- Land Rover BAR won this weekend's Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series regatta in Muscat, Oman ‑ the first team to claim two ACWS event wins
- After dominating the first day of racing, a nail‑biting 'Super Sunday' saw the team come from behind to claim the title
- Sir Ben Ainslie sails Land Rover BAR team to a secure 3rd place overall in the America's Cup World Series rankings
Whitley 29th February 2016: Despite a race weekend of light winds, penalty starts and a collision, Land Rover BAR's fast boat speed and good tactical decisions allowed them, in true British style, to recover from the brink to win this weekend's Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series regatta.
Martin Whitmarsh, Land Rover BAR Chief Executive Officer said: "Overall it's been a fantastic weekend, and we have proved we are the come‑back kids as we came back every time despite the challenges. The boys were fantastically quick on the water and that enabled them to keep their heads up and fight their way through the field. They deserved this great win for the huge amount of effort and courage they showed."
The first day of competition saw Land Rover BAR dominate the way after finishing two races in first position, and one in third. Despite a collision with Groupama Team France in the first race and a subsequent penalty at the starting line the Land Rover BAR team battled back to finish third before making good judgements to win the next two races.
Super Sunday, with double points at stake, saw the main action of the weekend. All the teams were pushing hard and Land Rover BAR received starting penalties in each of the three races leaving them at the back of the fleet with a fight on their hands. Superb tactical sailing saw the team climb their way through the fleet to finish with second, third and fourth place finishes to seal the overall win.
Olympic hopeful, Giles Scott, team Tactician, made the right choices at crucial moments and despite having difficult starts, the team used their combined strength, grit and determination to put the bad starts behind them and were consistently the fastest America's Cup boat on the water.
The British Challenger is the only team to have won two of the four regattas in the America's Cup World Series, since the series launched at the team's home town, Portsmouth, last June. The 76 points secured this weekend halves the gap with Emirates Team New Zealand in the overall rankings and the team now sit just one point behind Oracle Team USA ‑ in third place with 185 points.
Sir Ben Ainslie, Land Rover BAR Team Principal and Skipper said: "It was pretty tough, we would have liked better starts, but no one dropped their head, and we just kept fighting through it. Good team work from everyone, and Giles did a great job on the tactics to get us back through the fleet. The win is particularly important for us as a new team, it is important for our team back home we've got a big squad of boat builders and designers and everyone else working really hard, long hours and they want to believe that we can really win this thing. I hope that we are proving to them that we can. For all the guys at the base, supporting at home in Portsmouth they should share in this win, we're in it together."
The next leg of the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series heads to the iconic Hudson River in New York City, USA on 7th and 8th May.
Video: Watch the Sunday Sunday wrap up video here: https://bar1.box.com/s/wb88w8ounjbncnhj2by6kyk50fg2golw
Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series overall results after four events:
Emirates Team New Zealand ‑ 192
Oracle Team USA ‑ 186
Land Rover BAR ‑ 185
Softbank Team Japan ‑ 161
Artemis Racing ‑ 161
Groupama Team France ‑ 150
ENDS
