The competing yachts, Emirates Team New Zealand and INEOS Britannia during the 37th Americas Cup final. (photo INEOS Britannia.com)
New Zealand won again for the third consecutive year after defeating the UK in the 37th America’s Cup yacht race, held in Barcelona. The final, which took place on Saturday, October 19th, saw Emirates Team New Zealand, led by Grant Dalton and skipper of the yacht Peter Burling, defeat INEOS Britannia by 7-2.
Emirates Team New Zealand are proud of winning the Americas Cup
Kiwi skipper, Burling, said after the race he was feeling “Just incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished. The America’s Cup has got to be one of the hardest sporting trophies in the world to win. You’ve got to have so many parts come together to make it all work and now having done that three times in a row, it’s incredibly special.”
UK team, INEOS Britannia, did well to reach the finals for the first time in 60 years
INEOS Britannia won their place in the final for the first time in 60 years. Sir Ben Ainslie, who skippered the yacht, said after the team defeat: “Mixed emotions of course, first of all, I’ve got to say credit to Emirates Team New Zealand, an amazing achievement for that organisation and for our team to get into the America’s Cup itself was a huge achievement and we’ve been on quite a journey for the last 10 years, and especially the last three years. Ultimately to fall short at the final hurdle is always tough, but we know that we’ve been up against one of the best if not ‘the’ best teams in the history of the Cup.”
Americas Cup celebrations in Barcelona on Saturday night
Burling was even gracious enough to give mention to team INEOS Britannia and said “All credit to Ben and INEOS Britannia, I think they put together an incredible challenge, they pushed us the whole way, obviously, we got a good jump on the leaderboard but every race felt like a real battle and they were amazing challengers.”Emirates Team New Zealand defended the 37th America’s Cup in style and was presented the trophy officially on the main stage of the ‘Race Village’ in Barcelona on Saturday evening amongst many happy team members and fans.
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