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ACWS PortsmouthOn the hunt for the Cup with its "goddess of war"

Tatjana Pokorny

 · 21.07.2016

ACWS Portsmouth: On the hunt for the Cup with its "goddess of war"Photo: Land Rover BAR
Sir Ben and Lady Georgie Ainslie happy with Bellatrix. The Cup motto of Ainslie's Team Land Rover BAR ("Bring the Cup home") was changed at short notice by the proud parents to "Bring the Baby home"
Only Sir Ainslie could have thought of that: The Olympic dominator has named his daughter after "Bellatrix", the goddess of war. She is supposed to make him strong
Sir Ben Ainslie would love to crown his fatherly joy with a victory on home turf - the British fans would thank him for itPhoto: Ricardo Pinto/ACEA Sir Ben Ainslie would love to crown his fatherly joy with a victory on home turf - the British fans would thank him for it

For sailing superman Sir Ben Ainslie, even the baby comes at the perfect time: a few days before the Portsmouth regatta of the America's Cup World Series this weekend, the first daughter of the four-time Olympic champion and his wife Georgie was born. The couple posted a photo of the young family on Twitter: "Our little star has arrived. Here she is with her very proud dad and mum... Bellatrix Ainslie." On the "proudest day of my life", the 39-year-old British America's Cup chaser reported that he and his wife, who is a year younger, have given their daughter a special name: "She's called Bellatrix, which has something to do with Bellatrix being the goddess of war. So hopefully she will be behind the team when we sail off Bermuda next year." The challenger round and the 35th America's Cup duel will take place off Bermuda in summer 2017.

Sir Ainslie and Land Rover BAR in action off New York, in the territory of the Cup defendersPhoto: Lloyd Images/Land Rover BAR Sir Ainslie and Land Rover BAR in action off New York, in the territory of the Cup defenders

There will be a foretaste of this this weekend in Sir Ainslie's home waters off Portsmouth. The six current Cup teams will meet there for another America's Cup World Series regatta. Before the showdown in British waters, Emirates Team New Zealand leads the overall standings of the world series with 95 points. Behind them, Ainslie's Team Land Rover BAR in second place with 285 points each and Oracle Team USA in third place are fighting to catch up with the leaders. They are followed by the Swedish team Artemis Racing (262 points), SoftBank Team Japan (259 points) and Groupama Team France (234 points). The weekend in Portmouth is expected to be characterised by light winds, summer temperatures and hundreds of thousands of spectators.

Top favourite Giles Scott still in Cup action shortly before the Olympics

Ainslie will not only put his family and the British Cup team in the spotlight this weekend. Many eyes will also be on Giles Scott. The Finn Dinghy World Champion and Ainslie's successor in Olympic sailing is regarded as the top favourite in the race for gold ahead of Rio. The fact that Giles Scott is still competing at home for Ainslie as a tactician in the world series just three weeks before the first Olympic starting signal in Brazil speaks for his team spirit and his self-confidence. "Giles is very calm and has very strong nerves," confirms skipper Ainslie.

The organisers are expecting hundreds of thousands of spectators over the long ACWS weekend in Portsmouth. Last year's regatta was also very well attendedPhoto: ACEA/Gilles Martin-Raget The organisers are expecting hundreds of thousands of spectators over the long ACWS weekend in Portsmouth. Last year's regatta was also very well attended
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Tatjana Pokorny

Tatjana Pokorny

Sports reporter

Tatjana “tati” Pokorny is the author of nine books. As a reporter for Europe's leading sailing magazine YACHT, she also works as a correspondent for the German Press Agency (DPA), the Hamburger Abendblatt and other national and international media. In summer 2024, Tatjana will be reporting from Marseille on her ninth consecutive Olympic Games. Other core topics have been the America's Cup since 1992, the Ocean Race since 1993, the Vendée Globe and other national and international regattas and their protagonists. Favorite discipline: Portraits of and interviews with sailing personalities. When she started out in sports journalism, she was still intensively involved with basketball and other sports, but sailing quickly became her main focus. The reason? The declared optimist says: “There is no other sport like it, no other sport with such interesting and intelligent personalities, no other sport so diverse, no other sport so full of energy, strength and ideas. Sailing is like a constantly refreshing declaration of love for life."

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