INEOS Britannia

INEOS Britannia is a British sailing team that is the challenger of record for the 37th America's Cup.

INEOS Britannia
Career
Yacht club Royal Cornwall Yacht Club (2012-2013)
 Royal Yacht Squadron (2015-Present)
Established2012
Nation United Kingdom
Team principal(s)Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Sir Ben Ainslie
CEOSir Ben Ainslie
SkipperSir Ben Ainslie
Yachts
Sail no.Boat name
GBR-3R1 (AC50)
GBR-3Britannia (AC75)

AC45F yachts competing in the 2015–16 America's Cup World Series.
Former INEOS TEAM UK Headquarters building in Portsmouth.

The team was established in 2012 with the ambition of winning the America's Cup for Great Britain and to 'bring the cup home' to the United Kingdom. The team joined forces with INEOS in 2018. In 2021 the team challenged for the 36th America's Cup in Auckland, New Zealand, representing the Royal Yacht Squadron.

The team is owned and backed by INEOS founder and chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe and led by the most successful Olympic sailor of all time, Sir Ben Ainslie, who is team principal, CEO and skipper.

Formation and facilities

In January 2012, Ben Ainslie announced the formation of a British team to compete in the America's Cup, called Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR). His team competed in the AC45 class for the remaining races of the 2011–13 America's Cup World Series to develop experience and generate interest from sponsors.[1] The team was also known as J.P. Morgan BAR in this early period and competed for the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club.[2]

In January 2014, Ainslie began the process of raising £100M to fund the team, as well as development of racing yachts which was projected to take 30% of the budget. The project was initially backed by 12 core supporters including Sir Charles Dunstone and Sir Keith Mills.[3] In December 2014 Ben Ainslie Racing and Red Bull Advanced Technologies (RBAT) announced that they would work together on the America's Cup project, with Formula One designer Adrian Newey leading RBAT's efforts regarding design and engineering.[4] J.P. Morgan indicated that it was not planning to continue sponsorship and the team began the search for a new title sponsor.[5]

In April 2014, as part of the launch of Rear Admiral Rob Stevens's 'Transforming Solent' report, which makes 36 recommendations with 15 prioritised at an investment cost of £91M, Ainslie announced plans to build a team headquarters in the Solent area.[6] Having reviewed a number of sites, the project put forward plans to develop an operational building at Camber Dock, as part of the wider redevelopment of Portsmouth Harbour.[7] On 18 June, Portsmouth Council approved plans for the £12M main operations building, which Ainslie confirmed would be built subject to £8M of requested UK Government-backed development funding.[8] On 1 July 2014, in a meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron, central government funding of £7.5M towards the operational building's construction was confirmed, with construction reliant on final planning permission from the council and the project raising the additional required funds.[9] The operational building is also where the boats are designed and manufactured, and contains administration and full crew development facilities. The design was developed by HGP Architects,[10] which also designed the nearby Spinnaker Tower. The building was opened in June 2015 and featured approximately 400 solar panels generating 130MWh/y,[11] ventilation features and insulation to improve its sustainability.[10]

In September 2018 it was announced[12] that sailing clothing brand Henri Lloyd would continue its long partnership with Sir Ben by supplying the kit for INEOS Team UK in the pursuit of the 36th challenge of the America's Cup in 2021.

On 4 October 2021, the team announced a high-performance partnership with Mercedes-AMG F1 Applied Science, a division of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, bringing together the best of the worlds of high-performance marine and automotive engineering, with the goal to win the America's Cup for Britain.

The team is based in Brackley, home of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. James Allison will be the technical lead of the team's 37th America's Cup challenge in his capacity as Chief Technical Officer of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team and INEOS Britannia.

34th America's Cup

2012-2013 Americas Cup World Series

JP Morgan BAR initially competed in the 2011–13 America's Cup World Series competing in their AC45 catamaran. The team had excellent performance in two events in San Francisco but slipped to a surprise defeat in Naples in April 2013.[13] In August 2013, the competition jury received a report from Oracle Team USA that their boat and others they had loaned had unauthorised modifications.[14] Since they were using one of the out of measurement boats provided by Team Oracle USA, Ainslie withdrew his team from the competition on 7 August 2013. They denied that they had any prior knowledge that the boat was out of measurement, and were scored DSQ (disqualified) from the series.[15]

America's Cup World Series 2012-2013
TeamSkipperTotal ptsNotes
1United States Oracle RacingAustralia Jimmy Spithill
Australia Tom Slingsby
274DSQ
2Italy Luna Rossa ChallengeUnited Kingdom Chris Draper204
3United Kingdom Ben Ainslie RacingUnited Kingdom Ben Ainslie196DSQ
4New Zealand Team New ZealandNew Zealand Dean Barker193
5Sweden Artemis RacingUnited States Terry Hutchinson
Sweden Charlie Ekberg
181
6France Energy TeamFrance Loick Peyron
France Yann Guichard
175
7Italy Luna Rossa ChallengeItaly Francesco Bruni
United Kingdom Paul Cambell-James
Spain Iker Martínez
165
8United States Oracle RacingNew Zealand Russell Coutts
Australia Darren Bundock
114
9South Korea Team KoreaUnited Kingdom Chris Draper
New Zealand Pete Burling
110
10Sweden Artemis RacingAustralia Nathan Outteridge
Argentina Santiago Lange
98
11China China TeamNew Zealand Phil Robertson
Netherlands Mitch Booth
78
12United States HS RacingAustria Roman Hagara39DSQ

In 2013, the team set a new multihull record of 2 hours 52 minutes 15 seconds for the Round the Island Race in their AC45.

34th America's Cup

The team did not enter to compete in the 34th America's Cup, with Ben Ainslie instead sailing as helm onboard Oracle Team USA's second AC72 in the teams training programme ahead of the event. During the 34th America's Cup match, Oracle Team USA were losing to Emirates Team New Zealand 8–1. The American syndicate decided to replace tactician John Kostecki with Ainslie, and went on to win 10 consecutive race wins to win the America's Cup. Ben Ainslie was credited as one of the key reasons behind their famous comeback to win the America's Cup in 2013. Several of the team's other key sailors also competed for Luna Rossa Challenge in the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger selection series.

35th America's Cup

Yachts

ClubNameLaunch dateClass
 Royal Yacht SquadronT1October 2014AC45F
 Royal Yacht SquadronT2October 2015AC45 Turbo
 Royal Yacht SquadronT3April 2016AC45 Turbo
 Royal Yacht SquadronR1February 2017AC50

Crew

SailorPosition
United Kingdom Ben AinslieSkipper
United Kingdom Giles ScottTactician
United Kingdom Paul Cambell-JamesMainsail Trimmer
United Kingdom Bleddyn MonTrimmer
Australia Jonathan MacbethGrinder
United Kingdom Nick HuttonGrinder
United Kingdom David CarrGrinder
United Kingdom Neil HunterGrinder
United Kingdom Ed PowysGrinder

2015-2016 Americas Cup World Series

Following Ainslie's win representing the US, it was announced that Ben Ainslie Racing would challenge for the 35th America's Cup in 2017. The team competed in the 2014 Extreme Sailing Series, finishing 5th overall in the Extreme 40 class catamaran.

The team raced in 2015-16 America's Cup World Series in the AC45F catamaran class, winning events in Portsmouth, Toulon and Fukuoka to take the overall series win.

America's Cup World Series 2015-2016
TeamSkipperTotal pts
1United Kingdom Land Rover BARSir Ben Ainslie512
2United States Oracle Team USAJimmy Spithill493
3New Zealand Emirates Team New ZealandPete Burling485
4Japan Softbank Team JapanDean Barker466
5Sweden Artemis RacingNathan Outteridge460
6France Groupama Team FranceFranck Cammas419

Louis Vuitton Cup

In March 2015, former McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh was announced as Ben Ainslie Racing's CEO. In June 2015, Ben Ainslie announced a partnership with Land Rover and changed the team's name to Land Rover BAR.

The teams win in the 2015–16 America's Cup World Series conferred points towards the 2017 Louis Vuitton Cup in Bermuda, which began May 2017. The team was knocked out of the competition by New Zealand in the Challenger semi-final. The defeat was attributed simply to the greater speed of the opponent's boat.

Round Robins
TeamWLACWS ptsTotal pts
1United States Oracle Team USA8209
2New Zealand Emirates Team New Zealand8208
3United Kingdom Land Rover BAR4626
4Sweden Artemis Racing5505
5Japan Softbank Team Japan3703
5France Groupama Team France2802
Semi Finals
TeamWL
1New Zealand Emirates Team New Zealand52
2United Kingdom Land Rover BAR25

Red Bull Youth Americas Cup

Following the announcement that alongside the 35th Americas Cup would be held the Red Bull Youth Americas Cup, Land Rover BAR launched the Land Rover BAR Academy in January 2016, with over 150 young British sailors under the age of 24 applying to be part of the team. Of these sailors, a team of sailors were selected. The squad trained and competed on a GC32 Class catamaran in the Extreme Sailing Series in 2016 and 2017, under the expert guidance of the team's senior sailors and coaches.

The team raced in Bermuda in the 2017 Red Bull Youth America's Cup in the AC45F foiling catamaran class, finishing in 1st place with 50 points, 2 points ahead of their nearest rivals from New Zealand. The team was credited with being the only team to race with a female sailor on board.

Qualifying Group A
TeamSkipperTotal Pts
1Sweden Artemis Youth RacingRasmus Rosengren55
2Germany SVB Team GermanyPaul Kohlhoff47
3Switzerland Team TiltSebastien Schneiter46
4France Team France JeuneRobin Follin46
5Denmark Youth Vikings DenmarkDaniel Bjørnholt43
6Japan Kaijin Team JapanIbuki Koizumi33
Qualifying Group B
TeamSkipperTotal Pts
1New Zealand NZL Sailing TeamLogan Dunning-Beck51
2United Kingdom Land Rover BAR AcademyRob Bunce51
3Spain Spanish ImpulseJordi Xammar51
4Bermuda Team BDAMacKenzie Cooper45
5United States Next Generation USACarson Crain36
6Austria Candidate Sailing TeamLukas Höllwerth36
Final
TeamSkipperTotal Pts
1United Kingdom Land Rover BAR AcademyRob Bunce50
2New Zealand NZL Sailing TeamLogan Dunning-Beck48
3Switzerland Team TiltSebastien Schneiter42
4Sweden Artemis Youth RacingRasmus Rosengren37
5France Team France JeuneRobin Follin35
6Spain Spanish ImpulseJordi Xammar34
7Germany SVB Team GermanyPaul Kohlhoff33
8Bermuda Team BDAMacKenzie Cooper33

Crew

SailorPosition
United Kingdom Neil HunterSkipper
United Kingdom Rob BunceSkipper
United Kingdom Chris TaylorHelm
United Kingdom Owen BowermanHelm
United Kingdom Annabel VoseTactician
United Kingdom Elliot HansonMainsail Trimmer
United Kingdom Will AllowayMainsail Trimmer
United Kingdom Adam KayTrimmer
United Kingdom Oli GreberTrimmer
United Kingdom Sam BattenTrimmer

Extreme Sailing Series & GC32 Racing Tour

Following on from Land Rover BAR Academy's success over the previous two years in the GC32 class, the team, newly sponsored by INEOS competed simultaneously in the 2018 Extreme Sailing Series and the 2018 GC32 Racing Tour, both in the hydro-foiling GC32 Class catamaran class. The INEOS Rebels youth team finished in 4th place overall in the Extreme Sailing Series, whilst the senior INEOS Team UK team finished in 2nd place overall in the GC32 Racing Tour, with several event wins. Following the collapse of the Extreme Sailing Series at the end of 2018, the team began using their two GC32s for two boat training in preparation for their 36th America's Cup campaign.

Extreme Sailing Series 2018
TeamSkipperTotal Pts
1Switzerland AlinghiArnaud Psarofaghis92
2Oman Oman AirPhil Robertson83
3Denmark SAP Extreme Sailing TeamAdam Minoprio83
4Austria Red Bull Sailing TeamRoman Hagara72
5United Kingdom INEOS Rebels UKLeigh Macmillan70
6Mexico Team MexicoErik Brockmann56
GC32 Racing Tour 2018
TeamSkipperTotal Pts
1France NorautoFranck Cammas7
2United Kingdom INEOS Team UKSir Ben Ainslie17
3France ZoulouErik Maris19
4Switzerland RealteamJerome Clerc20
5United States ArgoJason Carroll23
6New Zealand Frank RacingSimon Hull27
7Australia .film RacingSimon Delzoppo31
8Argentina Codigo Rojo RacingFrederico Ferioli41

Sail GP

On 26 November 2019, SailGP announced that Ben Ainslie would join the Great Britain SailGP Team as helm on the British F50 foiling catamaran. The team announced title sponsorship from INEOS, with the sailing team made up of both existing SailGP GBR and INEOS Team UK sailors. The collaboration between the teams concluded at the end of 2020.

The team's first and only SailGP event was in Sydney in February 2020. Ainslie's crew won four of the five fleet races, before taking the win in the final race against Tom Slingsby's Australian team. The second round of the 2020 SailGP series was due to be held in San Francisco in May 2020,[16] however SailGP delayed the second season until 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with points from the Sydney race removed from the championship.[17]

Crew

SailorPosition
United Kingdom Sir Ben AinslieHelm
United Kingdom Chris DraperCEO
Australia Luke ParkinsonFlight Controller
Australia Iain JensenWing Trimmer
United Kingdom Richard MasonTrimmer
United Kingdom Matt GotrelGrinder
United Kingdom Neil HunterGrinder

Results

Pos Team AustraliaSYD[lower-alpha 1] Points
1 2 3 4 5 F
1 United Kingdom Great Britain 1 1 1 1 4 1 47
2 Australia Australia 2 3 5 2 1 2 42
3 Japan Japan 3 4 3 3 3 39
4 Spain Spain 5 2 2 4 2 31
5 United States United States 4 6 4 5 5 31
6 Denmark Denmark 7 5 6 7 6 22
7 France France 6 DNS DNS 6 7 14
Citation:[18]
Key
Colour Result
1 Winner
2 Second place
3 Third place
4–7 Finish
DNF Did not finish
DNS Did not start
DSQ Disqualified
WH Withheld from racing
C Race cancelled

36th America's Cup

In 2018 it was announced that the team would join forces with INEOS and would challenge for the 36th America's Cup in Auckland, New Zealand, as INEOS Team UK.[19] The team will race for Royal Yacht Squadron Racing.

The INEOS team boasts a world class sailing crew including Team Principal Skipper Sir Ben Ainslie and fellow Olympic Gold medallist Giles Scott. Combined, the team has 16 America's Cup wins and eight Olympic medals.[20]

INEOS Team UK's leadership team includes four times Cup winner Grant Simmer as CEO[21] and Nick Holroyd, who was instrumental in bringing foiling technology into the Cup, as Chief Designer.[22]

On 4 October 2019 INEOS Team UK launched their first America's Cup boat from their HQ in Portsmouth, naming her ‘Britannia’ in homage to one of Britain's most famous racing yachts, after over 90,000 design hours and 50,000 construction hours.[23]

In January 2020 the team relocated to Cagliari, Sardinia, for a winter training camp with the team's first America's Cup boat.[24] In March 2020, however, due to the COVID-19 global pandemic the team made the decision to withdraw all sailing operations from Sardinia and return to the UK.[25]

In October 2020 the team relocated to Auckland for the 36th America's Cup[26] and on 16 October the team launched their race boat for the 36th America's Cup, Britannia, a foiling monohull capable of estimated top speeds of over 50 knots (93 km/H, 57.5 MP/H) and a significant evolution from the team's first AC75 with noticeable changes to hull shape, deck layout and more.[27]

Yachts

ClubNameLaunch dateClass
 Royal Yacht SquadronT5August 2018Quant 28F
 Royal Yacht SquadronBritanniaOctober 2019AC75
 Royal Yacht SquadronBritannia IIOctober 2020AC75

Crew

SailorPosition
United Kingdom Sir Ben AinslieSkipper
United Kingdom Giles ScottTactician
United Kingdom Leigh MacmillanFlight Controller
Australia Luke ParkinsonFlight Controller
United Kingdom Bleddyn MonMainsail Trimmer
Australia Joey NewtonTrimmer
United Kingdom Nick HuttonTrimmer
United Kingdom Richard MasonTrimmer
United Kingdom Ben CornishGrinder
United Kingdom Chris BrittleGrinder
United Kingdom David CarrGrinder
Australia Graeme SpenceGrinder
United Kingdom Matt GotrelGrinder
United Kingdom Neil HunterGrinder
United Kingdom Oli GreberGrinder
United Kingdom Tim CarterGrinder

2019-2020 America's Cup World Series

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first two events in the 2019-20 America's Cup World Series due to be held in Cagliari[28] and Portsmouth[29] were cancelled due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports. The four AC36 teams competed in the third and final ACWS event in Auckland in December 2020. INEOS Team UK struggled to keep their AC75 foiling during their manoeuvres, consequently ending the event with no wins, and in last place overall.

ACWS Auckland
TeamHelmWL
1New Zealand Emirates Team New ZealandPete Burling51
2United States American MagicDean Barker42
3Italy Luna Rossa Prada PirelliJames Spithill
Francesco Bruni
33
4United Kingdom INEOS Team UKSir Ben Ainslie06

Prada Cup

Following a disappointing performance in the Auckland ACWS event in December 2020, the team spent the following three weeks making modifications to their boat Britannia ahead of the start of the Prada Cup qualifying series. This included a new mast and sails as well as modifications to the hull and foils. The team received support from INEOS sponsored Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team.

INEOS Team UK dominated the Round Robin phase of the Prada Cup which saw them race and beat each of the two other challenger teams three times, securing their place in the Prada Cup Final beginning on the 13th of February 2021. The team's place in the Prada Cup final marked a significant point in their campaign, being the furthest any British challenge had progressed in the competition since the introduction of a challenger selection series.

Round Robins
TeamHelmWL
1United Kingdom INEOS Team UKSir Ben Ainslie60
2Italy Luna Rossa Prada PirelliJames Spithill
Francesco Bruni
33
3United States American MagicDean Barker06

After Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli's win in the Prada Cup Semi-Finals against American Magic, the American team was eliminated from the event, securing the Italian team's place in the Prada Cup Final alongside INEOS Team UK.

The Prada Cup Finals were held in predominantly light wind (8-14 knots), with Luna Rossa showing great improvement in boat handling, winning the first 5 races consecutively. INEOS Team UK showed superior downwind pace in Race 6, taking their sole race win before Luna Rossa dominated Day 4 to take their sixth and seventh race win for the Prada Cup overall, and securing their place in the 36th America's Cup Match against Emirates Team New Zealand.

Final
TeamHelmWL
1Italy Luna Rossa Prada PirelliJames Spithill
Francesco Bruni
71
2United Kingdom INEOS Team UKSir Ben Ainslie17

Notes

  1. Although the first round in Sydney was successfully completed before the delay of the rest of the season, points scored were later removed from the championship.

References

  1. Ainslie defends Oracle cup role, Independent, 11 January 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  2. World, Yachting (10 January 2012). "Ainslie Reveals Cup Plans". Yachting World.
  3. Ben Morris (14 February 2014). "Olympic sailor looking for $100m". BBC News. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  4. "Ben Ainslie and Adrian Newey join forces in America's Cup bid". The Guardian. 4 December 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  5. New title sponsor for British America's Cup push, sportbusiness.com, 20 August 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  6. "America's Cup HQ bid part of Solent recovery plan". BBC News. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  7. "Sir Ben Ainslie confirms America's Cup HQ Solent plan". BBC News. 10 May 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  8. "Sir Ben's America's Cup Portsmouth HQ plans approved". BBC News. 18 June 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  9. "Sir Ben Ainslie: America's Cup Portsmouth HQ gets £7.5m". BBC News. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  10. Sailing team HQ scoops BREEAM 'Excellent' rating Archived 25 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Engineering and Technology Magazine, IET, 22 July 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  11. "Case Study - Land Rover BAR". 20 September 2016.
  12. "Henrilloyd". Archived from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  13. Kate Laven, Ben Ainslie in surprise defeat at America's Cup World Series in Naples, The Telegraph, 21 April 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  14. Gavin Clarke, Oracle Team USA sailors admit breaking America's Cup rules, The Register, 12 August 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  15. America's Cup Jury, Jury Notice JN096, 8 August 2013
  16. Warren, Adrian (29 February 2020). "GB sink Australia's hopes in Sydney SailGP". 7 News Australia. Archived from the original on 4 January 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  17. "SailGP Season 2 rescheduled for 2021". SailGP. 4 May 2020. Archived from the original on 6 May 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  18. "SailGP Sydney Results". SailGP. 29 February 2020. Archived from the original on 18 March 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  19. "INEOS TEAM UK officially challenge for the Auld Mug". www.sail-world.com. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  20. "About INEOS TEAM UK". www.ineosteamuk.com. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  21. "Meet the team | Grant Simmer". www.ineosteamuk.com. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  22. "The Design View with Nick Holroyd". www.ineosteamuk.com. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  23. Waller, Jon (25 October 2019). "Sir Ben launches Britannia – the America's Cup yacht he hopes will rule the waves". Advertiser and Times. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  24. "Winter training camp in Cagliari begins". www.ineosteamuk.com. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  25. "Ineos Team UK Statement". www.ineosteamuk.com. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  26. "British America's Cup team relocating to Auckland". AP NEWS. 30 September 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  27. "INEOS TEAM UK christen 'Britannia' - the boat the team will race in the America's Cup". www.sail-world.com. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  28. "AMERICA'S CUP WORLD SERIES SARDEGNA – CAGLIARI DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED". Americas Cup. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  29. "UPDATE ON EMIRATES AMERICA'S CUP WORLD SERIES PORTSMOUTH EVENT". Americas Cup. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
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