37th America's Cup: Foiling Silver Arrow for Sir Ainslie's British Cup chasers

That's one way to spend the time just before Christmas: ignite a new "sailing rocket", cruise off Palma at speeds of up to 35 knots, take off and enjoy. That's what Sir Ben Ainslie's America's Cup team Ineos Britannia did this pre-Christmas week in ten to 14 knots of wind with great relish.

From a towing platform to a test racer

When Ainslie came back ashore afterwards, the most successful sailor in Olympic history was full of praise for his entire team. Over the past few months, they had worked tirelessly to transform "T6" from a data acquisition towed platform into a fully functional so-called Leq12 that can fly. A Leq12 is roughly equivalent to a small-scale AC75 yacht, which the Cup teams are allowed to build for testing purposes.

The background: Until now, the British had operated the Leq12 with a short towing mast and sensors, but without sails. In this way, they wanted to avoid the limited "sailing days" for test purposes, but still generate important data while foiling while under tow. This work in the grey area was subsequently banned by the AC rules committee.

Commenting on the successful sailing mission and his team's co-operation with the Formula 1 masterminds from the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, four-time Olympic champion Ainslie said: "It's a big step to combine the America's Cup with Formula 1. For many of these engineers, it's a big step to realise what goes into a boat like this. How to make the systems work and then fly. It's a big step forward for the team. But there's still a long way to go before the boat is fully operational."

Ainslie: "It's easy to forget how complex these boats are"

The Brits want to quickly close the gap on other Cup teams, who are already testing with Leq12 or AC40 boats, in the new year. This is to be achieved with the considerable resources of Mercedes-AMG Applied Science in the fine-tuning of the new "T6". Ainslie is realistic about the tasks ahead: "I think it's easy to forget how complex these boats are and the systems they contain. We are clearly taking a different approach with this boat. It's taken a while to get to grips with it, but we'll get there."

The "T6" was built by the British shipyard Carrington Boats near Southampton. In Brackley, where the design thinkers from Team Ineos Britannia are based and work with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, "T6" was fitted with the systems. The boat was then taken to the winter training camp in Palma de Mallorca.

A good step that many will follow ...

Ainslie confirmed that his team's sailing programme is currently very intensive: "The boat's operational capability is not yet where it needs to be, so we are working on that. We have a good squad and we will get there before we start another series of tests and protocols that we want to have completed by next summer. It's a good step to get the boat on the foils and then into the testing programme." Ainslie sent Christmas greetings to team and America's Cup fans around the world: "Have a great Christmas! And all the best for the New Year!"

The 37th America's Cup will take place in Barcelona in autumn 2024. There, Emirates Team New Zealand will defend the most important trophy in international sailing. The challengers are Team Ineos Britannia, Alinghi Red Bull Racing, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and American Magic from the New York Yacht Club.

Click here for an overview of dates and venues for the 37th America's Cup.

The 37th America's Cup duel will be preceded by the Youth America's Cup, for which a German campaign with Kiel roots has now been formed. Everything about the embRacing Team Germany can be found here.