Ainslie pushed to the fore at Louis Vuitton ACWS Portsmouth
by 35th America's Cup 23 Jul 2015 20:22 BST
23-26 July 2015
Ben Ainslie, the hometown hero at the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series in Portsmouth, is finding his rivals are keen on naming him the favourite ahead of this weekend's racing.
"I think Ben is clearly faster than everyone," ORACLE TEAM USA skipper Jimmy Spithill said, to the applause of a home crowd eager to support the local team.
"Honestly, I think he does have a bit of an edge. But every day I think the rest of us have been getting faster. And I think you'll see that in the racing that is coming up."
Spithill wasn't alone in pushing Ainslie forward, although each skipper felt the new foiling versions of the AC45 catamarans would prove to be a leveller.
"Each team has only had their boat for about two weeks," said Nathan Outteridge of Artemis Racing. "It's been tough to learn how to sail these foiling boats - the foiling aspect changes how we race. I think it's going to be close. If you've been watching closely there was never the same boat in front... but Ben was in front more than the rest of us."
Dean Barker is one of the skippers who will be racing with a new crew in Portsmouth as his SoftBank Team Japan is coming to grips with the foiling 45s and learning to sail together - not an easy task as he says mistakes will be punished in this fleet. "The race course is going to be quite challenging so there's going to be plenty of opportunities. We've seen that it doesn't take much to go from the front to the back," he noted.
Skipper Franck Cammas, from Groupama Team France, agreed. "We've had more boats in front of us than behind us, so we have to change that. But it's a one-design class so everybody can be fast at one time or another."
Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Glenn Ashby traded gentle barbs with Spithill before talking about what it would take to win this weekend - and his focus is on crew work.
"Get off the starting line well and get around mark one in good shape... (And then you have to) take care of the boat-handling to have an opportunity to win races."
For all the pressure being put upon him, Ben Ainslie of Land Rover BAR was quick to deflect the attention, noting that every team on the stage was more than capable of winning races.
"All of the teams are going really well. ORACLE TEAM USA and Artemis Racing are the two teams that have progressed from the last Cup with similar personnel, and that shows," he said. "The rest of us are all new groups trying to come together, but with very talented squads, and I think the racing will be very close."
Today's public press conference followed an afternoon Parade of Sail, with the Opening Ceremony of the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series in Portsmouth scheduled for Thursday evening.
Official practice races are scheduled on Friday before the point-scoring races on Saturday and Sunday. Two races are scheduled each day this weekend, with start times of 13:40 and 14:25 local time in Portsmouth.
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Sailor quotes
Nathan Outteridge, helm, Artemis Racing
"I think in every practice race, everyone's taking it as seriously as they can. There's a lot to learn in a short space of time, so you've got to put your best foot forward. If you do well tomorrow, you're going to build confidence for the next day. And if you do poorly you'll be sitting up all night reviewing all the footage to work out what you did wrong. So from now on, everyone will be going full speed."
Glenn Ashby, sailing manager, Emirates Team New Zealand
"All those guys have done a lot of yachting on different boats, so the competition's going to be fierce, and they're all extremely talented. But the guys that we've got on board, you wouldn't want to go up against them individually either! I can't wait to put the racing hat on and get out there!"
Franck Cammas, skipper, Groupama Team France:
"We are really happy to be here. We have to learn a lot because the teams that are also competing are very, very good teams, the best in the world. One month ago we didn't know that we could be here today, so we are very happy and very proud to be here, but we need to work a lot!"
Dean Barker, Skipper & CEO, Softbank Team Japan:
"It's going to be a big challenge. It's been 15 years since Japan was last in the America's Cup. So it's going to be interesting, and it will be challenging but also very exciting. It's great to be here in Portsmouth, I'm enjoying the great sailing conditions that we've had out here in the training today. We've learnt a lot – still pretty rusty at times – and we're looking just to putting together a good solid series here, and look to build on that in the future."
Sir Ben Ainslie, skipper, Land Rover BAR:
"It's fantastic, I'm so proud of what the event team here have done, and for us hosting and being based here in Portsmouth to be able to race in front of our home crowd, it's such a special moment. It's a new era for the America's Cup and for the America's Cup in the UK. There was a lot of support on the back of the Oracle win [Ben was part of the winning Oracle Team USA crew in 2013] and being involved with that, but now we have a really strong British team, we're based here in Portsmouth, and we've built a fantastic new base here. It's just so exciting – you can already see the number of people down here watching the training day, so the weekend's just going to be fantastic."
Tom Slingsby, of Oracle Team USA:
"I think it's amazing! I had a walk around the set up and I can't believe how much infrastructure there is – it will definitely take a couple of hundred thousand people, and hopefully we'll get that watching this weekend. The racecourse is great, I think we should bring it as close to shore as possible, and let the spectators basically see the look on our faces! We'll push it as close as we can to that port. It's just a really good amphitheatre for sailing."
The event village re-opens tomorrow at 1000am, with FREE tickets still available at the Waterfront Festival Arena, and paid-for tickets for the Fanzone Arena offering the closest views of the racecourse. Practice racing begins at 1330pm, with a second performance of the South Coast Proms featuring the Massed Bands of Her Majesty's Royal Marines tomorrow evening