Sir Ben Ainslie has got that sinking feeling as New Zealand surge in America's Cup after Great Britain suffered battery glitch
- New Zealand were faster, slicker and free of technical problems in Barcelona
- Sir Ben Ainslie knows that Great Brtiain now have a lot of work to do
- It had been a long 60 years of waiting for a British finalist in the America's Cup
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60 years of waiting for a British finalist in the America's Cup gave way to a painful realisation in the space of one soggy afternoon in Barcelona. Sir Ben Ainslie was certainly onto something when he described the other guys as favourites.
Having been soundly beaten by Emirates Team New Zealand in the two opening races, Ainslie and his INEOS Britannia crew already require a significant comeback and kinder luck if they are to become the first team from these shores to lift the Auld Mug.
The Kiwis, chasing a third straight victory, were faster, slicker and, crucially, free of technical gremlins. To illustrate the differences in Ainslie's experience, consider the battery malfunction that played out on his yacht less than 10 minutes before the first skirmish in this best of 13 series.
In the skipper's words, the Lithium-ion cell powering their foils had gone into 'meltdown' and needed to be replaced urgently, both as a means of making the pre-start and, more fundamentally, to safeguard against a serious fire risk. They pulled off the switch, but were marginally late to the start box — when you're operating under the weight of 173 years of losing history, it was no way for the British crew to kick off their big chance.
It was also quite out of character for a 75-foot boat whose reliability was a key asset during the challenger series.
New Zealand were faster, slicker and free of technical problems in Barcelona on Saturday
Sir Ben Ainslie acknowledges that Great Britain have a lot of work to do in order to prevail
Ainslie said: 'Lithium-ion batteries are quite temperamental in every walk of life and unfortunately one of ours decided to literally have a bit of a meltdown before the start of the race. We had to get it off the boat in a hurry and replace it.
'The reliability of our boat has been incredible, so that's just one of those things. The fact the guys spotted it and managed to get out might have saved the race for us, because if we hadn't swapped it out, then we could have been in major trouble.'
While that minor crisis was navigated, a sharper question will dominate Ainslie's inquest — how do they keep up? The data will offer a cold reality check, with Pete Burling's New Zealanders winning the opening race by 40 seconds and the next by 27.
At least the second was far more competitive, especially in the first four of eight legs in which Ainslie twice held a small lead, but even that race saw a deficit of approximately 400 metres at one stage. It was chastening stuff.
Ainslie sought an upbeat tone, believing the two rival boats were well matched at most points, but it was nonetheless conspicuous that the Kiwis held a good advantage when going upwind on a day of shifty, light breezes. The theory within Ainslie's crew is that they will come into their own when the winds pick up beyond the 12-knot peak of day one, so it is presumably a concern that sedate weather is forecast for Sunday's two races.
They might privately be hoping on a postponement, though to admit as much would be a concession too far in the mind-game portion of this final.
Ainslie said: 'It was a hard, tough day. It wasn't the start we were looking for, but there were some positives.
'I think the performance, whilst they had a little edge at times, was close and certainly that second race showed we can give them a good fight. There's plenty we'll take away from today in terms of improvements to make and it is a long series ahead.
Great Britain's hopes of securing success were hindered after they suffered a battery glitch
'We've shown we're a resilient team and there's no-one dropping their heads.
'So there's a long way to go with this and the opportunity is still very much there. We said all along that taking on the Kiwis is going to be the ultimate challenge and today kind of showed that. But at the same time, I think we're continuing to learn and develop and will come back.'
The latter point was proven somewhat in rapidly overcoming some desperately poor results in the preliminary rounds to win the challenger series.
But if hopes were being attached to combat rust from Berling's crew, who have not raced for a month, then they were misplaced.
Instead, the onus will shift to the wider infrastructure of Sir Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS network, with their squadron of boffins at the Mercedes Formula 1 base in Brackley having shaped a
They could have a few late nights in store, although they will at least be heartened to have seen the Brits had a decent edge downwind, albeit one that was limited to reducing deficits rather than setting leads.
The the onus will now shift to the wider infrastructure of Sir Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS network
Ainslie added: 'Again, we knew it's going to be tough, but of course it's going to be tough. Losing the first two races is not what we wanted.
'But nothing's changed — we've got to get to seven wins and so that challenge is still on and I think we can do it.
'I thought New Zealand sailed two great races and their performance was good. Their speed was good. They managed to do a good job finding the breeze and manoeuvred well. But I think we can beat them.
'We showed in that second race — it wouldn't have taken much to go the other way. It's easy to sort of look at it and go, 'Oh, two wins'. And, you know, there's a big gap there, but I think it's maybe closer than it looks.'
