One team backed by Sir Jim Ratcliffe is not sinking to the bottom of the ocean. For the first time since 1964 a yacht under a British flag will contest the final of the America’s Cup after Ben Ainslie moved to the edge of history off the coast of Barcelona on Friday.
By beating the Italian Luna Rossa crew to win the challenger series, Ainslie’s INEOS Britannia will commence a best-of-17 showdown with holders Emirates Team New Zealand from next Saturday.
The scale of the achievement in getting this far is illustrated by the six decades of waiting since Britain was last represented on the stage.