Ineos Britannia’s challenge for the 37th America’s Cup is over, and Ineos Britannia’s challenge for the 38th America’s Cup has just begun. Emirates Team New Zealand won the ninth of the head-to-head races, and with it the match, 7-2. It means the New Zealanders are the first team in modern history to win the cup three times in succession, and that Great Britain’s 173-year wait to win the Auld Mug will go on for who knows how long. But in the moments after the defeat, the Ineos Britannia’s skipper, Ben Ainslie, confirmed that he will lead the team through another campaign, and that they will, again, be the official challenger of record.
If they’re going to win, they will have to beat a New Zealand team which Ainslie admiringly described as “the best team in the history of the cup”.
