The experience has been both
devastatingly sad and sobering for Ainslie. The four-time Olympic medal winner
is back on the water with Oracle Team USA after attending Simpson’s funeral in
Great Britain and breaking the previous record in the Round the Island race
held off the Isle of Wight last weekend. Here he shares his thoughts on AC34
and the absolute need for a safe competition.
The infamous San Francisco summer breeze is now
upon us: How has it been on the water? Do you have any apprehensions about the
boat you’ll be racing in these conditions now the Louis Vuitton Cup is just a
month away?
BA: We’ve been sailing for the past couple of days,
and I’ve been doing more helming, steering the boat downwind--foiling--and it
does take a little bit of getting used to. They’re certainly very fast boats,
and you have to be absolutely on your game to sail them. I think that in the right
conditions the boats are manageable, and if the safety recommendations being
put in place for the event are at the right level to sail and race in a safe
manner, that’s what we all want.
There have been statements made publicly that you
had considered stepping down from the Cup following the Artemis tragedy. How
real was that consideration?
BA: I think like many of these
comments that it may have got blown out of proportion a little bit, which made
it sound little bit more over the top, but it certainly wasn’t my intention. It
was, however, something that I’m sure a lot of people felt at the time because
we were all so devastated that something like that could happen. If you were
very close to Bart, like a lot of us were, actually seeing that something like
that could happen does make you evaluate a lot of things. I’m not saying it's
something I had to struggle with for very long, but I do think there are
moments like this where you do think about your life, what you’re doing with
your life, and what it’s all about.
How has the accident impacted you and the sailing
team at Oracle? How are you now looking at the way you do things, whether on
the water or on the boat?
BA: Like all the other teams, we’ve
looked long and hard at how our boat is prepared, how we sail the boat, the
safety equipment, and if something were to go wrong, how to recover the boat.
I’m absolutely certain the other teams have done exactly the same thing. It’s
the sensible response to a disaster like that. None of the teams ever want anything
like this to happen again. You look very long and hard at your processes and
your equipment and the conditions that you’re prepared to sail in.
How is morale at Oracle Team USA following the
accident?
BA: Of course everyone was devastated both by the
accident and what happened. But since I got back here on Monday [June 3], the
guys are getting on with it and working really hard. I was really impressed to
see the changes being made to the boat with safety in mind. We’re moving
forward and preparing for the America’s Cup.
From your observation, what are some of the ideas
for improving the safety aspect of racing on the 72?
BA: A lot of
them are just very common sense, such as having more high-visibility clothing,
maybe more durable helmets depending on the specific case in the individual
teams. Even before this most of the teams were carrying spare air and knives,
and now people are taking that much more seriously. The technical side is the
more gray area because the boats are obviously designed to sail in a range
based on a certain rule, so there’s a very fine line between making some big
changes and retaining the integrity of the event. It’s not that easy, but
there’s a lot of goodwill going into these changes that are being implemented,
and I’m confident they’ll come through.
Do you think the wind limit needs to come down?
BA: I think
that’s the biggest step they can take to try to avoid a capsize further down
the line in the competition. I think the wind limit will come down--that’s the
recommendation from the safety committee, and I understand that the teams have
agreed to that.
It’s been said, especially in light of the tragedy,
that sailors at the top of their game, like yourself, are highly competitive, and
chasing the next big challenge is simply part of what you seek--would you agree
with that?
BA: It’s all very competitive, and everyone wants to
win. In an event like this with a new class of boat and a lot of unknowns, we
have to careful and realistic about how hard we can push these boats and what
they’re capable of. I think we just have to use a lot of common sense to get us
through this difficult period, that’s all.
Do you consider yourself highly competitive? Is
this the kind of challenge you were after?
BA: Sure, I’d say
I was highly competitive given the nature of what I’ve been doing for the last
20 years. As a sailor, you’re there to compete, part of the challenge with this
America’s Cup has been the boats. There’s an element of the unknown with these
boats, and what we’re all concerned with foremost is the safety of the
equipment, safety of the racing, and safety of the competitors. We have to do
everything we possibly can to ensure that.
With two completely different AC experiences (ETNZ
in 2007) and both very different to the Olympic path you’ve been on all these
years, what’s attractive to you about the Cup?
BA: Its
history as the oldest sporting trophy in the world. For us Brits, there’s an
element of wanting to bring it back to where it all started in 1851. It’s a
huge challenge because of the technical aspect, and with a lot of the top
sailors from Olympic classes and smaller boats now competing in the event. For
sure, in terms of big boat sailing, it's the pinnacle of our sport.
How are you finding the current edition of the
event compared to 2007?
BA: It’s definitely a bit different, isn’t it
[laughs], with the wing sail and the multihulls. It’s a totally different
challenge. The version 5 boats were really getting at the top of that class--that
rule--and were really close in performance. Now the boats are at different ends
of the spectrum. It’s much more about the design of the boats and which team
can develop their boats as quickly as possible and get close to maximum
performance. That will be the team that ultimately wins. It won't necessarily
be about the best starting helmsman or specific adjustments to the headsail,
for example, like it was in 2007. It’ll all just be about speed I think.
How do you find sailing in the big team environment
with its many personalities and politics, transitioning from your Olympic
sailing to the AC?
BA: It’s a different challenge, but it’s a lot of
fun, especially as you get a little older and perhaps something that you need
to do career-wise. This team is a nice team; I was attracted here by the other
sailors, pretty much--older, more experienced guys like John Kostecki, Murray
Jones, Simon Daubney, Grant Simmer, and of course Russell Coutts, as well as
some of the younger guys coming through like Tommy Slingsby. And then of course
the boat is a different challenge ...
What tranfers from your Olympic experience to the
Cup arena?
BA: It’s a completely different style of sailing, but
what I’ve learned in small boats: It's just about hours on the water and trying
to become good at making decisions about what’s working and what’s not. It’s
the same as what we’re trying to do here with the 72s as we develop these boats
as quickly as possible. It’s really about having good people and making the
right decisions. Even in Olympic sailing, it’s not really about one person
[laughs]--there tends to be a big team in the background helping out. The Cup
is just a much bigger scale.
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