Reaching America’s Cup ‘a huge moment’ – Ainslie
Great Britain will compete for the America’s Cup for the first time since 1964 after beating Italy 7-4 in a qualifying event in Barcelona.
Ineos Britannia won the first of two races in Spain on Friday to seal the best-of-13 series against the Italian Luna Rossa team.
The victory means Great Britain will take on New Zealand for the trophy on 12 October.
The team, skippered by four-time Olympic champion Sir Ben Ainslie, have been heavily backed by British billionaire and Manchester United minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
“It’s a massive day for our team,” Ainslie said on the America’s Cup live broadcast.
“This moment is for you.”
Speaking exclusively to BBC sports editor Dan Roan in Barcelona, Ratcliffe said: “It’s 60 years since we’ve been in this place. They sailed a faultless race today.
“This is right up there really. It’s not followed by the mass public, but I think in the UK now it’ll pick up momentum, and it should do because it’s the oldest international trophy in the world and the only one we haven’t won.”
Ineos Britannia built up a 150 m lead on Luna Rossa after the first leg of eight but saw the gap closed to under 30m after the fifth leg.
But the British team once again extended their lead, finishing around 300m clear of the Italians.
The America’s Cup, which is the oldest international sporting competition in the world, having started in 1851, has never been won by Great Britain.
British female team aiming for history
Hannah Mills, the most successful female sailor in Olympic history, says her team are aiming to make history at the first female-only America’s Cup.
The two-time world champion is skipper and co-helm of the British challenger Athena Pathway team, with qualifying on 5 October.
Mills set up the Athena Pathway organisation alongside Ainslie and says she wants to help improve the diversity in sailing.
“Ben Ainslie and I started it together to create a mission for more youth and more women in our sport to have the opportunity to get to the America’s Cup – on and off the water,” Mills told BBC Radio 5 Live.
Mills says it is “crazy” that it has taken this long for a female-only event but “hopefully it’s a massive step forward and will become the norm.
Unlike the male event which is typically match racing, the women’s event is largely fleet racing and has four people on board.
Another key difference in the women’s event is that the teams are all using the same boats.
“There’s six teams racing at once in a boat called the AC40, which is 40ft long,” said Mills.
“We go in speeds of up to 50mph. It’s seriously fast.
“They’re very short, intense races – about 15 minutes each – and ultimately we’re trying to finish in the top two to qualify for the final, which is then a match rac
