Top transfer for the 37th America's Cup: Design champion Martin Fischer joins Ineos Britannia

In the third America's Cup attempt under the British flag, skipper Sir Ben Ainslie, racing team owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and their team Ineos Britannia are regrouping. As Challenger of Record and therefore negotiating partner of the New Zealand Cup defenders, the British team has significantly better cards in their hands in the 37th America's Cup than in the previous edition as "ordinary" challengers. The early and extensive involvement of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team and the planned design work at their design centre in Brackley, UK, are intended to close the technological gaps that led to the Cup yacht "Britannia" not being fast enough in the 36th America's Cup. James Allison, Technical Director of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, will also take over the technical management of the British America's Cup team Ineos Britannia. In addition, German design master Martin Fischer, one of the brightest minds in the America's Cup world, is coming on board with the British team.

For Martin Fischer, the move from his previous Italian employer, Patrizio Bertelli's Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team, to the British team is a dream come true: "I already had the impression in Auckland that the team was very well set up and organised. I spoke to a few people from the team at the time and that piqued my interest." Fischer does not underestimate the work ahead in the hunt for the first Cup victory for the sailors from the motherland of the most famous trophy in the sailing world: "If there was a simple concept for winning, we could easily copy it. The strong point of the New Zealanders is that they have been working together for a very long time. We can't copy that. Many of us are working together for the first time, but we have a lot of experience. The advantage this time is the chance to get off to an early start."

The British will once again represent the Royal Yacht Squadron in their challenge in the 37th America's Cup. Their team was founded in 2014 and failed in the two previous challenges off Bermuda and in New Zealand, mainly due to a lack of boat speed. The company Ineos has been on board as the eponymous strong partner since 2018. In much closer cooperation with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, a competitive boat is now to be created.

It has been 57 years since a British yacht, the "Souvereign", competed in an America's Cup match in 1964. For the first time since Sir Thomas Lipton and the Royal Ulster Yacht Club (1899 to 1930), a British team will be competing for the oldest international sporting trophy for the third time in a row. The British are currently negotiating the new protocol for the next edition of the Cup with the defending Kiwis. It is due to be published in mid-November and will show all other challengers and the public the way forward for the Cup.