Land Rover BAR rules the waves in Portsmouth

Britain's chances of winning the America's Cup for the first time have been given a significant boost after Sir Ben Ainslie's team, Land Rover BAR, sealed an emphatic victory sailing on their home water of Portsmouth during a yacht-racing event. 

Using artificial intelligence to explore and find patterns in sailing performance data to help increase speed, Land Rover – Title and Exclusive Innovation Partner to Land Rover BAR – applied its big data processing power and mechanical expertise to help co-engineer the fastest boat in America’s Cup history, aiming to bring the world’s oldest sporting trophy to the UK for the first time in its 165-year history.

Land Rover BAR started the weekend tied in second place with current America's Cup defenders, Oracle Team USA. Two days of action-packed racing on the Solent Strait saw Land Rover BAR emerge as overall winners for a second time following their victory in July 2015. The result leaves their American rivals in third place and takes Land Rover BAR to first place ahead of former leaders, Emirates Team New Zealand, with two races to go.

Among the hundreds of thousands of supporters that turned out to cheer the British team on was the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, as well as the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, who is Royal Patron to the team’s official charity, the 1851 Trust. Their Royal Highnesses watched the action from the water as Land Rover BAR thrilled the home crowds on the final day of racing.

On the occasion, Sir Ben Ainslie, Land Rover BAR Skipper and Team Principal, remarked, “It’s brilliant for us as the home team to win again in front of our home crowd, including all our supporters. I give full credit to the team and to everyone back at the base; we’ve got a hundred odd people there, designing and building boats and components for the Cup next year, and I think it’s a big moment for them as well to know that we can go out and win these events.”

Two days earlier, Admiral of the Royal Yacht Squadron HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, also visited the base to spend time with members of Land Rover BAR’s technical and engineering teams.