‘The comeback is on’: Ainslie’s Britannia grab first points of America’s Cup

There’s been a sea change in Barcelona, where, after six calm days, the waves finally picked up enough to sweep Ineos Britannia to their first points in the 37th America’s Cup.

The British boat, skippered by Sir Ben Ainslie, won both of the day’s races, and now trail Emirates Team New Zealand 4-2 in the best-of-seven series. They were the first points Great Britain have won in an America’s Cup race since 1934, when Endeavour, skippered by the aviation pioneer Sir Tomas Sopwith, lost 4-2 to the US yacht Rainbow, skippered by Harold Vanderbilt.

“That was for everyone, both on the boat and on land,” said Ainslie, “there’s still a long way to go, but the comeback is on.”

The sea state was much choppier than it had been, and Emirates Team New Zealand were caught out by the change. They made a calamitous mistake before the start of the first race, when they dropped off their foils.

The light wind meant they were left dead in the water while Britannia circled around them. Ainslie trapped the New Zealanders in the dead zone created by dirty air coming off his sails, then sailed off into an insurmountable lead. They finished over a kilometre in front, and won by 1min 18sec.

Ineos Britannia’s second point was right behind it. The wind had picked up now, and Ainslie’s superb maneuvering during the pre-start meant his boat arrived at the start-line at the same time as Emirates Team New Zealand, but with a 10 knot speed advantage.

That gave Ineos Britannia control of the race. Emirates New Zealand’s skipper, Pete Burling, made a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes while he was trying to catch up. Britannia also splashed after their penultimate turn, but recovered to win by seven seconds.

More to follow.