Wikipedia

INEOS Britannia

For the cycling team, see Ineos Grenadiers.

INEOS Britannia is a British sailing team that is the challenger of record for the 37th America's Cup.

INEOS Britannia
Career
Yacht club Royal Cornwall Yacht Club (2012-2013)
 Royal Yacht Squadron (2015-Present)
Established2012
Nation United Kingdom
Team principal(s)Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Sir Ben Ainslie
CEOSir Ben Ainslie
SkipperSir Ben Ainslie
Notable victoriesLouis Vuitton Cup Challenger Series 2024
Yachts
Sail no.Boat name
GBR-3R1 (AC50)
GBR-3Britannia (AC75)

AC75 Britannia competing in the 37th America's Cup
INEOS Britannia Headquarters building in Barcelona

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 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 owner team principal, CEO and skipper.

Formation and facilities

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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

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2012-2013 Americas Cup World Series

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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

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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

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Main article: 2017 America's Cup

Yachts

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

Extreme Sailing Series 2018
Team Skipper Total Pts
1   Alinghi Arnaud Psarofaghis 92
2   Oman Air Phil Robertson 83
3   SAP Extreme Sailing Team Adam Minoprio 83
4   Red Bull Sailing Team Roman Hagara 72
5   INEOS Rebels UK Leigh Macmillan 70
6   Team Mexico Erik Brockmann 56
GC32 Racing Tour 2018
Team Skipper Total Pts
1   Norauto Franck Cammas 7
2   INEOS Team UK Sir Ben Ainslie 17
3   Zoulou Erik Maris 19
4   Realteam Jerome Clerc 20
5   Argo Jason Carroll 23
6   Frank Racing Simon Hull 27
7   .film Racing Simon Delzoppo 31
8   Codigo Rojo Racing Frederico Ferioli 41

Sail GP

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On 26 November 2019, SailGP announced that Ben Ainslie would join the Great Britain SailGP Team as helm on the British F50 foiling catamaran. The team announced title sponsorship from INEOS, with the sailing team made up of both existing SailGP GBR and INEOS Team UK sailors. The collaboration between the teams concluded at the end of 2020.

The team's first and only SailGP event was in Sydney in February 2020. Ainslie's crew won four of the five fleet races, before taking the win in the final race against Tom Slingsby's Australian team. The second round of the 2020 SailGP series was due to be held in San Francisco in May 2020,[16] however SailGP delayed the second season until 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with points from the Sydney race removed from the championship.[17]

Crew

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Sailor Position
  Sir Ben Ainslie Helm
  Chris Draper CEO
  Luke Parkinson Flight Controller
  Iain Jensen Wing Trimmer
  Richard Mason Trimmer
  Matt Gotrel Grinder
  Neil Hunter Grinder

Results

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Pos Team  SYD[a] Points
1 2 3 4 5 F
1   Great Britain 1 1 1 1 4 1 47
2   Australia 2 3 5 2 1 2 42
3   Japan 3 4 3 3 3 39
4   Spain 5 2 2 4 2 31
5   United States 4 6 4 5 5 31
6   Denmark 7 5 6 7 6 22
7   France 6 DNS DNS 6 7 14
Citation:[18]
Key
Colour Result
1 Winner
2 Second place
3 Third place
4–7 Finish
DNF Did not finish
DNS Did not start
DSQ Disqualified
WH Withheld from racing
C Race cancelled

36th America's Cup

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Main article: 2021 America's Cup

In 2018 it was announced that the team would join forces with INEOS and would challenge for the 36th America's Cup in Auckland, New Zealand, as INEOS Team UK.[19] The team will race for Royal Yacht Squadron Racing.

The INEOS team boasts a world class sailing crew including Team Principal Skipper Sir Ben Ainslie and fellow Olympic Gold medallist Giles Scott. Combined, the team has 16 America's Cup wins and eight Olympic medals.[20]

INEOS Team UK's leadership team includes four times Cup winner Grant Simmer as CEO[21] and Nick Holroyd, who was instrumental in bringing foiling technology into the Cup, as Chief Designer.[22]

On 4 October 2019 INEOS Team UK launched their first America's Cup boat from their HQ in Portsmouth, naming her ‘Britannia’ in homage to one of Britain's most famous racing yachts, after over 90,000 design hours and 50,000 construction hours.[23]

In January 2020 the team relocated to Cagliari, Sardinia, for a winter training camp with the team's first America's Cup boat.[24] In March 2020, however, due to the COVID-19 global pandemic the team made the decision to withdraw all sailing operations from Sardinia and return to the UK.[25]

In October 2020 the team relocated to Auckland for the 36th America's Cup[26] and on 16 October the team launched their race boat for the 36th America's Cup, Britannia, a foiling monohull capable of estimated top speeds of over 50 knots (93 km/H, 57.5 MP/H) and a significant evolution from the team's first AC75 with noticeable changes to hull shape, deck layout and more.[27]

Yachts

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Club Name Launch date Class
  Royal Yacht Squadron T5 August 2018 Quant 28F
  Royal Yacht Squadron Britannia October 2019 AC75
  Royal Yacht Squadron Britannia II October 2020 AC75

Crew

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Sailor Position
  Sir Ben Ainslie Skipper
  Giles Scott Tactician
  Leigh Macmillan Flight Controller
  Luke Parkinson Flight Controller
  Bleddyn Mon Mainsail Trimmer
  Joey Newton Trimmer
  Nick Hutton Trimmer
  Richard Mason Trimmer
  Ben Cornish Grinder
  Chris Brittle Grinder
  David Carr Grinder
  Graeme Spence Grinder
  Matt Gotrel Grinder
  Neil Hunter Grinder
  Oli Greber Grinder
  Tim Carter Grinder

2019-2020 America's Cup World Series

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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first two events in the 2019-20 America's Cup World Series due to be held in Cagliari[28] and Portsmouth[29] were cancelled due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports. The four AC36 teams competed in the third and final ACWS event in Auckland in December 2020. INEOS Team UK struggled to keep their AC75 foiling during their manoeuvres, consequently ending the event with no wins, and in last place overall.

ACWS Auckland
Team Helm W L
1   Emirates Team New Zealand Pete Burling 5 1
2   American Magic Dean Barker 4 2
3   Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli James Spithill
Francesco Bruni		 3 3
4   INEOS Team UK Sir Ben Ainslie 0 6

Prada Cup

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Main article: 2021 Prada Cup

Following a disappointing performance in the Auckland ACWS event in December 2020, the team spent the following three weeks making modifications to their boat Britannia ahead of the start of the Prada Cup qualifying series. This included a new mast and sails as well as modifications to the hull and foils. The team received support from INEOS sponsored Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team.

INEOS Team UK dominated the Round Robin phase of the Prada Cup which saw them race and beat each of the two other challenger teams three times, securing their place in the Prada Cup Final beginning on 13 February 2021. The team's place in the Prada Cup final marked a significant point in their campaign, being the furthest any British challenge had progressed in the competition since the introduction of a challenger selection series.

Round Robins
Team Helm W L
1   INEOS Team UK Sir Ben Ainslie 6 0
2   Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli James Spithill
Francesco Bruni		 3 3
3   American Magic Dean Barker 0 6

After Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli's win in the Prada Cup Semi-Finals against American Magic, the American team was eliminated from the event, securing the Italian team's place in the Prada Cup Final alongside INEOS Team UK.

The Prada Cup Finals were held in predominantly light wind (8-14 knots), with Luna Rossa showing great improvement in boat handling, winning the first 5 races consecutively. INEOS Team UK showed superior downwind pace in Race 6, taking their sole race win before Luna Rossa dominated Day 4 to take their sixth and seventh race win for the Prada Cup overall, and securing their place in the 36th America's Cup Match against Emirates Team New Zealand.

Final
Team Helm W L
1   Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli James Spithill
Francesco Bruni		 7 1
2   INEOS Team UK Sir Ben Ainslie 1 7

Notes

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  1. ^ Although the first round in Sydney was successfully completed before the delay of the rest of the season, points scored were later removed from the championship.

References

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  1. ^ Ainslie defends Oracle cup role, Independent, 11 January 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  2. ^ World, Yachting (10 January 2012). "Ainslie Reveals Cup Plans". Yachting World.
  3. ^ Ben Morris (14 February 2014). "Olympic sailor looking for $100m". BBC News. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  4. ^ "Ben Ainslie and Adrian Newey join forces in America's Cup bid". The Guardian. 4 December 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  5. ^ New title sponsor for British America's Cup push, sportbusiness.com, 20 August 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  6. ^ "America's Cup HQ bid part of Solent recovery plan". BBC News. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  7. ^ "Sir Ben Ainslie confirms America's Cup HQ Solent plan". BBC News. 10 May 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  8. ^ "Sir Ben's America's Cup Portsmouth HQ plans approved". BBC News. 18 June 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  9. ^ "Sir Ben Ainslie: America's Cup Portsmouth HQ gets £7.5m". BBC News. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  10. ^ a b Sailing team HQ scoops BREEAM 'Excellent' rating Archived 25 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Engineering and Technology Magazine, IET, 22 July 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  11. ^ "Case Study - Land Rover BAR". 20 September 2016.
  12. ^ "Henrilloyd". Archived from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  13. ^ Kate Laven, Ben Ainslie in surprise defeat at America's Cup World Series in Naples, The Telegraph, 21 April 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  14. ^ Gavin Clarke, Oracle Team USA sailors admit breaking America's Cup rules, The Register, 12 August 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  15. ^ America's Cup Jury, Jury Notice JN096, 8 August 2013
  16. ^ Warren, Adrian (29 February 2020). "GB sink Australia's hopes in Sydney SailGP". 7 News Australia. Archived from the original on 4 January 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  17. ^ "SailGP Season 2 rescheduled for 2021". SailGP. 4 May 2020. Archived from the original on 6 May 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  18. ^ "SailGP Sydney Results". SailGP. 29 February 2020. Archived from the original on 18 March 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  19. ^ "INEOS TEAM UK officially challenge for the Auld Mug". www.sail-world.com. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  20. ^ "About INEOS TEAM UK". www.ineosteamuk.com. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  21. ^ "Meet the team | Grant Simmer". www.ineosteamuk.com. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  22. ^ "The Design View with Nick Holroyd". www.ineosteamuk.com. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  23. ^ Waller, Jon (25 October 2019). "Sir Ben launches Britannia – the America's Cup yacht he hopes will rule the waves". Advertiser and Times. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  24. ^ "Winter training camp in Cagliari begins". www.ineosteamuk.com. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  25. ^ "Ineos Team UK Statement". www.ineosteamuk.com. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  26. ^ "British America's Cup team relocating to Auckland". AP NEWS. 30 September 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  27. ^ "INEOS TEAM UK christen 'Britannia' - the boat the team will race in the America's Cup". www.sail-world.com. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  28. ^ "AMERICA'S CUP WORLD SERIES SARDEGNA – CAGLIARI DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED". Americas Cup. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  29. ^ "UPDATE ON EMIRATES AMERICA'S CUP WORLD SERIES PORTSMOUTH EVENT". Americas Cup. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
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