It was a fantastic sailing weekend for the British team Land Rover BAR. At the ACWS regatta in his home waters off Portsmouth, the most successful Olympic sailor in sporting history with four gold medals and his British team Land Rover BAR kept their five rivals at bay right to the end after a weak start, a strong comeback and consistent top results. Hundreds of thousands of spectators made the pilgrimage to the English harbour city of Portsmouth over the three days of the event and filled the large grandstands, the regatta village and the racing area to see their sailing hero and his team in action.
The sailing spectacle had its happy ending: Ainslie, who had already been knighted by the British Queen, delighted the visitors and his most prominent fans, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, with a home victory that fuelled European Cup hopes. Although in the end it was only one point ahead of the American Cup defenders that was enough to win this America's Cup World Series regatta, the English sporting fairytale on the AC45 catamarans was perfect this weekend. Ainslie's first comment to YACHT online in Portsmouth: "We wanted to make our fans and Portsmouth proud this weekend." And they succeeded.
Without his tactician Giles Scott, who, contrary to earlier plans, prioritised his Olympic preparations, "Big Ben" Ainslie and his team-mates nevertheless raced to victory on their own "doorstep". Cup defenders Oracle Team USA and the steadily improving SoftBank Team Japan with skipper Dean Barker finished second and third in England. Oracle skipper Spithill and his team had impressively held their own against the British on the double scored "Super Sunday" with two day wins, but in the end Larry Ellison's American team was one point short of triumph. Spithill has not lost his sense of humour: "It was one of the best events in the America's Cup World Series. And I think it was the first time I've been to the UK and it didn't rain." The fans in the stands and on the water were particularly pleased about this over the long weekend. A total of up to 2,000 boats formed an impressive backdrop in a circle around the sailing course and offered a foretaste of what could happen if the Brits could actually win the Cup for the first time in its long history and bring it back to its home country.
"An incredible weekend for British sailing"
In the absence of regular skipper Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, who are the top favourites in the 49er to prepare for the Olympic Games (start of sailing regattas: 8 August), Emirates Team New Zealand, who are used to winning, had to be satisfied with fourth place. The absence of two Olympic aces hit the Swedish team Artemis even harder: because skipper Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen are also preparing for Rio, the Swedes finished sixth and last behind the French team Groupama in the home country of sports director Iain Percy. Percy took it sportingly and paid tribute to his compatriots: "First of all, I have to say that it was an incredible weekend for British sailing. In the eighties and nineties, sailing became one of the biggest sports in the UK. And now the interest in our sport is huge."
With their acclaimed victory, for which the Duchess of Cambridge honoured her compatriots with the medals, the Brits have also taken the lead in the world series ahead of Oracle Team USA and the New Zealanders. The top spot is coveted, as it earns the ACWS winners two points at the end of the series for the challenger series for the 35th America's Cup duel next year. The second-placed team will also receive one point as a credit. Sailing will continue in the French waters of Toulon and in Japanese waters off Fukuoka.
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Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
