Sailing-Britain reach first America's Cup final for 60 years
· CNA · JoinBARCELONA : Britain reached their first America's Cup final for 60 years on Friday, defeating Italy to set up a head-to-head against holders New Zealand this month off Barcelona.
There were screams and shouts of celebration among the eight sailors on board the British AC75 foiling boat after they crossed the finish line to claim the Louis Vuitton Cup series over Italy and with it the right to challenge New Zealand.
The British have never won the "Auld Mug" since it began off the south coast of England in 1851 and have not qualified for the "match" to challenge for it since 1964.
But skipper Ben Ainslie, with the backing of British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe has built a boat with the help of Formula One team Mercedes that he hopes can go all the way.
"We don't have very long to celebrate this. I think within probably 30 seconds of the finish line many of us were already thinking about what lies ahead," Ainslie said, thanking all the people who had supported British sailing over many years.
Ainslie and his crew were joined by Ratcliffe after they were presented with the silverware for beating the Italian team in a tightly-contested race.
"It was a big one, there was plenty on the line," Ainslie said of the race against Italy, adding that his team would be a lot stronger for the way in which the Italians had pushed them.
AINSLIE MISSION
The 47-year-old, who is the most successful ever Olympic sailor, has made it his mission to bring the Cup home, spearheading a campaign that has cost more than 100 million pounds ($131 million) to develop a state-of-the art boat.
"There's a huge investment of time and money and you just want to make it count," Ainslie said.
And after a couple of days to decompress, the team would be getting ready for "the fight of our lives" against New Zealand in first-to-seven America's Cup match which begins on Oct. 12.
The British crew, who on Wednesday broke a stalemate in the first-to-seven series with back-to-back wins, led from the start of Friday's crucial high-speed contest, holding off repeated challenges from the Italians in perfect sailing conditions.
"It's tough, but that's sport and it's going to be a tough few days for the team, but the better team won and I just want to say 'well done' to Ben and Dylan (Fletcher) and the whole (British) team," said Italian co-helm Jimmy Spithill.
Spithill, an America's Cup veteran who won the coveted prize twice with the United States, said that it was time to "hang up his gloves" and hand over to the next generation.
For Britain's Fletcher, who got a late call-up from Ainslie to co-helm after years of pestering him for a place on board, said the feeling of making the final was "a lifelong dream".
"The way we have been developing as a team has been fantastic ... It's pretty unbelievable to be sat here," he said, adding that he was "looking forward to showing what we can do in the America's Cup next weekend".
Ainslie's boat was towed back to its port base to the sound of blaring horns, flanked by a flotilla of yachts and launches, with the crew gathered on deck as they savoured the moment.
There were tears among the Italian crew and their supporters, with the team principal Max Sirena paying tribute to them all and to the British campaign, while vowing that Italy would be back to challenge again.
($1 = 0.7635 pounds)
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