Video: INEOS Britannia’s AC75 arrives in Barcelona ahead of America’s Cup

Ineos Britannia’s race boat for the 37th America’s Cup has made the 1,000 mile journey from its UK base in Northamptonshire to Barcelona, Spain. The AC35’s arrival in Spain follows two-and-a-half years of design, build and fit-out in the UK.

“It’s been a tense few days tracking the route of RB3 from a small Northamptonshire village to the busy city of Barcelona,” says team principal and skipper, Sir Ben Ainslie, but it’s “a relief” to have the race boat, known as RB3, arrive in Barcelona.

The British Challenger’s AC75 left Turweston Airfield on Tuesday 2 April and travelled by road to Portsmouth, where it began its sea crossing to Bilbao via ferry. The race boat, known as RB3, was then transported by road to INEOS Britannia’s Barcelona base, arriving on Saturday 6 April.

Ainslie says the team and partners have worked tirelessly to get to this point. “It’s great to have RB3 arrive at its new home. Although it’s a relief to have the race boat in Barcelona, the work doesn’t stop. Our focus will now be on launching the boat and getting some good sailing hours in ahead of the preliminary regatta in August.”

The Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup will take place between August and October 2024 in Barcelona. A preliminary regatta takes place on 22-25 August before the five challenging teams battle it out in round robin races to take on defenders Emirates Team New Zealand in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final.

RB3 began its lifecycle with the design and engineering team, which is based at the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team site in Brackley, Northamptonshire. Ineos Britannia partnered with the F1 Team’s Applied Science division to bring together talent from the high-performance marine and automotive industries. The team of 100 designers and engineers painstakingly researched and tested concepts for the AC75, before the final design was sent to build.

The initial build took place at Carrington Boats in Hythe, Hampshire, which is where the team’s boat for the 36th America’s Cup was also built. The hull and deck were built separately at Carrington Boats before being joined together. Structural work then took place before an army of painters descended to brand the boat. RB3 then travelled to Turweston Airfield in Northamptonshire, where it underwent structural and load testing.

GAC Pindar was brought onboard to ensure the smooth transition of the 75ft race boat from Northamptonshire to Barcelona. Southampton-based GAC Pindar was pivotal in relocating the INEOS Britannia base from the UK to Palma, Mallorca, in Spring 2022 for its training camp before then moving it to Barcelona in 2023.

“It’s been a huge team effort to get to this crucial moment,” says Dave Endean, COO for Ineos Britannia. “We have had great support from Carrington Boats, Turweston Airfield and GAC Pindar. It’s now time for the next phase in our campaign and we are looking forward to getting RB3 out on the water in Barcelona.”

Beth King, Operations Manager at GAC Pindar says: “As the official logistics partner of INEOS Britannia, we are transporting a wide range of the team’s equipment in and out of the UK and Barcelona. Moving a 75ft race boat requires a huge amount of planning, which started a long time ago, and the way everyone involved has pulled together throughout this operation has been extremely satisfying to see. All of us at GAC Pindar are very proud to be a part of Ineos Britannia’s America’s Cup challenge.”

Ineos Britannia suffered damage to one of its one-design supplied AC40 training boats, Athena, after an electrical battery fire onboard earlier this year.