The second race boat for the British America’s Cup team Britannia has been launched in Auckland.
It comes after the boat, which was previously known as RB2, arrived in New Zealand. The INEOS Team UK yacht is located at the team’s base in Auckland’s Viaduct.
Ineos Team UK skipper Ben Ainslie said the launch was "a landmark moment". “A huge amount of hard work and dedication has gone into designing and building this race boat, including over 90,000 design hours and 46,000 construction hours," he said.
“This is a big step forward for us as a team and we can’t wait to get out on the water in the Auckland Harbour. The coming months will be an intense time, as we will need to make every second out on the water in this new boat count to get the full potential out of her by the time we start racing in the America’s Cup World Series this December and beyond, but we are all looking forward to taking on this challenge of a lifetime.”
The 36th America’s Cup will see the final fleet of five teams compete in March 2021. The five challengers are Emirates Team New Zealand, Stars and Stripes Team USA, American Magic (US), Ineos Team UK (GB), and Luna Rossa (Italy).