Ainslie remains a serious contender, warns US rival

They have struggled in practice racing, been written off by much of the sailing press and possibly even a few of their rivals. But there is one man who is certainly not dismissing Land Rover BAR’S chances of success in the 35th America’s Cup, qualifying for which begins in Bermuda on Friday.

Jimmy Spithill, the skipper of defenders Oracle Team USA, knows as well as anyone the fearsome competitive streak that runs through Sir Ben Ainslie.

The Australian led Oracle Team USA to victory in San Francisco in 2013 when Ainslie’s introduction as tactician midway through the series helped to turn the tide in the American team’s favour. From 4-0 down when Ainslie came on board, and then 8-1 down in the best-of-17 series, Oracle Team USA won eight races in a row to produce one of the great sporting comebacks.

And it is the memory of that extraordinary effort, and the duels the pair have had since in the most recent Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series, won by Land Rover BAR, that have led Spithill to be cautious when it comes to assessing the British challenger in Bermuda.

“The British team have not had the results in practice racing but the fact is we haven’t got to the real stuff yet,” Spithill told The Daily Telegraph. “And you need only look back four years to realise how quickly things can change. They are serious competitors. We’re not going to discount anyone. I think it will only be once we get to the semi-finals that we will get a good look at them.”

Land Rover BAR have had a difficult time in practice racing over the past few weeks – the equivalent of pre-season friendlies – managing one race win from their two days on the water last week, and getting caught up in a controversial collision with Emirates Team New Zealand, for which Ainslie apologised. The four-time Olympic champion, though, was bullish about his team’s chances in a recent column for this newspaper, saying reports of Land Rover BAR’S struggles had been “greatly exaggerated” and adding that, as a new entity, they were “always going to come at this campaign with a late charge”.

Oracle Team USA, as defenders, are guaranteed a spot in the final, with the other five teams battling it out in a double round-robin format, starting on Friday and then in a knockout series which begins on June 4 – to see who will face them.