Englishman Ainslie fulfils lifelong ambition with Oracle’s Cup win

LONDON: British four-time Olympic champion Ben Ainslie says he realised a lifelong dream by inspiring Oracle Team USA to an improbable win in the America’s Cup.

Ainslie replaced John Kostecki as Oracle’s tactician ahead of races six and seven last week, and the move proved inspired as with his guile and expertise Oracle recovered from an 8-1 deficit to overhaul Emirates Team New Zealand 9-8 to clinch sailing’s greatest prize on Wednesday.

“To be part of awinning America’s Cup team is for me personally part of a lifelong dream,” the 36-yearold told BBC Radio 5.

He added: “I grew up down in Falmouth in Cornwall, we had an America’s Cup team down there in 1987 and I remember as a kid watching them training and preparing and thinking about maybe one day being involved with the America’s Cup.”

Explaining the secret to Oracle’s gripping success Ainslie said: “We never stopped believing we could improve and get back into the competition.

“It got harder and harder for us, but ultimately we hung on in there and won that deciding race, so the team did an incredible job.

“We just grew and grew and in the end we were too strong for the Kiwis.”

Ainslie’s elevation from the warm-up crew to replace Kostecki was a crucial catalyst in turning Oracle’s fortunes around to achieve one of the greatest comebacks in sporting history.

“It was a pretty big shift,” the Briton said on BBC One.

“It was a big call for the management to make, but I gelled really well with Jimmy Spithill, the skipper of the team, we got stuck into the challenge and we turned things around.” — AFP