatriots won the America's Cup in 1983 with the radical "Australia 2", ending the Americans' 132-year winning streak. Grant Simmer also won the America's Cup with "Alinghi" in 2003 and 2007 and with Oracle Team USA in 2013. Ainslie was also part of the winning team back then. But he still wants to achieve his most important goal: winning the America's Cup under the British flag. The foundation stone for this is to be laid by the "Britannia", christened today.