Back to where it all started in 1851

On the day that the America’s Cup race course and event dates were announced in Cowes, where the Cup began back in 1851, INEOS TEAM UK the British Challenger for the 36th America’s Cup also released the first official images of their test boat, known as T5, a small scale foiling monohull.

No team’s full-size race boat can be launched until before the 31st March 2019, under the America’s Cup rules. The boat began sailing in late June and has sailed regularly from the team’s Portsmouth base through the summer.

“Sailing T5 is an important part of the learning process with this new concept,” says Ben Ainslie.

Grant Simmer, INEOS TEAM UK CEO, was keen to stress this is only the start of a long process of design and development in the build up to the America’s Cup in 2021. “We know the other teams won’t be that far behind us and we must keep pushing harder than ever. This is a good start and a real credit to the whole team.”

MIN wonders how these boats will fare in the high speed close racing we all expect to see when the event begins in earnest…