Ainslie out of 35th America’s Cup

Peter Burling and ETNZ dumped Sir Ben Ainslie and LandroverBAR out of the 35th America’s Cup after getting the five wins needed for the America’s Cup Finals.

Ben sat by himself as a solitary figure at the table usually packed with AC35 helmsmen explaining their latest race. He was a lonely figure.

But he talked in firm tones about how proud he was of his team, right from the sailors, to those who started the LandroverBAR trip three years ago, like Sir Charles Dunstone and Sir Keith Mills.

Scuttlebutt Europe this morning ran Ben’s farewell speech to the 35th America’s Cup, as he also assured everybody Land Rover and 11th Hour Racing – and others – have all confirmed they will continue their partnerships with the team. for the next America’s Cup.

In the meantime, Ben and the LandroverBAR team have to pack up and head back to the UK to start scheming for the next campaign.

Scuttlebutt Europe reports on the other Semi-Finals, Nathan Outteridge and Artemis Racing mounted an almighty comeback against their Japanese rivals.

Dean Barker’s SoftBank Team Japan won 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 Burling and his crew, the incredible efforts the team made from Tuesday to Thursday to repair the boat that was so badly damaged in Tuesday’s pitchpole were repaid handsomely, putting themselves into the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger Playoffs Finals as the first team to reach that stage.

Turning his attention to the potential opponent in the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger Playoffs Final, Burling admitted he does not have a preference between Artemis Racing or SoftBank Team Japan.

In stark contrast to Tuesday’s poor performance, Nathan Outteridge and his team looked assured throughout the race, maintaining a slender lead over the pursuing SoftBank Team Japan.

While Dean Barker sailed an almost faultless race, Artemis Racing did not make the mistake the Japanese team would have been hoping for and Nathan Outteridge steered his team home with a 28 second victory, levelling the scores at 3-3 ahead of the teams’ third and final battle of the day.

Race results
Semi-Final 1 Race 5: Emirates Team New Zealand beat Land Rover BAR by 31 seconds
Semi-Final 1 Race 5: Artemis Racing beat SoftBank Team Japan by 39 seconds
Semi-Final 1 Race 6: Land Rover BAR beat Emirates Team New Zealand 20 seconds
Semi-Final 1 Race 6: Artemis Racing beat SoftBank Team Japan by 28 seconds
Semi-Final 1 Race 7: Emirates Team New Zealand beat Land Rover BAR by 46 seconds
Semi-Final 1 Race 7:Artemis Racing beat SoftBank Team Japan by 1 minute and 46 seconds

americascup.com