Sir Ben Ainslie and Land Rover BAR’s quest to win the 35th America’s Cup came to an early end on Thursday in Bermuda when Peter Burling and Emirates Team New Zealand sealed the British team’s fate by reaching the magic five wins needed against Land Rover BAR to progress to the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger Playoffs Finals.
In the other Semi-Finals, Nathan Outteridge and Artemis Racing mounted an almighty comeback against their Japanese rivals, Dean Barker’s SoftBank Team Japan, winning three races on the trot to take the score in their Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger Playoffs Semi-Finals to 4-3, meaning they will race again on Friday to decide the second Finalist.
For Ainslie and his team, they were ultimately beaten by Emirates Team New Zealand twice on Thursday, sealing their fate 5-2 and leaving them heading back to Britain without the America’s Cup they were so determined to take home.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the team. It has been an amazing journey for us,” said Sir Ben Ainslie following Land Rover BAR’s elimination from the America’s Cup.
“Three and a half years ago three of us were sitting around a table in London with nothing more than a few ideas and some support from a few early investors.
“What we’ve achieved now is phenomenal really. We may have bowed out of the competition and ultimately failed to bring the America’s Cup home but we knew it was going to be incredibly tough.
“We gave it our best attempt and certainly, where this team has come from, particularly in the previous few months, is a huge credit to everyone in the team.”
Turning his attention to the future, Sir Ben Ainslie revealed that Land Rover BAR will be back for the next instalment of the America’s Cup after agreeing deals with their major partners.
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