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- 08/02/2023 • Regattas
Ben Ainslie: "The Bay of Palma is the pearl of the Mediterranean"
The skipper and director of Ineos Britannia praises the climate, infrastructure and connections of the Balearic capital, and announces his intention to establish a permanent base here.
"The Bay of Palma is the pearl of the Mediterranean", said today the five-time Olympic medalist Ben Ainslie during the presentation of the Ineos Britannia team, Challenger of Record of the America's Cup, to the Mallorcan society and authorities.
The skipper and director of the British team has praised the good weather conditions of the Balearic capital, which is allowing to collect daily data on the performance of the first prototype of the boat with which Ineos Britannia will challenge Team New Zealand, reigning champion of the America's Cup.
The event took place this morning at the Real Club Náutico de Palma, to whom Ainslie thanked for their collaboration and hospitality before revealing Ineos Britannia's intention to establish a permanent base in Mallorca once the 2024 America's Cup in Barcelona has concluded, by virtue of its magnificent port infrastructure, its fluid connections with the main cities of Europe and, of course, the conditions offered by its bay throughout the year.
Inneos Britania has had its training base at the Muelle de San Carlos in the Port of Palma since last September. Ainslie has explained that in late spring of this year the team will move to Barcelona, where there will be a period to test the final boat with which the British team will seek to conquer the America's Cup.
Sir Ben Aislie is considered one of the best sailors in the history of sailing and is the only athlete in this discipline to have won four gold medals, plus a silver medal in five Olympic Games. He has also been eleven times world champion and twelve times European champion, and once winner of the America's Cup as a member of the U.S. Oracle team.
Despite this impressive sporting record, which once earned him the title of Sir bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II of England, today he admitted that winning the America's Cup is "very difficult", considering the high level of the defender and the fact that only four countries have managed to lift the Hundred Guineas Cup since 1851: the United States, Australia, Switzerland and New Zealand. "England has never won it," he recalled, making it clear that he will not consider his list of honors complete until he manages to bring the trophy home.
Emerico Fuster, president of the Real Club Náutico de Palma, was "proud" to open the doors of the Real Club Náutico de Palma to Ineos Britannia. "It is an honor to be able to collaborate in everything in our hands with one of the main teams of the America's Cup. The choice of our Bay as a training camp has served to emphasize that Palma is one of the world capitals of sailing and that we must continue to bet strongly for this sport and for the clubs that, like ours, has it in their DNA".
