America’s Cup: Nervous decision pays off for Ineos Britannia in bid to get jump on Team New Zealand

Giles Scott admits there were some nerves among the Ineos Britannia camp over a key decision in their bid to get the jump on Team New Zealand ahead of the America’s Cup.

The Challenger of Record and one of the four competing teams who are sailing in their second cycle of an AC75 regatta, the British syndicate appear well-placed to mount a competitive bid to snatch the Auld Mug.

But they were faced with a choice ahead of the past few months’ preparations as they looked to maximise their training and development on the water. While Barcelona isn’t too far a journey for the team, the Cup venue hasn’t historically served up the friendliest conditions during the northern winter.

The Brits opted to take the leap and set up their winter camp in Barcelona and have benefitted greatly as a result.

“The weather’s really playing ball and we’ve had some amazing winter’s days, which we were a little bit nervous about given the weather statistics for Barcelona at this time of the year, but the weather gods have been kind to us,” co-helmsman Scott told the Herald.

“It’s certainly something we were nervous about. I’m sure all teams were. Because if you look at the weather statistics, the winter months here can be pretty ropey but, touch wood, we’ve had four or five really good weeks of late and certainly last year we saw that Alinghi really struggled to get days on the water out here. We’ve obviously had a good roll at it.”

The Brits have been one of three teams to have set themselves up in Barcelona, alongside American Magic and French entry Orient Express Racing Team, in a bid to get as familiar with the race area as possible and, potentially, get the jump on the Defender in that sense.

Alinghi Red Bull Racing stayed in Jeddah for a large stretch but have spent a bit of time in Barcelona in recent weeks, getting some last-minute work in on their training AC75 before unveiling their new vessel. Luna Rossa have been training in Cagliari, while Team New Zealand have been hunting swells in Auckland.

While the teams have been working on their sailing aboard their AC40s, it won’t be long until they’re all back on AC75s and honing their full-scale operation. All six teams are expected to launch their new race boats in the coming months, with Team New Zealand, Luna Rossa and Alinghi all having permission for an early April launch.

Scott, who largely operated as a tactician for the Brits during the 36th edition of the Cup in Auckland, is expected to share helming duties with Sir Ben Ainslie as the teams all shift toward a dual helming system.

Scott said while every team was expected to share helming duties to avoid the need to switch sides when manoeuvring, everyone’s playbook would likely be a bit different.

“What will be different is the exact breakdown of where those responsibilities lie and any additional control that helmsmen decide to take on,” Scott said.

“From our standpoint, it’s been a bit of an evolution. In terms of percentage breakdown, if you look at how we decided to break up our playbook in AC36, I was probably driving for something like 15-20 per cent of the time for an average race.

“With the way the boats are looking now, that percentage will be drifting towards being a bit more even, but we’re pretty open to how that will look and that will continue to evolve when we launch to boat as well.

“Obviously we’ve got a pretty good idea of where we’re going to land, but I won’t go into too much detail on it.”

America’s Cup key dates

Barcelona Preliminary Regatta: August 22-25

Louis Vuitton Cup Round Robins: August 29-September 8

Louis Vuitton Cup Semifinals: September 14-19

Youth America’s Cup: September 17-26

Louis Vuitton Cup Finals: September 26-October 5

Puig Women’s America’s Cup: October 5-13

Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match: October 12-21

America’s Cup contenders

Emirates Team New Zealand (NZ - Defender)

Ineos Britannia (UK - Challenger of Record)

Alinghi Red Bull Racing (Switzerland)

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (Italy)

New York Yacht Club American Magic (USA)

Orient Express Racing Team (France)

Youth and Women’s America’s Cup teams

New Zealand, UK, Switzerland, Italy, USA, France, Australia, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Spain

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.