Play-Offs - Day Three Sailing: America's Cup

The America's Cup has come to Bermuda. Its international sport's

oldest trophy but the boats are at the cutting edge of modern design

technology. Six teams have been racing here, only three remain in

the battle for the trophy. British interest didn't end when Sir Ben

Ainslie's Land Rover BAR were knocked out in the semifinals. Iain

Percy and Artemis Racing are fighting for a place in the

America's Cup match against the defendants, Oracle Team USA. But the

Briton is up against it here, day three of the Challenger finals and

he's 4-2 down against New Zealand. Iain Percy is an accomplished match

racer, but right now he's match point down to Peter Burling. The

rain fell but the wind appeared to be in the smooth sails early on day

two. They levelled at 2-2 despite control issues on the boat. That win

proved a false dawn for Artemis Racing. The Kiwis were sluggish on

the start but anything but on the course. Two wins put them in

control. So, it's a moment for Iain Percy to stay calm. He is well

versed in handling pressure, and he's not short of support - his

parents have travelled from home to be here. What a wonderful support

we've got from the Swedish team, it's been amazing. Everyday we have

decorated the base for them with posters, the children did posters,

and really to try to lift them and say you can do it, for it. So can

Artemis Racing keep the Cup dreams alive?

COMMENTATOR: Welcome to the perfect race trap for this 35th America's

Cup. The L-shaped racecourse has a critical reach to mark one, hoping

to get off five quick legs against the five knot breeze. There is the

start line and you will see two different distances, this is the

point at which you need to explain why it's not necessarily obvious you

start the closest end to the mark. You have a sat-nav system in your

car, right? You know when it says you can have a shorter route at a

slower speed and a faster route... You got to make a choice if you are

the skipper. So these two going head-to-head, potentially for the

last time here in Bermuda. They have been pitted against each other for

years. The helmsman Nathan Outteridge, and Peter Burling. Peter

Burling claimed gold in the Rio Olympics, one of the many duels

between the young helmsman. This may be the only race of the day if New

Zealand win it. We are very lucky here right now. It has been again a

kind of crazy weather day. You have ten knots of breeze right now, a

couple of squalls come through. Let's go out to Joey and get a

weather update. At the moment it looks great for racing, eight knots,

maybe more but as the rain pushes through it could get lighter on the

backend. So as the race wears on it could get really light. Thanks, we

will hope we can squeeze one in and it's looking promising. Race number

seven of the Louis Vuitton America's Cup challenge, and the first of five

wins becomes the challenger. It is match point to Peter Burling's team.

The Swedes need seeing off first. Both boats are not exactly flying

out there. They are I think literally flying but not speed wise.

Getting close to the starting line, Nathan Outteridge said this morning

that he wasn't going to be overtly aggressive. I think he needs to do

something different but it does look like he will be happy. Burling is in

a pretty nice spot here, pushing to the top end of the line with only 17

seconds to go. Let's see who can accelerate fastest. Ten seconds, and

both boats having to hold the line. Nathan Outteridge cannot afford any

errors, and the Swedes have picked up a penalty. Just millimetres,

goodness that was close! I know it's the very first thing that happened

in the race but that could prove so damaging because they have been the

first to the first mark in each of the contests in this play-off final

against the Kiwis and here they have given them a free pass right from

the outset. The first time in the entire series that Artemis Racing

has not been ahead at Mach number -- Mark one. They must have been over

by literally millimetres. Just a shame for Artemis and the fans. A

real kick in the guts. The New Zealanders have been very content

and happy to play catch up through this contest. Different dynamic to

this one. Nathan Outteridge has got to come up with the goods from here.

Full credit to Burling. We were saying what a shame for Artemis but

Burling stayed out of trouble. He did a nice job, just kind of keeping

it clean and doing his own thing. This time it worked. There is Peter

Burling, the Iceman. He is showing very little emotion through the

course of this event, but they have worked so beautifully together. This

is the replay of the start line and we will see the narrow margins we

are talking about here. Just look at it, fractions. Just crazy how good

they are and figuring out the timing distance while on foils. Just a

little too good. The penalty meaning the Swedes had to wait for two boat

lengths, had to put two clear boat lengths between themselves and the

New Zealanders before they could race again and it has cost them 100

metres or so. There's the heart rate monitors, Iain Jensen already maxing

it out. That can't be right given that he's not grinding currently.

So the New Zealanders, after just about the ideal start, given what's

on the line for them here, given the trouble is they have hard in all of

these starts, and actually not just in the play-offs final, they have

had trouble at the start since they got here. But the rest of the boat

handling has been so exemplary it hasn't cost them. This is a big move

by Artemis, they choose to do a separate manoeuvre at the gate. They

caused the split, but looking over the top of our monitors at the

racecourse, lots of pressure. These squalls are coming in creating big

puffs of breeze and on the right-hand side of the racecourse

there is substantially more wind. I think they are doing exactly the

right thing. So this is the leg the Kiwis really

had the edge over the Swedes yesterday. The gap has closed,

Sweden and enjoying the best of the pressure at the top end of the

cause. If you are heading for pressure, it is one thing. You kind

of never know really where the wind shift will go. I think they are

going to come out pretty well ahead here because there's lots of wind on

the right-hand side of the racecourse. Yes, it is a day out

there. Big right shift, lots of pressure, gaining every second. This

is as gutsy and rumours I have seen through the entire event. He knew he

was creating a split but stuck to his guns and man has it paid off.

Almost 300 metres picked up now between the two crews. Already, Iain

Percy is calling for leverage, which means this is a reasonably desperate

situation right now for Artemis Racing at a very early stage in the

race. Another cleaning tack from the New Zealanders. We have become so

used to the clinical execution of the manoeuvres. So the Kiwis

storming it out in front and really reaping the benefits of that

decision by Peter Burling. A huge shift coming back the other way

though, Artemis Racing will wind up in a right-hand shift now. They are

bow to bow, heading for each other right now. The big gain for Artemis

Racing. You can hear Peter Burling talking about the breeze. There is a

massive right-hand shift. That indicator top left of your screen is

telling you exactly that, that's what these sailors are battling with

at the moment. Quite a discrepancy. You heard Iain Percy saying we need

leverage right now. They got the leverage, and it has paid off in a

big way. They can't even get up on the foils right now. The speed of

the wind dropping well below six knots. Look at how skewed the Lions

are on the racecourse. Just a reminder that had the race been

started with the wind speed below the six knot mark, they wouldn't

have got it under way. This is a scene we have never seen before.

Team New Zealand struggling to get up on the foils.

Artemis Racing has made this a dead heat just about. Race conditions

have really levelled the playing field, haven't they? Artemis was

getting on the foils easier. Both boats pressed the protest button.

Artemis thought the dial down of team New Zealand was too aggressive.

So no penalty awarded either way from the chief umpire. The boats are

headed in exact opposite directions! Varies the dial down. -- there is

the dial down. Nothing in it. Team New Zealand seems to have topped on

the left wind shift. The breeze for New Zealand has actually shifted

back to the left. You see the angle heading more towards the gate. Look

at the angle differences, they are completely sailing in different

directions right now. So the true wind direction numbers

stepping up and it is pretty clear that it is very difficult out there.

That is also a sight you don't see everyday. They will be drifting to

the time being until the squall comes out. There's a 25 minute total

time limit these races. You'd think they will be running up against

that? Right now you would have to think absolutely. Iain Murray can

shorten the course. You heard Iain Person say massive left, so the

shift is running back in favour of the Kiwis. But it is all over the

place right now, it is still very close. Look at the squiggly lines!

Old school right now, no foil. When it started, Artemis got right back

into it again. So who is the key guy here? Is it the tactician? The

weather gods. The breeze is all over the place coming out of this squall

that has passed through. Can Emirates Team New Zealand make this

gate? We are going to have a dead heat again. After all of the

weirdness we have seen so far, the race is going to start over. Can

Artemis make the far gate? If you are the tactician, you are

absolutely pulling your hair out. Again, they are coming together.

They are right next to each other. There is the protest from the Kiwis.

I think they are going to have to make a decision here right now. I

think there was a bump. It was hard for us to see. The umpire is taking

a good close long look at it before making the ruling. It is painful

progress though, isn't it, and there is the penalty awarded against the

Swedes and they have fallen foul of the umpire on so many different

occasions. In the couple of weeks they have been here in Bermuda,

racing out there. This is going to be a strange one because Artemis is

heading down the course. They are going to have to wait and get two

boat lengths behind the BMG line so Artemis Racing will somehow have to

slow this race down whilst team New Zealand is creaming off in the other

direction. I was just wondering, I thought I heard Peter Burling

suggests they had a problem with the wing. That is Glenn Ashby providing

the eyes and ears for Peter Burling. Neither boat is in essence getting

down the course. The Swedes yet to burn off the penalty. 13 minutes in

the race so far, four legs completed out of seven, 12 minutes left to go

before the time limit is reached. I'm looking out on the racecourse

and frankly I only see it getting lighter where these guys are sailing

right now. If I were a betting man, I would be betting this race doesn't

happen if the time limit runs out. And if the time runs out, the race

is... Cancelled. But it doesn't count in any regard, they would have

to replay it. Correct. Look at these angles, Artemis trying to race off

the penalty but they can't! On the chessboard this would be known as

stalemate. What do you want us to do? That is Iain Percy saying to the

judges, what do you want us to do? It's probably four length style

because you are not allowed to jive to burn off your penalty.

Let's have another look at where the penalty was incurred. Multihull

sailing, team New Zealand does exactly what they should and creates

a little... I don't think they did tap. They must have gone close but I

don't think they did tack. You are faster. Obviously the chief umpire

has bought Artemis Racing didn't do everything they possibly could to

get out of the way and team New Zealand had the right of way.

That is as stressed out as Glenn Ashby has looked since he got here

to Bermuda. Very confused and puzzled. So the penalty at least has

been burned off now by the Swedes, but the wind speed has dropped away

to roundabout three knots out there now. Nine minutes left on the

racecourse. So this is an normal procedure, is it? No, there is not

even across Rome to pull the win over so Glenn Ashby is trying to

keep it out. This is why the energy is generated so the wing can be

trimmed, but Glenn Ashby is having to do it by hand now. I think both

boats would be delighted to call it quits. I'm not sure, Artemis New

Zealand has a lead, and I don't think any boat has been happy when

the race has been cancelled in the lead. It doesn't function very well

when there is literally no pressure against it. I'm not convinced they

have trouble. They have a strange situation, I will tell you that.

Drifting. It is just so light out there, it is almost time to break

out the picnic blanket! There just doesn't seem any possible way they

can complete this race in the time allowed. I tend to agree 100%. They

are not going to finish this racecourse by this time tomorrow at

this place. What is Iain Percy up to? He's becoming quite passionate

with the jib, trying to stop it flopping around.

What a contrast, from a few days back when these boats were hammering

along at 40 knots, it was all they could do to stay on the boat and

sometimes that wasn't possible. Holding the jib by hand, a slightly

different look from the strap on jib they have, they normally pull it in

as tight as possible and hold on for dear life. Now he's holding it with

his pinky. The race has been abandoned... Please return to the

starting area. Confirmation from Iain Murray and the race committee

that the race has been abandoned. As we have seen out here in Bermuda,

time and time again the shifty, changeable conditions really have

become a major feature of this America's Cup. Evidence of the

importance not only of learning to read the character of the race

track, but to heed the lessons and adapt your performance package to

suit. The America's Cup is a development

race, and development has been going for years and years, and racing

begins and most people might assume development stops because you are

now racing but it couldn't be further from the truth. This is a

development race, if you don't have enough speed you have got a lot of

issues. The boats develop day today. At some stages you make the wrong

decisions and you feel like you go backwards a little bit, but

hopefully you keep charging forward. Our designers are still working flat

to come up with the latest and greatest thing for the boat. The

semifinal was a perfect example design engineering and the team

making changes to the boat and I think now we have some of the best

boat handlers in the fleet, with just a couple of changes to the

boat. You know, it is something everyone plays with, how the wing

works, how it operates, what appendages they put on the boat. You

can slowly tweak and change them to make them better. I have definitely

seen the guys working hard. At the end of every time we have gone

sailing on the boat, there is generally a list of things that need

improving. It is often to do with the control system, the flight

control system or how you control the wing functions, and thirdly

efficiency. Every we go out, we get better at something, whether it is a

piece of handling or hardware, the guys in the shared work really hard

to keep producing things that want to test and develop. Obviously the

competition is really tight as we are in the top teams and everyone is

pushing forward. If you don't you get left behind and you won't even

make it to the Cup. You have got to keep developing, keep building

confidence in the boat and at the end of the day that's what will give

you the advantage. The tension could not be higher, we

have had every kind of weather condition today - rain, sunshine,

wind, no end. The race committee have been patiently waiting for

conditions to be right to start racing but it looks like it might be

OK. Let's rejoin the commentary team.

COMMENTATOR: The winds have returned and we will get chance to see some

racing today. So Nathan Outteridge and Sweden with port entry as we see

Peter Burling and team New Zealand arriving from the other side. Are we

going to see aggressive tactics from either of these helmsmen in the

pre-start? 7.5 knots, that's the great news. Good question. It has

certainly worked out in Emirates Team New Zealand's favour last time.

They had a better start, not to mention they were right on the

starting line. Artemis it seemed like hours ago pulled the trigger

about 2.5 feet too early. If it is timing distance, we will see who

does that better than the other. Another bite at the cherry, another

stab at race number seven between Nathan Outteridge's Artemis Racing

of Sweden, and Glenn Ashby's Emirates Team New Zealand. You have

to wonder which skipper thinks he is in the faster boat. They are both

heading back to the line pretty early. 38 seconds to go and they are

quite close. They are going to come up on this line, all the way down.

There is delay line. They don't want to go much beyond there. If they go

beyond that, they become a little bit at risk. Sure enough, Artemis

moves off. Maybe the hand to hand combat is

beginning to diminish now, as they think about timing the start. Nine

seconds, eight seconds. The Swedes are going to have to slow down, they

can't afford to do what they did in this race previously, when the

penalty was awarded to them. This time, they are clean off the line.

Who can get up the quickest? It is what we call a low speed and all,

the bottom of the start box, it can be a little bit quicker. Aiming

straight for the mark. This is absolutely a flat-out boat speed

contest. Not much in it. Peter Burling, keeping a keen eye on

his opposite man. Reaching the first mark. Going a little bit quicker. We

are going to see Nathan Outteridge getting a little taste of his own

medicine. This is what he has done to Burling a couple of times. Very

well played by Peter Burling. This time it is the Kiwis that reach the

first mark in front. As they did in this race a little bit earlier

today, that was abandoned. The Swedes, six out of six at the start.

Peter Burling, turning the tables. Can he make account? The wind was

blowing about as much on the first race. Emirates Team New Zealand are

really stretched out. It could have been wind shift, wind pressure. Nice

and stable by Artemis, a good sign for Artemis fans. A nice stable

drive the first time around. We know these guys can drive in this

condition. That was the voice of Peter Burling,

saying it is a massive gain if they can get into it. I think they have

more pressure on that side of the race, right now. Trying desperately

to reach the gate, with that manoeuvre. He recognises Nathan

Outteridge might not be too far away from achieving that himself. Look at

the discrepancy in speed. There is more pressure on that side of the

course. Do they really nice job. Getting himself into a pretty

dominant position. Big speed difference. Six knots. And

it is consistent. They are coming about a better angle, art is trying

to get low and bear off. But that higher angle, it creates a big boat

speed difference. You can see it there, five or six knots. What are

the options for the Swedes? Will they make this in one, or will they

have to gybe again? Their angle, the depth, they are trying to sail away

from the wind. It looks like they are trying to make the gate, instead

of splitting away. Look how slow they are. That is the problem with

taking it so tight. The Kiwis are stealing away. They are actually

faster downwind than their opponents were appalling. Really strong from

Emirates Team New Zealand, that speed, throughout the races. Really

got off to a cracker. Plenty to do already for the Swedish

crew. Interesting that the Swedes, they did this yesterday, they

attacked right in line. They attack into it. Directly downwind,

completely in control of Emirates Team New Zealand. Interesting move.

They wanted to go to the left. Why didn't they split and go for the

other gate? I'm a little bit confused.

A healthy lead. The wind speed has picked up, from around about eight

knots at the start of the race, it is now 11.

The Kiwis are 100% win rate when they are first to the first mark.

That spells trouble for the Swedes at this point. If you analyse the

statistics, although we have seen how one mistake can cost teams. It

very nearly cost the Kiwis at the final mark, the final race

yesterday. Peter Burling nearly blew it. You should seriously check his

heart rate. I don't think he breathes. Just calm under pressure.

Looking around, nice day, got my sun block.

We have spoken about the sharing of responsibility between himself and

Glenn Ashby, in particular. The way they share out the duties

has really been working for the Kiwis. It has been a proper team

operation. No one man has huge responsibility on his shoulders.

Peter Burling, very much the focal point, clearly. But everybody knows

their path. Again, another very precise tack. So stable, heading for

gate three with a really healthy lead.

We talked earlier but the crew change. I think they thought the

breeze was coming up and they might have put in the cyclist. What about

the wind shift we are seeing? Top left, the indicator suggesting it

has really shifted to the right. I think it has shifted a little bit to

the right. Not crazy, like that first one. The first race, we had to

have a cancelled race. That is what we were seeing. Massive wind shift.

It still looked to me like they are still pretty squared up on the

racecourse. That could be wind from a different part of the racecourse.

It is shifting. There is a good wind shift. They are going to gybe and

almost go all the way down. Like a pilot says, never doubt your

instruments. I was doubting the instruments and it was the wrong

thing to do. You think they are almost going to make this in one

stroke? All of the racecourse. They are going all the way down the

racecourse. A quick little gybe and they are going to have a long

stretch down the racecourse. They are almost heading for the mark. All

the way down the course. That tells all of us in the sailing world that

there has been a large right-hand wind shift. I guarantee you, once

they went through that gate, there will be scampering to move the gate

they went through, and square it back up again. That is what they do,

they shift discourse around. We never even know how much they shift

the course around. It is almost between every leg. -- shift this

course around. The Kiwis have found extra pressure out there. They are

going consistently, five or six knots quicker than the Swedes. At

the moment, the race is theirs. It really is there for the taking.

What do you do at this point? If you are Nathan Outteridge? This is a big

lead. Not just a big lead, but against a boat going very... This is

no fluke. You can even hear it in his voice right now.

An enormous space has opened up between these two. Surely, the New

Zealanders can't be stopped from here? Surely, their name will be

confirmed as the America's Cup challenger? Their form right now is

absolutely impeccable. A lot of rain clouds about, still. As every Kiwi

fan on the planet knows, this is a very familiar to what they had going

in San Francisco. Lots of rain showers around. I'm not trying to be

a downer here. It is still a precarious weather condition on the

racecourse, to say the very least. They have to hope for something

dramatic from this position, whether it is a change in the weather, a

shift in the wind, that propels them forwards at high speed. Some sort of

calamity to befall the Kiwis. This is really interesting, the wind

here has very little camber to it. Ashley runs around, jumps into the

camber adjustment, some kind of adjustments, when he goes back up,

it pops full. Maybe we can see that upward angle. Something is going on

with the wing. In sailing terms, sail depth was very flat. He went

and made a quick adjustment and all of a sudden the camber popped. The

angle between the front and back element took shape.

A very busy man right now. We love that shot, by the way.

Ashby polls that, it pops full. Terms of depth is added. He made a

change to it, somehow. 500 metre lead, down to 350. The deficit cut,

but the size of the racecourse is against the Swedes at this point.

Just one and a half legs, meaningfully, before the reach of

the finish. At the moment, it is all New

Zealand. For all the tinkering and the trouble that they may or may not

be having with their win, the Swedes are playing catch up. That the

moment they are staring right down the barrel.

They have squared up the racecourse. If you are a Artemis fan, it is not

quite as skewed as it looks like. He doesn't seem to mind being on

this side of the racecourse, why should we doubt him?

That bow down to them, we talked about it a lot earlier on. It does a

bunch of things, aerodynamics. Get the riders out of the water, the

drag of the water. We are seeing a big discrepancy in

speed. It is good having Joey on the water. Jerry, I have a feeling your

boys are sitting in that dark room you have described, the watching

room, back at Oracle Team USA, watching a really fast Kiwi boat?

Yes, the boys are in that little room, the dojo, watching this.

Impressive, on light air boards and streaking away from Artemis. Artemis

will be hoping for something to go wrong with the Kiwi boat, but I

can't see it happening from here. One more downwind leg. Emirates Team

New Zealand, seemingly cruising to victory. Cruising into the America's

Cup match itself as the challenger. That is what is on the line right

here. The Swedes, the moment, heading for the exit door.

They are miles away. They are looking buried, this stage. Peter

Burling, and the rest of his Kiwi crew, they will turn their heads at

various different points and they will have to really strange to see

the Swedes, who are nowhere near being in their slipstream. Not even

in the same picture. Dominant, as dominant as... This is an Artemis

boat that we were saying looks really stable and good in this light

air. It shows that the Kiwis sometimes have a mode that is just

scary. If you are a competitor, it is just scary.

Time is running out, there must be a slow realisation from the Swedish

crew at this point that their adventure here in Bermuda is drawing

to a close. 18, like all of the teams in this

event, has just been solid, great guys, very open to us. They have

been wonderful to the sport. There is nothing not to like about Artemis

Racing. Every single member of their team, the principal and owner of the

team, a class act. Nothing to be ashamed of. They are losing to a

better team right now. Still putting it in, still putting

in those hard yards. But the New Zealanders are bearing down on

victory. It is a fun feeling right now come on board this boat. There

is no way they could screw this up, but we said that yesterday as well.

They almost gave their fans a heart attack. One more gybe and they will

come zipping across. I think it is almost a pitching wedge to them.

Through the final mark. They turned for home. The New Zealanders are now

on a victory sprint. Down the runway, close to the shoreline in

front of thousands of fans who are in the grandstand. They are all

along the edge of the shore. They have witnessed a terrific

performance. The Kiwis, absolutely flying home and flying into the

America's Cup match itself. As the challenger. The rematch against the

Americans is on. 2013, San Francisco and all, the New Zealanders will get

a chance to write those wrongs. Put things straight. They have seen off

the Swedes. Celebrations of a very good job

done. You can see what it means. There will be celebrations, 9000

miles away, 4.5 million people in the north and south Island of New

Zealand will let out a collective cheer and applaud Peter Burling,

Glenn Ashby, Blair Tuke and all of the others on board. The Swedes are

down and out. And and, ultimately, by some inconsistencies,

fluctuations in form. Ultimately out racist. -- ultimately out raced. The

Kiwis will have been waiting for this special moment. Very much a

team effort. Outstanding in the race today. An altogether different kind

of spray coming their way now. Very well done.

There have been so consistent, as Peter Burling was mentioning, the

recovery from the picture goal not quite a week ago was dramatic a

moment as we have seen heading America's Cup. To come back from

that in the way that they have is remarkable.

A brave effort by the Swedish team. In the end, Iain Percy and his boys

were outpaced by an unstoppable Emirates Team New Zealand. The

winner of the America's Cup challenger play-offs and the

official challenger for the 35th America's Cup, Emirates Team New

Zealand! It has been a fantastic journey to

even make it here to Bermuda for us. We have had some fantastic battles

on the water over the last few days. Absolutely hats off and

congratulations to Artemis, who have had a fantastic campaign. It was a

pleasure racing them. Thanks for making a stronger for the way

forward. Congratulations. Through to the

America's Cup. Explain what that means to you and all of the team?

Yes, I think the team is over the moon. I've got passed such a valiant

challenger as Artemis. Full credit to them, they put together an

amazing campaign over the last four years. They really pushed as hard

over the last few days. Today's race, we got away, but the first six

races have been super tight, the whole way around the track. You

never felt you could make one mistake. That is the kind of racing

we need to be able to keep improving our skills. That is definitely what

we have come to do, to try to bring the America's Cup back to New

Zealand. A massive step towards that. We have a lot of hard work to

do over the next week to keep ourselves moving forward, keep on

that steep learning curve that we are on.

Nathan, it has been such a roller-coaster, this challenger

series. Just describe it from Artemis Racing's point of view? The

racing has been up and down for us. You know, incredibly proud of the

team. We had a hard campaign last time round. The decisions we have

made through the campaign have been huge improvements. We have a boat

that was very competitive, a group of people that worked really well

together and a sailing team that were able to step up when it

counted. It has been a very close, tight fought battle. We had some

really enjoyable races with Emirates Team New Zealand in the final. You

know, thinking back to the round robins, we had some good races. We

might be the only team to say that we haven't lost a race. A word about

Iain Percy, he led not only on the boat, but in the boardroom. How

strong a character has he been through this? Here's an incredible

human being, to be honest. Not only does he manage the team, always

looking over all of the different areas in the campaign. He is in the

gym every day, working hard. To be honest, I don't know how he did it.

It was a huge ask. I really enjoyed working with him over the last few

years. I think what you end up finding is that those people that

are super passionate about what they are doing always end up coming

together. There are often heated battles. But, man, it is nice when

you get on the same page and start the race the way we did. I think we

can be very proud of how the team has been put together. Iain Percy

was working from the word go, as soon as the last campaign ended on

this one. I think he has done an amazing job, pulling together such a

great team. Joining me now, still in his wet suit, Iain Percy. I am sure

you are feeling a whole host of emotions. Just tell us how proud you

are 40 have done with your team? The team are competitors, and we didn't

come up with the goods today. Yes, you are right, proud as well. We

started this campaign three years ago in a very different pace. A long

way behind the top teams in our sport. We stand here today very much

up there. We know we can compete with the very best. We are so proud

of that, and it doesn't come easy, it comes from a lot of work from

hundreds of people. Nobody knew how this challenger series would look.

It has been incredibly intense. What have your impressions been? I think

has been some of the best sport out there in 2017. It is unbelievable

how exciting it is. You are right, nobody knew how it was going to go.

We didn't. Living it everyday for the last three years, it is that

kind of racing, in any race, anybody can win. The lead can change

multiple times. It is pretty cool to do I think we have really proved, in

this series, and I think in the cup, that sailing will be around at this

amazing format for many years to come. From a British perspective,

you have a team here with Sir Ben Ainslie's team, lots of British

people in your team, and scattered amongst the others. How well-placed

is British talent and knowledge within the America's Cup? British

sailing has been on a bit of a role for the last 20 years. That success

now is translated into the America's Cup, on the sailing side in

particular, but also on the design side. Ben and his guys did a really

good effort this campaign. I know they are going to be back, and

stronger, and all of the rest of the Brits and the other teams, we are

pushing hard to make sure he doesn't necessarily make it all the way to

the tops. But I think British sailing is in a strong place. It is

one of the most popular sport in our country, we all love it and we are

good at it. You haven't had much time to think of the future, but

what are your impressions? Will Artemis Racing carry on? For you

personally, what is the plan? Our owner has been with us for the last

two weeks. Here's a special guy. He came on board straightaway. The

first thing he said was, I am so proud of you all. It certainly got

me close to tears. He is a special guy to work with, work for. I have

been very proud to do that and will be honoured to carry on. If he has

enjoyed it, that is obviously important, and so have the

supporters in New Zealand, which is important to him. I am sure we will

look at the challenge of who wins in the end. But it is going to be hard

to hold us back. And personally there is a new arrival coming? Yes,

the due date was today. I am really excited. It is going to be a

different thing to me, I have been a sport on 425 years and I am so

looking forward to being a dad. Alex has been holding on, and I am going

to be on the first bird out here to see her. Enjoy it. Lots to look

forward to in the Bermuda. We will be back with the highlights of the

first day of the America's Cup. For the first time, the Science

Museum is opening its doors so you can vote for

Britain's greatest invention.