America's Cup - Brits combine forces to compete in 52 Super Series

by Landrover BAR and Sail-World.com/nz on 7 Oct 2017 The British America's Cup team have announced that they have struck up a relationship with Tony Langley's 52ft team and will compete in the upcoming 52 Super Series.

Land Rover BAR's Ben Ainslie the winner of five Olympic medals, four of them Gold, will lead his team aboard Langley Holdings’ Gladiator TP52 in one of the world’s leading high performance monohull race series. An experienced America's Cup sailor and helmsman, Ainslie has sailed with several America's Cup teams, including Emirates Team New Zealand, Oracle Team USA, Team Origin (GBR) and his own Land Rover BAR.

On September 29th, Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) confirmed that their defence of the 36th America’s Cup in Auckland will take place in 75ft monohull boats, and not the wingsailed foiling catamarans of the last two editions of sport’s toughest contest.

The full details of the new AC75 class is expected to be unveiled on 31st March 2018, with a concept announcement to teams and media next month. In the meantime, the Challenger teams will look to develop their monohull sailing skills, which are significantly different to those required for the foiling catamarans raced in the 35th America’s Cup.

Tony Langley will continue at the helm of Gladiator, a role he has maintained since 2012. The team tied the latest event in Mahon this month, scoring equal points to the 2017 Series champions Azzurra, only losing out on the regatta victory after the tie-breaker.

Along with New York Yacht Club, Land Rover BAR have already said that they will contest the 36th America’s Cup in Auckland, after reaching the challenger semi-finals for the 35th Cup in Bermuda this summer, losing to Emirates Team New Zealand, the eventual winner and the new holder of the trophy. Land Rover BAR are expected to challenge again under the burgee of the Royal Yacht Squadron, one of the most prestigious yacht clubs in the world.

New York Yacht Club's entry Bella Mente Quantum Racing Association will also compete in the 52 Super Series in Quantum Racing, which under Doug DeVos is a five times winner of the season championship in the class.

“The return to monohull racing for the America’s Cup means that the 52 Super Series will be great racing for our sailing team. We are delighted to be working with Tony Langley, he is one of the biggest supporters of British sailing and this will give us a unique opportunity to return to the subtleties of monohull sailing at an extremely high level. This allows not just our sailing team, but also our design and performance teams to start developing our tools and methodology as we begin our 36th America’s Cup campaign.” said Ainslie in a written statement.

Land Rover BAR becomes the second America's Cup team to announce that they will be competing in the 52 Super Series after the class was specifically excluded from the definition of a Surrogate boat in the 36th America's Cup Protocol announced in Auckland last week.

The move also appears set to head off a second British for the America's Cup which was tipped to be backed by Langley, a billionaire and owner of Langley Holdings, an engineering and industrial group.

At the media conference held immediately after their elimination from the Semi-Finals of the Challenger Selection Series, Ben Ainslie announced that Land Rover BAR's sponsors had signed on for a campaign for the 36th America's Cup and that they had the funding for a second challenge by the Portsmouth based team. The team's other programs have also continued.