On Friday 23rd October, BRITANNIA, INEOS TEAM UK’s new race boat for the 36th America’s Cup, took flight on her first sail out of the Waitemata Harbour.

After a full on week for the systems and shore team completing the final fit out, the British team was met by a 165 strong fleet of racing boats about to start New Zealand’s largest coastal regatta ‘The Coastal Classic’ as they exited the Viaduct for their maiden sail.

Team Principal and Skipper Sir Ben Ainslie commented “It was great to be back out on Auckland waters, delivering perfect conditions for our first commissioning sail of BRITANNIA. A huge thank you to the whole shore team and in particular the systems team for their efforts to get us out on the water.

“The early performance indications were good, but we need to maximise our time on the water. The hard work continues.”

BRITANNIA is a significant evolution from the team’s first AC75 with noticeable changes to hull shape and deck layout. Each of the grinders now has their own individual forward facing fixed position, increasing the overall power output significantly from the RB1 set-up.

With 55 days until racing begins in the America’s Cup World Series warm up regatta (Auckland, 17-20 December), INEOS TEAM UK need to make every second count out on the water.

 BRITANNIA takes flight in Auckland Harbour © C Gregory

by Nick Heemskerk