A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| INEOS Britannia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Career | |
| Yacht club |  Royal Cornwall Yacht Club (2012-2013) Royal Yacht Squadron (2015-Present) |
| Established | 2012 |
| Nation |  United Kingdom |
| Team principal(s) | Sir Jim Ratcliffe Sir Ben Ainslie |
| CEO | Sir Ben Ainslie |
| Skipper | Sir Ben Ainslie |
| Yachts | |
| Sail no. | Boat name |
| GBR-3 | R1 (AC50) |
| GBR-3 | Britannia (AC75) |
INEOS Britannia is a British sailing team that is the challenger of record for the 37th America's Cup.
The team was established in 2012 with the ambition of winning the America's Cup for Great Britain and to 'bring the cup home' to the United Kingdom. The team joined forces with INEOS in 2018. In 2021 the team challenged for the 36th America's Cup in Auckland, New Zealand, representing the Royal Yacht Squadron.
The team is owned and backed by INEOS founder and chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe and led by the most successful Olympic sailor of all time, Sir Ben Ainslie, who is team principal, CEO and skipper.
Formation and facilities
In January 2012, Ben Ainslie announced the formation of a British team to compete in the America's Cup, called Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR). His team competed in the AC45 class for the remaining races of the 2011–13 America's Cup World Series to develop experience and generate interest from sponsors.[1] The team was also known as J.P. Morgan BAR in this early period and competed for the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club.[2]
In January 2014, Ainslie began the process of raising £100M to fund the team, as well as development of racing yachts which was projected to take 30% of the budget. The project was initially backed by 12 core supporters including Sir Charles Dunstone and Sir Keith Mills.[3] In December 2014 Ben Ainslie Racing and Red Bull Advanced Technologies (RBAT) announced that they would work together on the America's Cup project, with Formula One designer Adrian Newey leading RBAT's efforts regarding design and engineering.[4] J.P. Morgan indicated that it was not planning to continue sponsorship and the team began the search for a new title sponsor.[5]
In April 2014, as part of the launch of Rear Admiral Rob Stevens's 'Transforming Solent' report, which makes 36 recommendations with 15 prioritised at an investment cost of £91M, Ainslie announced plans to build a team headquarters in the Solent area.[6] Having reviewed a number of sites, the project put forward plans to develop an operational building at Camber Dock, as part of the wider redevelopment of Portsmouth Harbour.[7] On 18 June, Portsmouth Council approved plans for the £12M main operations building, which Ainslie confirmed would be built subject to £8M of requested UK Government-backed development funding.[8] On 1 July 2014, in a meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron, central government funding of £7.5M towards the operational building's construction was confirmed, with construction reliant on final planning permission from the council and the project raising the additional required funds.[9] The operational building is also where the boats are designed and manufactured, and contains administration and full crew development facilities. The design was developed by HGP Architects,[10] which also designed the nearby Spinnaker Tower. The building was opened in June 2015 and featured approximately 400 solar panels generating 130MWh/y,[11] ventilation features and insulation to improve its sustainability.[10]
In September 2018 it was announced[12] that sailing clothing brand Henri Lloyd would continue its long partnership with Sir Ben by supplying the kit for INEOS Team UK in the pursuit of the 36th challenge of the America's Cup in 2021.
On 4 October 2021, the team announced a high-performance partnership with Mercedes-AMG F1 Applied Science, a division of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, bringing together the best of the worlds of high-performance marine and automotive engineering, with the goal to win the America's Cup for Britain.
The team is based in Brackley, home of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. James Allison will be the technical lead of the team's 37th America's Cup challenge in his capacity as Chief Technical Officer of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team and INEOS Britannia.
34th America's Cup
2012-2013 Americas Cup World Series
JP Morgan BAR initially competed in the 2011–13 America's Cup World Series competing in their AC45 catamaran. The team had excellent performance in two events in San Francisco but slipped to a surprise defeat in Naples in April 2013.[13] In August 2013, the competition jury received a report from Oracle Team USA that their boat and others they had loaned had unauthorised modifications.[14] Since they were using one of the out of measurement boats provided by Team Oracle USA, Ainslie withdrew his team from the competition on 7 August 2013. They denied that they had any prior knowledge that the boat was out of measurement, and were scored DSQ (disqualified) from the series.[15]
| America's Cup World Series 2012-2013 | |||||
| Team | Skipper | Total pts | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Oracle Racing |
 Jimmy Spithill Tom Slingsby |
274 | DSQ | |
| 2 |  Luna Rossa Challenge |
Chris Draper |
204 | ||
| 3 | Ben Ainslie Racing |
Ben Ainslie |
196 | DSQ | |
| 4 |  Team New Zealand |
Dean Barker |
193 | ||
| 5 |  Artemis Racing |
Terry Hutchinson Charlie Ekberg |
181 | ||
| 6 |  Energy Team |
Loick Peyron Yann Guichard |
175 | ||
| 7 | Luna Rossa Challenge |
Francesco Bruni Paul Cambell-James  Iker Martínez |
165 | ||
| 8 | Oracle Racing |
Russell Coutts Darren Bundock |
114 | ||
| 9 |  Team Korea |
Chris Draper Pete Burling |
110 | ||
| 10 | Artemis Racing |
Nathan Outteridge  Santiago Lange |
98 | ||
| 11 |  China Team |
Phil Robertson  Mitch Booth |
78 | ||
| 12 | HS Racing |
 Roman Hagara |
39 | DSQ | |
In 2013, the team set a new multihull record of 2 hours 52 minutes 15 seconds for the Round the Island Race in their AC45.
34th America's Cup
The team did not enter to compete in the 34th America's Cup, with Ben Ainslie instead sailing as helm onboard Oracle Team USA's second AC72 in the team's training programme ahead of the event. During the 34th America's Cup match, Oracle Team USA were losing to Emirates Team New Zealand 8–1. The American syndicate decided to replace tactician John Kostecki with Ainslie, and went on to win 10 consecutive race wins to win the America's Cup. Ben Ainslie was credited as one of the key reasons behind their famous comeback to win the America's Cup in 2013. Several of the team's other key sailors also competed for Luna Rossa Challenge in the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger selection series.
35th America's Cup
Yachts
| Club | Name | Launch date | Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Yacht Squadron |
T1 | October 2014 | AC45F |
| Royal Yacht Squadron |
T2 | October 2015 | AC45 Turbo |
| Royal Yacht Squadron |
T3 | April 2016 | AC45 Turbo |
| Royal Yacht Squadron |
R1 | February 2017 | AC50 |
Crew
| Sailor | Position |
|---|---|
| Ben Ainslie |
Skipper |
| Giles Scott |
Tactician |
| Paul Cambell-James |
Mainsail Trimmer |
| Bleddyn Mon |
Trimmer |
| Jonathan Macbeth |
Grinder |
| Nick Hutton |
Grinder |
| David Carr |
Grinder |
| Neil Hunter |
Grinder |
| Ed Powys |
Grinder |
2015-2016 Americas Cup World Series
Following Ainslie's win representing the US, it was announced that Ben Ainslie Racing would challenge for the 35th America's Cup in 2017. The team competed in the 2014 Extreme Sailing Series, finishing 5th overall in the Extreme 40 class catamaran.
The team raced in 2015-16 America's Cup World Series in the AC45F catamaran class, winning events in Portsmouth, Toulon and Fukuoka to take the overall series win.
| America's Cup World Series 2015-2016 | |||||
| Team | Skipper | Total pts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Land Rover BAR |
Sir Ben Ainslie | 512 | ||
| 2 | Oracle Team USA |
Jimmy Spithill | 493 | ||
| 3 | Emirates Team New Zealand |
Pete Burling | 485 | ||
| 4 |  Softbank Team Japan |
Dean Barker | 466 | ||
| 5 | Artemis Racing |
Nathan Outteridge | 460 | ||
| 6 | Groupama Team France |
Franck Cammas | 419 | ||
Louis Vuitton Cup
In March 2015, former McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh was announced as Ben Ainslie Racing's CEO. In June 2015, Ben Ainslie announced a partnership with Land Rover and changed the team's name to Land Rover BAR.
The team's win in the 2015–16 America's Cup World Series conferred points towards the 2017 Louis Vuitton Cup in Bermuda, which began May 2017. The team was knocked out of the competition by New Zealand in the Challenger semi-final. The defeat was attributed simply to the greater speed of the opponent's boat.
| Round Robins | |||||
| Team | W | L | ACWS pts | Total pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oracle Team USA |
8 | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| 2 | Emirates Team New Zealand |
8 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| 3 | Land Rover BAR |
4 | 6 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | Artemis Racing |
5 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 | Softbank Team Japan |
3 | 7 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | Groupama Team France |
2 | 8 | 0 | 2 |
| Semi Finals | |||
| Team | W | L | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emirates Team New Zealand |
5 | 2 |
| 2 | Land Rover BAR |
2 | 5 |
Red Bull Youth Americas Cup
Following the announcement that alongside the 35th Americas Cup would be held the Red Bull Youth Americas Cup, Land Rover BAR launched the Land Rover BAR Academy in January 2016, with over 150 young British sailors under the age of 24 applying to be part of the team. Of these sailors, a team of sailors were selected. The squad trained and competed on a GC32 Class catamaran in the Extreme Sailing Series in 2016 and 2017, under the expert guidance of the team's senior sailors and coaches.
The team raced in Bermuda in the 2017 Red Bull Youth America's Cup in the AC45F foiling catamaran class, finishing in 1st place with 50 points, 2 points ahead of their nearest rivals from New Zealand. The team was credited with being the only team to race with a female sailor on board.
| Qualifying Group A | |||||
| Team | Skipper | Total Pts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Artemis Youth Racing |
Rasmus Rosengren | 55 | ||
| 2 |  SVB Team Germany |
Paul Kohlhoff | 47 | ||
| 3 |  Team Tilt |
Sebastien Schneiter | 46 | ||
| 4 | Team France Jeune |
Robin Follin | 46 | ||
| 5 |  Youth Vikings Denmark |
Daniel Bjørnholt | 43 | ||
| 6 | Kaijin Team Japan |
Ibuki Koizumi | 33 | ||
| Qualifying Group B | |||||
| Team | Skipper | Total Pts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NZL Sailing Team |
Logan Dunning-Beck | 51 | ||
| 2 | Land Rover BAR Academy |
Rob Bunce | 51 | ||
| 3 | Spanish Impulse |
Jordi Xammar | 51 | ||
| 4 |  Team BDA |
MacKenzie Cooper | 45 | ||
| 5 | Next Generation USA |
Carson Crain | 36 | ||
| 6 | Candidate Sailing Team |
Lukas Höllwerth | 36 | ||
| Final | |||||
| Team | Skipper | Total Pts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Land Rover BAR Academy |
Rob Bunce | 50 | ||
| 2 | NZL Sailing Team |
Logan Dunning-Beck | 48 | ||
| 3 | Team Tilt |
Sebastien Schneiter | 42 | ||
| 4 | Artemis Youth Racing |
Rasmus Rosengren | 37 | ||
| 5 | Team France Jeune |
Robin Follin | 35 | ||
| 6 | Spanish Impulse |
Jordi Xammar | 34 | ||
| 7 | SVB Team Germany |
Paul Kohlhoff | 33 | ||
| 8 | Team BDA |
MacKenzie Cooper | 33 | ||
Crew
| Sailor | Position |
|---|---|
| Neil Hunter |
Skipper |
| Rob Bunce |
Skipper |
| Chris Taylor |
Helm |
| Owen Bowerman |
Helm |
| Annabel Vose |
Tactician |
| Elliot Hanson |
Mainsail Trimmer |
| Will Alloway |
Mainsail Trimmer |
| Adam Kay |
Trimmer |
| Oli Greber |
Trimmer |
| Sam Batten |
Trimmer |
Extreme Sailing Series & GC32 Racing Tour
Following on from Land Rover BAR Academy's success over the previous two years in the GC32 class, the team, newly sponsored by INEOS competed simultaneously in the 2018 Extreme Sailing Series and the 2018 GC32 Racing Tour, both in the hydro-foiling GC32 Class catamaran class. The INEOS Rebels youth team finished in 4th place overall in the Extreme Sailing Series, whilst the senior INEOS Team UK team finished in 2nd place overall in the GC32 Racing Tour, with several event wins. Following the collapse of the Extreme Sailing Series at the end of 2018, the team began using their two GC32s for two boat training in preparation for their 36th America's Cup campaign.