Ben Ainslie off to strong start in World Series

Helmsman Peter Burling has had a solid debut in official America’s Cup racing, guiding Team New Zealand to second overall after day one of the AC World Series regatta in England.

Ainslie’s crew now sit one point ahead of the New Zealanders, with the America’s Cup holders, Oracle Team USA, in third.

Ben Ainslie, the man who is leading the British challenge for the America’s Cup, holds a narrow lead after the first day of racing at the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series in Portsmouth.

Olympic sailor Shirley Robertson said after Team BAR won the first race: “We’ve renamed Southsea shoreline “Ben’s beach”.

‘We really wanted to do well in front of our home crowd and we were well prepared for today.’ While it was a dream start for the home team, the other British skipper at this event – double Olympic champion Iain Percy – suffered a poor start with his Swedish team Artemis Racing, who lie in last place.

A new, state-of-the-art headquarters has been built in Portsmouth and the team will step up their preparations this weekend as the south coast city hosts the first leg of the America’s Cup World Series. Since all the AC45F boats used yesterday were identical, a true test of sailing skill and teamwork ensued, with the efficiency of the BAR team and Ainslie’s skills at the helm coming out on top.

Almost 50,000 fans were cheering him on from the venue ashore (with many more stacked along the waterfront outside the ticketed venue). We have so many people on shore working on our behalf and cheering us on.

On Saturday, Team BAR battled it out against Oracle from the US, as well as crews and boats from New Zealand, France, Japan and Sweden.

He said: “We couldn’t have asked for anything better as a start but we’re certainly not getting carried away. For them to see this level of support is brilliant”. Barker says the new team, sailing together for the first time in Portsmouth, is undergoing a learning process.

NZ maintained that lead through to the end, with BAR finishing in second place 20 seconds later after advancing up from third place on the tense final turn of the course.