A
recent visit to Portsmouth
to the headquarters of
Ineos Team UK gave
me the opportunity
for a one-to-one chat
with Sir Ben Ainslie. One can be
certain that whatever Sir Ben delivers
is the whole truth, so nothing was
held back in the questioning.
Just what went on in the preceding
four months when the sailing team
winter quarters were in Mar Menor,
an hour west of the Ocean Race base
in Alicante, was research with the
28 trial boat (the T5) and was, in
Ben’s words, “a successful training and
development block...we spent long
hours on the water gaining knowledge
all the time...we daren’t relax”.
It was as far as the team could progress
at this stage, leaving a small hiatus in
the next step forward. at has to be
the building of the rst of the AC75s.
So far building of the rst hull has
gone on apace in Jason Carrington’s
yard in Hythe, but like every one of
the other three teams that are properly
entered, they have not received their
one-design foil arms. I say ‘properly
entered’ because none of the three ‘late’
entries had, at the time of my meeting
with Ben, failed to produce the enlarged
fee for late entry. In fact, shortly a er I
met Ben, the Maltese entry pulled out
of the Cup altogether. e Dutch and
the US team Stars & Stripes needed to
con rm their commitment by 1 July,
as Y&Y went to press. Ben told me he
didn’t see any hope for the Dutch and
only gave Stars & Stripes a chance.
It may well be that the 2021 Cup
features just three challenging teams- Challenger of Record Luna Rossa,
INEOS Team UK and American Magic.
Meanwhile, back with Sir Ben and
the missing foil arms, progress in
that direction (at Persico) is at a halt.
“Consequently this has halted our
progress and that of the other three
teams, including the Defender,” said Ben.
e foils are not expected until
the end of July. Launch date of the
Ineos Team UK AC75 should be
at the beginning of August.
An exlcusive chat with Sir Ben gives me an insight into
the current state of play at Ineos Team UKBob Fisher
OPINION
He said: “We have been trying to
pace ourselves with the other design
work that is on-going. e rig and
the sails are well – there’s a lot going
into it. It’s not just the hull, it’s all the
components and control systems, so
there’s a great deal of time and e ort
going into that. We are matching that
production/development to when we
understand the foil-arms are available.
Pacing is the exercise at the moment.”
Ben admitted: “ ere was a bit of a
kerfue over the three other entrants.
We are all for more teams – it makes
for a bigger and stronger competition- but not for teams that don’t pay
the entry fee. It’s against the ideals of
yacht racing. When you intend to race
you normally pay your entry fee and
then you turn up and race – you don’t
interfere from the sidelines. e Kiwi
defender and the Italian Challenger
of Record have done a good job of
working with the four original entrants
and the Arbitration Panel to make the
change in the Protocol – which means
only those four can alter the rules.
“We hope some of the late
entries make it to the start line.”
Leaving Portsmouth, I felt more
con dent that Ben and his team
could do what no British team
have achieved since 1851.
One of the biggest
names in yachting
journalism, Bob
Fisher has a passion
and depth of
knowledge that’s
second to none at looked to be in time for Cowes
Week, I suggested, optimistic of a ypast,
but Ben replied: “Because we have a ve
metre dra when the foils are down,
we are limited on where we can go. e
western Solent might be good for us and
Hayling Bay will also be good, although
you can get a bit of a seaway out there.
“I am sure we will buzz the Squadron
at some point for the odd photo shot!”
“Of course,” he continued, “we have
been watching the [NYYC-backed]
American Magic team with their
38-footer quite closely as they are the
only team doing serious boat action.
“ ey have been down in Pensacola
anad have been doing a good job
from what our observers tell us,
and they are on a similar cycle to us
with the launching of their AC75.
“Luna Rossa has got an AC
catamaran trimmed to 40 overall
[the surrogacy rule] and have been
using it for rig/sail con guration
testing, but this has eased.
“ e Kiwis, we imagine, are using
computers rather than test boats,
but I understand that they will have
a test boat out at some point.
“We have to make sure that
we do the best job we can.”
Surely it is only the slack foil-arm
delivery that is holding them back?We spent long hours on the water, gaining
knowledge all the time...we daren’t relax
Above
Ineos Team UK on
the water in the THARRY K-H/INEOS TEAM UKAugust 2019 Yachts & Yachting 15