Marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge visits America's Cup Team INEOS Britannia in Barcelona

by INEOS Britannia 30 Aug 18:11 BST 30 August 2024

Double Olympic Champion and sub-two-hour marathon runner (INEOS 1:59 Challenge) Eliud Kipchoge has visited the British America's Cup team, INEOS Britannia, at their base in Barcelona.

The INEOS Sport athlete gave a motivational message to the team as they challenge to create history by becoming the first British team to win sport's oldest international trophy.

Kipchoge joined Ben Ainslie's team for their pre-race briefing and watched the crew dock out for the second day of the Louis Vuitton Cup (Challenger Selection Series) on Friday.

The Kenyan athlete told the British team: "My best advice is to believe in yourselves. Prepare and plan well to execute but always believe and push hard. Trust is what bonds the team, when you have trust within a team, that's what pushes you to win."

The second day of the challenger series was not as expected for INEOS Britannia, as they were due to race Defender Emirates Team New Zealand who had to withdraw from racing after sustaining damage to their boat on Thursday.

After the first day of racing, as the Kiwis were lifting their AC75 'Taihoro' from the water, there was an issue with the lift and the boat landed heavily onto its supporting cradle. From initial assessments a call was made that Emirates Team New Zealand would not sail on Friday. Once further investigation is made and a full plan for the repair of Taihoro is in place, the team will give a further update on the duration of time the team will be off the water.

INEOS Britannia Team Principal and Skipper Ben Ainslie said: "It's a really unfortunate incident for them. Hopefully they can resolve things quickly, I'm sure they can, the Kiwis are usually pretty tough at coming back from setbacks like that so we hope to see them back on the race course soon."

Due to racing rules, Emirates Team New Zealand's scheduled races against INEOS Britannia and Orient Express Racing Team (FRA) had to go ahead as "Ghost Races", with GBR and FRA required to cross the start line to win the point, even if the opponent is a no show and even if the point does not count. For the double Round Robin stage of the Louis Vuitton Cup, points for races involving Defender Emirates Team New Zealand do not count, this is to ensure they do not affect the standings of the challengers who are battling to take them on in the America's Cup Match.

Ainslie said: "Although we weren't racing anyone, it was a good chance to get out on the water and try some different things. We've been developing a lot over the last few days so we worked on those things and got some good preparation for the races coming tomorrow. It's obviously an interesting dynamic with the Ghost Races, especially as the races against the Kiwis do not count for points but we will take all the time on the water we can get."

While there was due to be two Ghost Races today, the second one with France did not take place as racing was abandoned due to conditions not meeting the wind test. This also affected the other two actual races. First up was New York Yacht Club American Magic against Alinghi Red Bull Racing (SUI), with both teams struggling to stay up on their foils in the light wind, but the Americans managed to secure the win. Then it was time for the Americans to take on the Italians, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, but the race was suspended before it got under way due to the wind failing to materialise. It meant day two consisted of just one actual race and one ghost race.

The Round Robin stage resumes tomorrow, with a double race day schedule for INEOS Britannia. The Brits are set to face Alinghi Red Bull Racing (SUI) and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (ITA). Racing will be broadcast live in the UK on TNT Sports from 13:00 BST (14:00 CEST).