Ben Ainslie's Land Rover team rule the waves in Oman

By Euronews

Published on 27/02/2016 - 20:54

The world’s top sailing teams are battling it out in Oman ahead of next year’s Americas Cup. At stake are points to carry forward to next year

The world’s top sailing teams are battling it out in Oman ahead of next year’s Americas Cup.

At stake are points to carry forward to next year prestigious race in Bermuda.

The Oman races over two days kick off a key year in the competition of six high performance 45-foot twin-hulled catamarans. They can top speeds of over 30 knots – around 56 kilometres per hour and rise up on a hydrofoil wing as they accelerate.

Ben Ainslie’s Land Rover team ended the first day of three races ahead of the pack on points, though the they were hit with a penalty for starting the first race prematurely and causing a minor collision with Groupama Team France.

Four-time Olympic champion Ainslie’s team won the two final races and are four points ahead of Oracle Team USA. There are three more races on Sunday.

Great to be back racing with landroverbar</a> for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/acwsoman?src=hash">#acwsoman</a>. Looks like light and tricky winds for the weekend <a href="https://t.co/N7BMzh210p">pic.twitter.com/N7BMzh210p</a></p>— Ben Ainslie (AinslieBen) February 26, 2016

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