The America’s Cup dreams of Exmouth sailor Ben Cornish and his Ineos Team UK have come to an end after a defeat in the Prada Cup Final.
A British team has never won the America’s Cup but hopes were high for Team Ineos, led by Olympic champion Ben Ainslie, but they eventually slipped to a 7-1 defeat to the Italian Luna Rossa team in the challenger series in Auckland, New Zealand.
Ultimately, a poor start to the final gave Ineos an insurmountable challenge, as they fell to a 4-0 deficit in the first set of races.
There was an enforced break after a three-day lockdown in Auckland but Ineos then lost the first race back on the water.
A glimmer of hope came when Ineos managed to reduce the arrears to 5-1 but their Italian opposition won the final two races to secure victory.