Over 170 Years And Counting

Team Ineos and Luna Rossa have something in common after all as neither Italy or the UK has ever won the Americas Cup. This is the most sought after prize in sailing and individuals and syndicates have spent 100's of millions every 4 years just to compete for the chance of possibly winning this elusive trophy.

Mercedes have put their name to this as well now so losing and giving up is not an option.I can recall mentioning this over 18 months ago that Mercedes had been involved with the America's Cup helping develop the final racing product. Ineos became a main sponsor two years ago in Formula One which enabled them to open more doors in the technical side of things. This has since changed as they now own a third of Mercedes Formula One so technically this boat is part of Mercedes as it has their DNA all over the technical aspects.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is the billionaire owner of Ineos Chemicals who just happens to love sports and the different challenges they throw up. He is not a sailor but is intrigued by the technicalities of what is required to succeed. He was drawn into this 2 years ago after meeting Ben Ainslie for a drink. That turned out to be a very expensive drink as this has cost $100's of millions to get to this point. Considering the boat costs more than $100 million to build and you have two of them. You then have to have a top notch team of hand picked sailors and technical support of more than 100 and pay them for the next 3 years including flying them half way around the world and accommodate them. This is open check book stuff as there is no limit on winning the trophy as it is deemed priceless. I think if they fail this time Ineos will break the bank for the next effort. They have just got started and could be like Luna Rossa in for the long haul.

He negotiated and seconded 30 professionals from the Applied Science division of Mercedes Formula One as they are the best brains in the business for aero dynamics. The similarities between the sport are uncanny as in Formula One you use down force to push the car into the road through the tyres whereas on the boat you use the foils. The foils similar to the tyres on the track are the only part that touch the water and where the speed is required.

Formula One is data driven and Tom Batch who has been heading up the aero dynamic division at Mercedes F1 for the last 11 years knows a thing or two. The challenges that you face are against you from day one as in this sport the title defender (Emirates New Zealand) and challenger (Luna Rossa) have huge advantages due to them making up the boat design and rules. This is what intrigued Sir Jim Ratcliffe from the outset as getting this right is the ultimate as the America's Cup is the pinnacle of sailing.

This means everything to the teams taking part as only 4 countries have ever won this trophy. America, New Zealand, Australia and Switzerland. Luna Rossa and Team Ineos are trying to win if for their respective countries for the first time. Luna Rossa representing the Italians have been hard at work for over 20 years as the racing syndicate was established in 1997 and not surprising have been voicing their opinions of late. The team is desperate for a win and can imagine the rules they will apply for the next cup if they win as they will look to hold onto the trophy for many years to come.

Currently after todays results Luna Rossa is ahead 5-1 against Ineos UK with the winner being declared when somebody wins 7 races. This is only the challenge though as the winner then fights it off against Emirates New Zealand who haven't even started racing as yet.