Oman becomes the first Middle East country to host a round of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series, with the world’s most prestigious sailing competition taking place in Muscat this weekend.
The 2016 season kicks off in Oman, with further events to follow in New York, Chicago, Portsmouth and Toulon, before the finale in Bermuda.
Land Rover BAR begin the year in third place, three points behind Oracle Team USA and 13 points behind Emirates Team New Zealand.
The team have been preparing the AC45F over the past few days and Thursday was the first opportunity to get out on the water. A full practice session will follow on Friday, with three races a day on Saturday and Sunday.
“2016 is going to be a really exciting year for us,” said Ben Ainslie, skipper and team principal, Land Rover BAR. “We are heavily into our testing phase back home in Portsmouth, with our second testing boat, T2 back out on the water after our capsize at the end of 2015. There’s a great line up in the America’s Cup World Series with a full schedule of events. There’s a lot to do for the team but we are happy with the progress going forward.”
Ainslie, the most successful sailor in Olympic history, said he believes the team can improve on last year, starting with the event in Oman.
“I think for a new team – as we are – we felt happy with our third place position after the 2015 season, but we absolutely want to be moving up now. We want to be performing at the top of this America’s Cup fleet.
“Oman looks set to be a great event, some of the team have raced here before, including myself and we like it. It’s been four months since Bermuda and we are looking forward to getting back out,” he said.
Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Leaderboard after three events:
1. Emirates Team New Zealand 122
2. ORACLE TEAM USA 112
3. Land Rover BAR 109
4. Artemis Racing 105
5. SoftBank Team Japan 100
6. Groupama Team France 82
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