The America's Cup: Defender and Challenger Helmsmen speak on eve of the Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup Match

Peter Burling and Nathan Outteridge represented the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand whilst for INEOS Britannia, the Challenger of Record, Sir Ben Ainslie and Dylan Fletcher took to the stage.

A coin toss was conducted during the Press Conference to decide the starting ends and with Emirates Team New Zealand winning the toss, they will start from port entry.

The Press Conference began with the 173-year-old America’s Cup Trophy being led into the auditorium by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei followed by a stirring Haka to lay down the challenge with INEOS Britannia to contest the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match.

Peter Burling, skipper of Emirates Team New Zealand encapsulated the building sense of excitement and tension, saying: “It’s an incredibly special moment and incredibly exciting time, and we’re looking forward to getting out there, and getting racing underway tomorrow.

“I think the intrigue of the America’s Cup is that you don’t really know until you line up for the first start but we’re really happy with the package that we’ve put together – and I’m sure the British will be really happy with the package that they’ve put together. Two different looking boats, but probably going reasonably similar speeds and it will make for an awesome competition.”

Sir Ben Ainslie, skipper of INEOS Britannia contextualised just what reaching the final meant – not only for the team, but also for British sport – saying: “It’s a really proud moment for us as proud British, we’ve got a very proud sporting and maritime heritage, and the America’s Cup is the one thing that has always been missing from our trophy cabinet.

“So, this is an incredible opportunity for our team, but at the same time we are coming up against incredible Defenders – who are going for a third win in a row – and we know that’s the ultimate challenge. In a way, for us, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain – so we are fully up for that and excited for what’s ahead.”

Ainslie continued: “I’ve been really fortunate to have won the Cup before, but not with Britain. But it’s not about me, it’s about the team. We know that the America’s Cup is the ultimate team game and that’s what motivates us as an organisation. We’ve been going for ten years now on this mission to get ourselves into the final and what a great opportunity – we’re going to give it everything we’ve got.”

Looking ahead to the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match, so many questions and permutations lie unanswered. In the previous America’s Cup matches there was an old saying that the moment the two boats lined up off the start line was the moment that ‘we know’ who would come out on top.

In this Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match, that is almost certainly not the case and with both teams able to change mode to adjust to the conditions and how their opponents are sailing, this is a series that is very unlikely to see a run-away winner.

It’s the first time in 60 years that Great Britain has made an America’s Cup Match and as the team say it’s a “challenge of a lifetime” to try and bring the trophy back to the clubhouse of the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes, but anything is possible in this most unpredictable of tournaments.

Racing at the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup begins tomorrow, Saturday October 12, with two scheduled races beginning at 1400 CET. The forecast is for lighter airs over the weekend that will test the lower end performance windows of both teams but will make for a fascinating spectacle on the waters off Barcelona.

For sailing fans around the world, the pinnacle event on the sailing calendar is here. The Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup is all set to be a classic and whoever emerges on top will lift the oldest, continually contested, trophy in international sports.

The Marquess of Anglesey, the great war hero from the Battle of Waterloo, who bought the trophy in 1848 before donating it to the Royal Yacht Squadron for a race around the Isle of Wight in 1851, would no doubt thoroughly approve of what the then ‘RYS Challenge Cup’ has become and what we are about to see unfold on the crystal waters of Barcelona some 173 years later. Let the ‘Battle in Barcelona’ begin.

Text and images courtesy of the America’s Cup. Read more at americascup.com.