Team New Zealand's boat speed has again bailed them out after a bad start, closing an early gap to beat Luna Rossa in the final race of the America's Cup World Series - a battle described by TV commentators as "bizarre" - to claim the title. Video / NZ Herald
The America's Cup World Series was, first and foremost, a practice regatta; an opportunity for the teams hoping to lift the America's Cup early next year to sail against their foe and continue to develop before the races count.
So, while Ineos Team UK have had a week to forgeton the water, skipper Sir Ben Ainslie can see the brighter side of their losses.
Ainslie and his crew have made no secret of the fact their vessel is nowhere near up to scratch at the lighter end of the wind limit, and that was clear to see on Saturday in the final day of the World Series.
The British challenger were soundly beaten in its races against American Magic and Luna Rossa, but took the opportunity to do a little reconnaissance as they approach a three-week period that would make or break their challenge.
"In terms of understanding why we're struggling in the lighter airs in particular, it was a good learning experience to analyse the other teams; to actually get a proper look for real when they're racing at what they're doing, what's the set-up on their boat, what are we missing and how can we improve our performance," Ainslie told the Herald on Sunday.
"You have to look at it as an opportunity rather than the negatives of it and we will. We've got a really strong team, everyone's pushing hard, they're all working late into the night trying to work out why we're struggling so much with the performance, and we'll figure that out."
Ineos were left behind by American Magic. Photo / Michael Craig
With light winds yesterday, and forecast for today's Christmas Race, the UK entry always seemed destined to slip up at the back end of the weekend. However, they also lost a vital day in higher winds when they had technological issues on Thursday and were unable to complete either of their races.
They did show signs of potential in the second day of racing, being beaten by 1:32 by Team New Zealand – who had beaten Luna Rossa by more than three minutes on opening day – but the light airs on Saturday saw them struggle mightily.
As a result of their performances, the British crew had received plenty of unflattering press; something Ainslie said simply came with the territory.
"I've been in this game a long time; I'm used to the ups and downs of professional sport," he said. "It's part of the challenge. If you want to compete at this level, you've got to be prepared to take that on.
"For our team, we're not where we want to be now, but we're going to move heaven and earth to get to where we need to be."
Ineos Team UK have until mid-January to make the adjustments necessary to be a competitive participant in the Prada Cup Challengers' Series, which runs from January 15 to February 22.
With just one day left of competitive racing before then, Ainslie said that despite the forecast for unfavourable conditions, his crew needed to take this last opportunity to gain as much information about their vessel and how to approach the racing as they could.
Ineos Team UK went winless in the World Series. Photo / Michael Craig
Ineos Team UK will meet America's Cup defenders Team New Zealand in the first round of the Christmas Race on Sunday, with the winner going on to meet the winner between American Magic and Luna Rossa, while the two losing teams will have a second race to determine the lowest placings.
"We've got three weeks and then we're into racing for keeps. We've got the defenders who are really setting the standard, and this is the opportunity to really measure up, try and work out what changes to make, in what wind conditions are you struggling for performance, why and what you can do about it," he said.
"It probably isn't our conditions from the look of the forecast, but at the same time we'll be out there, we'll be pushing hard as we always do, then we've got this couple of weeks over Christmas and the New Year into the Challengers' Series and that's our opportunity to make some changes and make some big gains."
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