Ineos Britannia had only just crossed the finish line, 37 seconds and some 300 metres behind Emirates Team New Zealand in the ninth and final race of this America’s Cup, when their 47-year-old skipper Sir Ben Ainslie was asked about his plans for the next one.
Within a couple of hours, Great Britain’s Royal Yacht Squadron had put in a challenge, and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron had accepted. Which means Ainslie, and Britannia, will be back for the next qualifying series, though they don’t yet know where, or when they will be racing, or who will be in the crew. Ahab’s going to be chasing after his whale for a while yet.
