In this story (2,250 words):
Ben Cornish on what went wrong for GB1 in Naples
The decision that left the British sailors on the back foot
A practice-day drama ahead of racing
Cornish answers the critics of the British AC40
What the team is learning from recon footage of the other teams
Inside the relaunch of the British AC75
Why AC38 could be the closest Cup yet
How GB1 plans to catch up with the front-runners
First impressions of the Naples racecourse
By anyone’s standards – and especially by their own exacting ones – the British squad underperformed for the majority of the Naples regatta to finish eighth overall in the nine-boat fleet.
As Cornish explained to me, the result was all the more frustrating after the team’s poor showing at the previous preliminary regatta in Cagliari, Sardinia, when technical issues with the British AC40 saw them complete only the third, seventh, and eighth races – albeit turning in a 2,1,3 scoreline in those.
“In that first prelim event we were riddled with issues with the boat,” he said. “But, in the racing we managed to take part in, we showed really good promise. We were competing at the front of the fleet, and I guess that naturally set a bit of an expectation as to where we felt we were [in relation to the other teams].”
On the back foot
After the Sardinian regatta, however, the GB1 team made the decision to focus resources on getting the British AC75 ready to relaunch. That, Cornish said, meant having to watch other teams training in their AC40s in Naples, while the British sailors remained ashore.