Ben Ainslie accuses Italians of ‘gamesmanship’ as Ineos’ yellow card stands
Sir Ben Ainslie has accused the Luna Rossa team of a classic piece of ‘America’s Cup gamesmanship’ over its successful protest against an irregularity on Britannia that could yet play a key role in the outcome of the Prada Cup.
His irritation remains all too obvious about a rules issue that could lead to his team forfeiting a race in the best-of-13 series.
“There’s a bit going on there, in terms of classic America’s Cup gamesmanship, in terms of ‘can the Italians try to use it against us?’ – I don’t know,” the British skipper told The Times.
Luna Rossa successfully filed a complaint of non-compliance against a sail system used on INEOS Team UK in the Prada Cup round-robin in January.
That was strike one for Ainslie and a second violation will see Ineos disqualified from its next race, potentially in this best-of-13 series that makes up the Prada Cup starting on February 13.
According to the New Zealand Herald, the sail system in question was originally passed by the measurement committee ahead of racing and was deemed non-performance enhancing, so Ainslie sought to get the yellow card dismissed.
Although meetings were held seeking consensus, they were in vain.
Ainslie concedes he will have to operate with the threat of disqualification hanging over his team at a crucial time of the regatta. He knows the Italians won’t be giving up that advantage.
“That’s the game. We’ll go into the Prada Cup final with our eyes wide open as to some of the tactics,” says Ainslie.
Because of this, Ainslie says there will be an added focus on compliance leading into racing. The addition of more available measurers following American Magic’s departure is a welcome bonus.
“In terms of getting that scrutineering and that attention to detail, hopefully that will be that much more thorough. We will work very, very hard with them to make sure that the boat is absolutely compliant, as it should be,” he says.
Over the last week, Ineos Team UK has taken the opportunity to make improvements while Luna Rossa and American Magic were still competing. It’s a period Ainslie says was much needed.
“The development has been going well for us. We have talked about needing to improve our speed and that list is ongoing, it is endless really,” says Ainslie.
“We have made certain changes to the boat in the period that we have had that we hope will improve its speed. We have got 10 days till we start racing and we have still got more work to do. The shore team have been working around the clock to try to get those upgrades on to the boat in time and hopefully that will make some difference.
“We know we need to be quicker in the lighter airs. We have been quite open that has been a bit of an Achilles heel to us and the question remains, can we bridge that gap to Luna Rossa who have been the real high performer in the lighter airs in particular?”
Ineos Team UK and Luna Rossa will meet in a best-of-13 series to determine the winner of the Prada Cup and official challenger for the America’s Cup. The Prada Cup final series begins on February 13.
Images courtesy of Studio Borlenghi.
Jimmy is scared, he has sailed with Ben and knows what he is capable of. Let’s face it he’s the most decorated sailor there. That’s why there playing this hand. I hope the Jimmy eats his words! “Just ineos now boys” let’s wait and see. I know this it’s going to be amazing racing!🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
Opps, I think you have made Ben angry, not a good move
If the measurers approved a feature on the boat that should be the end of it, anything else will lead to the competition being decided by lawyers not by sailing.
Seems harsh that something passed by scrutineers before a race is then deemed worth a yellow card afterwards. Bound to be lots of gamesmanship but if I was the Italians I’d be wary of giving Ben any more motivation than he already has…..
If the issue was corrected then the strike should be removed.
Some more great racing to look forward to anyway.
Perhaps the Italians should rename their boat ‘Costa Concordia’ or ‘Isla da Gigolo’ just to remind them of their impeccable seafaring reputation.
Very unfair and no sportsmanship . But keep up the good work . Rooting for you and your crew.
Italians running scared, history shows it’s a trait of theirs
What a waste of money! A battle between big wallets and tax avoidance schemes. The world is going to Hell in a handcart and plastc off shore patriots throw money into the ocean.
There was me thinking that once the Measurers were satisfied, and I believe the fine for infringement having been paid then the issue was null and void, Clearly the Italian translation of the rules lacks some of the detail. If it takes a full morning for an authorised measurer to measure a racing dinghy , just imagine how long it takes to measure something unlike anything ever seen before.
Vincerà luna Rossa e il prossimo giro verrete a regatare in Italia 👍👍
Typical Americas Cup tactics, going back decades. Unwise to make Sir Ben very cross and I suspect he is!!!
You English are so funny… Its not surprising most other countries laugh about you.
Lol.. I’d like to see you saying that to my cousins in Sicily. I guarantee it would be you running away.
It’s not a good idea to start referring to cruise ship or ship tragedies in the blame game. They will remind us of the Titanic for starters.
Here we go again us british helmsman crew on any boat are the best in the world that is why all these other teams will try to protest against us why not have a back to back race’s to see who wins or see if they can beat Ben in a solo or a 505 merlin rocket what ever boat Ben is at the helm he will win
Maurizio
Luna Rosa has scored a point focussing on a thing which doesn’t add to the speed of Brittania. It shows a cheap and petty attitude because your team thinks it needs to win by Phyric victories not real ones!
Your not laughing though!!
Wasnt it Jimmy and his team who altered course to try and get Inios to lose the race on ‘that’ cross last week.
C’mon what made wrong Luna Rossa? A rule exist and an arbitration panel has given the yellow card respecting the rules. This is an advantage for Luna Rossa taken in a legal way. This is america’s cup since 1851, a race played with boats, rules and protests. Do I have to remember you 33th edition?
@Ken: go back and see the race again. Luna Rossa did not change the course, simply was following the windshift and you can see it clearly because the boat speed was not decreasing. Anway the arbitration panel clarified that in the same situation they will give the penalty in the future because was not holliwood and the referee decision was wrong. And you know… who cares because also a wrong decision of the referee is part of the match and going on complaining will never change the score. Same for the yellow card!