INEOS BRITANNIA IN MALLORCA

As Spain gets ready to host the apex event on the sailing calendar, teams have been preparing intensely with the design race for the America’s Cup very much on. Winter training is vital for success with so much to evaluate from a design perspective as well as valuable crew training time to hone the foiling skills, co-ordination and physical fitness required to sail the powerful AC75s and the exciting AC40s at the very highest level.

Selecting a training venue for the European winter months has seen the likes of Alinghi Red Bull Racing base themselves in Barcelona, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in Cagliari, Sardinia and NYYC American Magic in Pensacola, Florida. Emirates Team New Zealand, the holders of the America’s Cup, elected for the antipodean summer at their base in New Zealand whilst for INEOS Britannia, the Challenger of Record for AC37 chose Palma, Mallorca, the beautiful Balearic Island, just a few miles directly south of Barcelona.

It has been an inspired choice for the British syndicate, led by Sir Ben Ainslie and backed by the Founder and CEO of INEOS, Sir Jim Ratcliffe with the support of Mercedes Applied Science based in Brackley, Northamptonshire. With technology high on the agenda, the Challenger of Record is leaving no stone unturned in their quest for the America’s Cup and revealed a highly innovative LEQ12 test platform ‘T6’ which the team have upgraded and enhanced throughout the winter months.

Training has also been completed on the team’s AC40 that was delivered in October 2022 but the main focus for the Spanish operation has been on data gathering and evaluation from the LEQ12 test platform with the team trialling an innovative foil design alongside a whole host of systems and sail developments.

In selecting Palma, the team had a number of highly specific requirements and as David Endean, Chief Operating Officer of INEOS Britannia, says: “The Port Authority and the local government reacted very quickly and positively to our enquiries to set up camp in Palma.  They have provided us with a great operating site and straight out of the blocks were very accommodating.”

The team has been pushing the boat hard through long days on the water, sailing as much as possible during their time in Mallorca. While Palma has been a fantastic location to get in as many sailing days as possible during the winter months, relocating to Palma has also been a success in terms of work life, practical fitness and the team’s wellbeing.

Endean is incredibly grateful to the community for embracing the team saying: “The local community have equally been welcoming and our team members who have relocated have quickly been able to immerse themselves. It has been a very positive move for the team. It's hard not to enjoy living on the island. It's a very beautiful place, you're living by the sea and have conditions where you can get out on the water swimming, surfing, windsurfing or sailing nearly all year round. That's a big win for a bunch of water sports enthusiasts. It's also good for landlubbers with plenty to explore including cycling and that also seems to be a favourite pastime for a lot of people in the team. When you are able to complement all those positive social activities with outstanding operational facilities and solid year-round sailing conditions it's the perfect location for an America's Cup sailing team.”

The relocation required outstanding technical support in order for the team to communicate with their engineers at Brackley. “The shoreside connection has been at a very high standard. We've put a lot of work into designing a system that relied heavily on local infrastructure and the Telefonica people have been really supportive and accommodating to implement our connection back to Brackley. On a sailing day, our Mission Control in the UK hosts eight or nine engineers who are monitoring every inch of data coming off the boat. They have been able to watch and talk to the test boat live with no delays. It's very impressive."

When asked if the conditions in Palma had been as expected, Endean was highly positive saying: “This winter was interesting as we have had a couple of unexpected mistrals, but generally when you compare to how we were training on UK waters in the last campaign, we've had a lot more time on the water."

Endean also commented on the Real Club Náutico de Palma’s support, saying: “The Yacht Club have been very supportive, rolled the red carpet out for us and have treated us like their local team, which is great. They're obviously enthusiastic sailors and love seeing us out every day, and they are quite happy for us to use their facilities which we have done. It's great to be involved in."

Matt Lyon, INEOS Britannia's Boat Builder, also commented on the facilities available to the team at their winter training camp, saying: “For a keen cyclist it’s the dream, the perfect place to come, and work. I think there's a few people that came down here not as cyclists that are becoming cyclists pretty quickly. But the same goes for running, swimming, there's a great culture of fitness and sport down here which is good to be around. Workwise, it’s a superyacht hub and yachting hub with the TP52 fleet here as well - it's a pretty amazing place to be if you're in this industry, to be able to get support through either contractors or just general suppliers.”

Spain, its wonderful people, vibrant culture, beautiful natural scenery and stunning coastline is set to be the perfect host for the 37^th America’s Cup. The world will be coming, the best sailors on the planet will all be there, the fastest foiling boats ever created will race for the grandest prize in international sport, the America’s Cup, and Spain will be the beating heart of the most fascinating competition in living memory.