Sir Ben Ainslie's America's Cup campaign is making rapid progress with the most successful Olympic sailor of all-time confident his team can bring the Auld Mug back to Britain.
The four-time Gold Medalist was tactician 16 months ago when Oracle Team USA won international sport's oldest trophy in one of the greatest comebacks ever.
Now, Ainslie is amongst the challengers, with his team, Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR), advancing well ahead of the 35th edition of the America's Cup, to be held in Bermuda in 2017.
That progress on and off the water has pleased the team principal as he looks to bring the cup back to Britain, where it all started in 1851 with the Inaugural edition held off the Isle of Wight.
"It is such a historic event," Ainslie told Press Association Sport. "It is the one thing we've never won in Britain.
"It is the oldest International Sporting Trophy in the world, so for us it is the equivalent of going out and winning the Tour de France for the first time. It is a huge deal. It would be very, very special."
BAR are quickly taking shape and a state-of-the-art base in Portsmouth is set for completion next May.
The sailing team's preparations will see them head to Bermuda on Sunday for training - a time Ainslie hopes will be more straightforward than his recent trip across the Atlantic.
Ainslie and his wife, TV presenter Georgie Thompson, made headlines this week after being rescued on their honeymoon by Sir Richard Branson having run into problems with their boat.
Branson's staff helped to fix the mechanical issue within a matter of hours, but the newlyweds stayed for a couple of days at the businessman's Necker Island home.
"You don't spend a bit of time with Richard Branson without talking about his story, how he has achieved what he has," Ainslie said.
"He is a very inspiring guy. I really enjoyed spending time with him, getting to know him better and (we) talked about many things."
Asked if the incident had been an elaborate ploy to get Branson to sponsor BAR, Ainslie laughed and said: "Well, he is actually really interested in the America's Cup.
"He has been passionate about it for a long time, but that would have to make sense for the Virgin brand, so who knows."
In all seriousness, BAR's hunt for title sponsor is going well and the team is in discussion with "a number of brands" as they look to reach their 130 Million dollars budget.
"For us in sailing and me personally, there's no bigger challenge then putting together and running an America's Cup team," Ainslie said, speaking on behalf of the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation - a charity set up to honor the life and legacy of his friend.
"That's what gets me up in the morning. It is a huge challenge, a huge responsibility.
"We are going to end up quite close to 100 people so we need to make sure we get it right for their sakes, for our investors, for our sponsors and, ultimately, because we want to win."
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