Sawt Falasteen - Britain face 'ultimate challenge' in America's Cup duel with New Zealand

The 37th America's Cup best-of-13 series begins on Saturday off the coast of the Catalan capital with the four-time winners narrow favourites to retain the trophy.

"It's a really proud moment for us as proud British, we've got a very proud sporting and maritime heritage, and the America's Cup is the one thing that has always been missing from our trophy cabinet," Ben Ainslie told a news conference Friday.

"So, this is an incredible opportunity for our team, but at the same time we are coming up against incredible defenders, who are going for a third win in a row, and we know that's the ultimate challenge."

Since participating in the final preliminary regatta and Louis Vuitton Cup round robin a month ago, the double defending champions have been sitting out and watching on as the British team moved from strength to strength.

"I think the intrigue of the America's Cup is that you don't really know until you line up for the first start but we're really happy with the package that we've put together," said New Zealand skipper Peter Burling.

Ineos started in Barcelona seemingly behind Italian side Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and US team New York Yacht Club American Magic, but improved rapidly through the round robin of the challenger selection series.

They became the first British team in 60 years to reach the America's Cup and are aiming to win it for the first time ever.

The world's oldest international sporting trophy began with a race around the Isle of Wight in 1851, won by New York Yacht Club, and in the 173 years since it began off their shores Britain has not been able to lift the trophy.

Their impressive 7-4 victory over Luna Rossa in the Louis Vuitton Cup final earlier in October showed how far they have come, after the Italians thrashed them 7-1 in the 2021 challengers final in Auckland.

Billionaire British businessman and Manchester United minority owner Jim Ratcliffe is the chief backer behind Britannia, and his investments have started to pay dividends with a first return to the America's Cup since 1964.

- Battle of the helmsmen -

The second generation of AC75 foiling boats has reduced the differences between the teams, with little to choose between both vessels.

Ineos have worked with the Mercedes Formula One team to help perfect their boat, while New Zealand's is an evolved version of the craft they used in their 2021 triumph.

The similarities between the boats increases the focus on the sailors themselves, with some pitching the America's Cup as Ineos's four-time Olympic gold medallist Ainslie against New Zealand's Burling.

The latter was the youngest ever 49er Olympic gold medal skipper at 25 at the Rio de Janeiro games in 2016.

Burling is also the youngest helmsman to win the America's Cup, winning it in 2017 at 26, and then skippering the team to a superb title defence four years later.

In August Ainslie had a Rolex watch stolen at knifepoint in Barcelona but otherwise has enjoyed the last few months, as he closes in on his dream of winning the "auld mug" for Britain, having done so once already with Oracle Team USA in 2013.

Ainslie helped the Americans turn around an 8-1 deficit to beat New Zealand 9-8, winning nine consecutive races to complete an astonishing comeback.

"I've been really fortunate to have won the cup before, but not with Britain, but it's not about me, it's about the team," said Ainslie.

"We've been going for ten years now on this mission to get ourselves into the final and what a great opportunity -- we're going to give it everything we've got."

For the first time these teams are using two helmsmen each, and Briton Dylan Fletcher is Ainslie's co-skipper, while Nathan Outteridge is operating port-side for the defender.

"We've been watching pretty closely what Ben, Dylan, and the team have been up to, trying to study their moves and counter-moves," said Outteridge.

"I think what we've seen in the racing is these boats are incredibly close in terms of performance and the start is going to be really critical."

Racing begins on Saturday and will be wrapped up on or before October 21.

E.Qaddoumi--SF-PST