Sir Ben Ainslie's Britannia was back on the water alongside Team NZ in their first America's Cup trial. Video / Michael Craig
Sir Ben Ainslie has admitted to a major disadvantage with INEOS Team UK's AC75 Britannia, saying the vessel struggles in the lighter winds.
The British entry to the America's Cup were notable absentees during many of the practice sessions over the past week and had their struggles on the water. Their performances, or lack thereof, saw their boat labelled a "lame duck" by a British pundit.
Speaking ahead of the America's Cup World Series, which starts tomorrow, Ainslie said there were definitely some areas to work on, but the criticism they had been receiving was "like water off a duck's back.
"I think it's clear for everyone to see we're struggling a little bit in the lighter airs with taking off and some of the manoeuvres," Ainslie said.
"But this is a new class of boat; it's a development class and you can see in the America's Cup that as teams go through the series they get better and better. For us, in that area, we've got a bit of catching up to do.
"Together we have to sort out our issues in terms of our high-end performance, but we've got a fantastic team. We've got some brilliant designers, engineers, shore team and if anyone can sort out those issues I think it's our team, so that's our focus."
Team INEOS UK on the water during a practice race ahead of the World Series regatta. Photo / Dean Purcell
But while the vessel has been struggling in the lighter winds, Ainslie said they had experience sailing during some "pretty breezy days" over the past couple of months and were confident in how it would perform in the stronger conditions.
The team has been working away in the sheds over the past few days making changes, a lot of which were internal, in preparation to sail in this week's regatta, however Ainslie was not in a position to share that information.
The America's Cup World Series regatta, which runs from Thursday to Sunday, provides the teams with an opportunity to address any such teething issues in a race format, being the first and only chance for competitive racing before the Prada Cup challenger series early next year.
So, while the teams will be hoping for a strong showing in the races, the event doubles as a further development opportunity which, in the long run, is a more important aspect.
However, much to the delight of Ainslie's team, a decent breeze is expected on at least the first two days of this week's regatta, with race director Iain Murray indicating course C, between North Head and Bastian Point, would be used in the opening day. However, that would be confirmed on the morning of racing.
"It will be interesting tomorrow," Ainslie said. "The breeze should be a little bit stronger so it will be interesting to see how the performances stack up then."
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