Sailing-Ainslie aims to build on British speed gains in America's Cup quest

LONDON : Ben Ainslie said his British team are focused on eking further improvements out of themselves and their AC75 boat as they enter the next phase of their America's Cup campaign in Barcelona.

After what Ainslie called some race "rustiness", the British clicked during the challenger round-robins which ended on Monday and as top crew get to choose their semi-final opponent.

"We've found some really, really big gains, and have some great momentum in the team now, and we've seen that with the performances in the last week or so," Ainslie told Reuters on a video call from his team's Mediterranean base on Tuesday.

The 47-year-old said they had addressed "some set up issues around the boat", but was reticent about details as they work out how to clinch the Louis Vuitton Cup and with it the right to challenge America's Cup defenders New Zealand.

"I have to be careful I'm not giving too much away here, but you can see that our manoeuvres are getting better and just the nuances of things like the tactical app that we use to help us get off the start and get around the race course," he said.

Ainslie praised the input of his coaches and the shore team "working 24/7" to keep Britannia reliable and race ready.

Also crucial, Ainslie said, are the team's partners at Mercedes, whose Formula One designers and analysts are "trawling through the data and trying to figure out how we can set the boat up better, how we can sail the boat better".

With Britannia now undergoing "a couple of little tweaks", Ainslie aims to be back out on the water on Thursday and Friday "searching for performance gains" ahead of the start of the challenger semi-finals, which begin on Saturday.

As to who Britain will pick, Ainslie said the decision would be taken on