Please select your home edition
Edition
Sea Sure 2025

America's Cup - Land Rover BAR become first to launch AC50 in Bermuda

by Land Rover BAR and Sail-World on 6 Feb 2017
The LandRover BAR Race yacht "Rita" shown here being christened and launched at the teams base in Bermuda, February 6, 2017. Lloyd Images http://lloydimagesgallery.photoshelter.com/
The ambitions of Land Rover BAR to win the 35th America's Cup – and finally bring the trophy back home to Britain after 166 years – took solid form today, with the launch and christening of their America's Cup Class race boat in Bermuda.


The British boat is the first of the new AC50 boats to be launched, and is expected to be followed by Oracle Team USA on February 14, in Bermuda, and Emirates Team New Zealand, in Auckland.

The British, matt black boat represents the combined efforts across three years of the now 120-strong team and their partners. After the launch of four test boats, 85,000 hours of design and build, on the water testing and painstaking construction, the team has seen its efforts crystallised into the boat code-named R1.


Sir Ben Ainslie's wife Georgie and baby daughter Bellatrix appropriately smashed a bottle of English sparkling Nyetimber wine to christen Land Rover BAR's America's Cup Class race boat Rita – the name carried by all 19 of Ben's previous Olympic and world championship winning boats. With just 107 days to the start of racing, the team will continue with their intensive testing and development programme, which will now include 'in-house' racing against their test boat 'T3'.

In 2017 in Bermuda, the 21st British Challenger for the America's Cup will race on a tightly defined course of just a few miles at speeds that could reach 50kts.


Ben Ainslie; Land Rover BAR Team Principal and Skipper, four times Olympic gold medallist and America's Cup winner:

'It's a great moment to see our AC50 Race boat hit the water in Bermuda. The launch represents the sum of all the team's efforts to bring the America's Cup home, and we're delighted to get her in the water here in Bermuda. We're a start-up team, and we had to build not just the boat but the design and engineering team, the facilities and the processes to get to this point today. There are just a few short months before the racing starts at the end of May, and we will be working very hard now on the final development and testing of this boat to make sure we are ready for the racing.'


Richard Hopkirk; Land Rover BAR Engineering Manager:

'The design, engineering and build process for a boat of this complexity stretches back to the very earliest days of the campaign. Everyone in the team and all our partners have contributed to getting this boat ready here today, and we're all very proud of the achievement. The innovation, technology and attention to detail in the design and construction continue the America's Cup's traditions of the most advanced sailboats on the planet. We believe this is the most sophisticated and best prepared British challenger, with a total campaign design effort of 50,000 hours, and a construction effort of 35,000 hours for Rita.'

On the same day, 11th Hour Racing Co-Founder Wendy Schmidt opened the 11th Hour Racing Exploration Zone at the team's base in Bermuda. This dedicated educational space brings to life critical topics around ocean health, sustainability, innovation and technology, with a series of creative displays. The ocean is our playing field and we want to preserve it: supported by Land Rover BAR's Exclusive Sustainability Partner, 11th Hour Racing, the Exploration Zone will inspire audiences to make a tangible and positive impact by reducing ocean plastics, learning about the power of the sun as a source of renewable energy, and understanding the devastating effects of invasive species, particularly the lionfish that infests Bermudian waters. Other exhibits highlight the team's sporting and design challenge, and the technology and innovations that enable the latest generation of wing-sailed, hydrofoiling America's Cup multihulls that fly.


Land Rover BAR are bringing this unique, inspirational experience to Bermuda as part of their ambition to be the planet's most sustainable professional sports team and to engage with a number of different audiences: local residents, tourists, sailing enthusiasts, media, families and school groups are all expected to visit. The 11th Hour Racing Exploration Zone can also be used as a classroom space dedicated to delivering lessons resourcing the team's online digital education programme, BT STEM Crew. Children from six local middle schools attended the opening, and were treated to lessons on invasive species and mechanisms along with a tour of the exhibits.

Wendy Schmidt, Co-Founder of 11th Hour Racing commented:

'With the 11th Hour Racing Exploration Zone, we hope to create a legacy lasting well beyond the 35th America's Cup. Through interactive displays, we focus on some of the concerns that are top of mind for all of us: which invasive species is creating havoc in the Atlantic Ocean? How widespread is the problem of ocean plastic pollution? We also look at bigger issues, such as what it means to have a circular economy and how we can accelerate the transition to the use of more renewable energy. We are thrilled to share this story with Land Rover BAR's fans, sailing and sports enthusiasts, the public, and we hope to capture their imagination and spark creativity and interest in our oceans.'

Yesterday Land Rover BAR became the first America's Cup team to launch the America's Cup Class boat they will race in the 35th America's Cup this summer. It marks a huge milestone in the new team's campaign, and another step forward in their quest to #BringTheCupHome. Full story here: http://bit.ly/2kAfGKi

Posted by America's Cup on Tuesday, February 7, 2017










Facebook video of the christening of Land Rover BAR in Bermuda with Georgie Ainslie

Posted by Land Rover BAR on Monday, February 6, 2017
Sunstorm Marine - Mesh Bag - RIBC-Tech 2021 SnuffAir 728x90 BOTTOMZhik 2024 December

Related Articles

RS Tera Open at Gurnard Sailing Club
Southern Southern Region Traveller Series finally underway Following the cancellation of both the Warsash and Felpham RS Tera Open meetings due to strong winds, the RS Tera Southern Southern Region Traveller Series kicked off at Gurnard SC on the Isle of Wight on Saturday June 14.
Posted today at 6:21 am
J/24 UK Nationals at Brixham
Title goes down to a photo finish in the final race Four J/24s sailed round from Plymouth for the event, leaving 9 to be craned in on the 40 tonne crane. A fun fact about Brixham is that it was the landing site for William of Orange during the Glorious Revolution in 1688.
Posted today at 5:24 am
31st Block Island Race Week Day 2
Regatta Craft Mixers Race Day turns up the heat Regatta Craft Mixers Race Day turned up the heat at Block Island Race Week—literally. The Island was not spared from the heat wave sweeping the East Coast this week, but that did not put a stop to the action out on the water.
Posted today at 12:14 am
Triple amputee crosses Pacific solo & unsupported
33-year-old former Army rifleman from Doncaster, Craig Wood, has today made history 33-year-old former Army rifleman from Doncaster, Craig Wood, has today made history by becoming the world's first triple amputee to sail solo, non-stop and unsupported across the Pacific.
Posted on 24 Jun
Kieler Woche Day 5
Tuesday served as a warm-up for the hot finale of Kieler Woche Sophie Steinlein and Catherine Bartelheimer from Bavaria in the skiff, as well as Kiel native Fabian Wolf on the foiling windsurf board, will enter Wednesday's (June 25) medal races as leaders.
Posted on 24 Jun
iQFOiL International Games at Kiel day 4
Medal series line-up confirmed as wind hits hard in Kiel The fourth and penultimate day of the 3rd iQFOiL International Games in Kiel delivered full-throttle action as athletes across the Senior, Youth, and Junior fleets raced to secure their spots in the all-important Medal Series.
Posted on 24 Jun
44Cup Marstrand 2025 starts tomorrow
Fleet back up to 12 on eve of breezy Marstrand event While the RC44s were up to 11 for the last event in Porto Cervo, for this week's 44Cup Marstrand, scheduled to set sail tomorrow from the breezy west coast of Sweden, the fleet has now grown to 12.
Posted on 24 Jun
Charlie Dalin forced to cancel his 2025 season
Sam Goodchild and Loïs Berrehar to helm MACIF Santé Prévoyance for the Transat Café L'OR Due to health reasons, Charlie Dalin has been forced to cancel his 2025 season. However, in close consultation with his team, the skipper of the IMOCA MACIF Santé Prévoyance and Macif have decided to maintain the ambitious racing schedule.
Posted on 24 Jun
200 entries registered and a new rock concert
For the 2025 Taittinger RSYC Regatta With registration for the 2025 Taittinger Royal Solent Yacht Club Regatta closing at midnight on Wednesday 25 June, the current total of entries for two days of racing in the Western Solent based in Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, stands at 200.
Posted on 24 Jun
A bold start for Foiling Week 2025
The opening phase of racing has already delivered record-breaking numbers The twelfth edition of Foiling Week has kicked off with a consistent schedule and strong support from the global foiling community.
Posted on 24 Jun