America’s Cup: British coming to the USA

Land Rover Ben Ainslie Racing has their sights again on the America’s Cup in 2021, but with the event in its formative stage, the British team is motivated to keep sharp on the race course. They will be doing that by competing in the 52 SUPER SERIES 2018 through an alliance with Tony Langley’s TP52 Gladiator.

“The 52 SUPER SERIES is a great opportunity to have our core sailing team active on the water, doing some hard racing this year,” explains Ainslie. “With no Cup racing this year of any kind, the 52 SUPER SERIES is the most competitive racing there is.

“It is not foiling, but it is a key chance to have the team out there building the relationships in the core sailing team and performing at the highest level.”

However, as that Mediterranean circuit does not launch until May, and with the British winter not offering much relief, the foundation of the team’s pre-season prep will be warm-weather racing and training with the Pac52 Class on Langley’s US-based TP52 in Southern California.

The Pac52 Class, which got legs as an organization in 2017 with six teams competing in its inaugural season championship, is starting off 2018 with nine teams for the SCYA Midwinters on February 10-11 in San Diego, with Britain’s America’s Cup team coming to the party.