Gearing up for the return of the monohull: Land Rover BAR to take part in the 52 Super Series
Land Rover BAR, have announced they'll be competing in the 52 Super Series 2018 as part of preparations for the 36th America's Cup
Following the announcement that the 36th America’s Cup will take place in monohulls, Land Rover BAR has decided to enter the 52 Super Series 2018.
Th British team have joined with the Langley Holdings’ Gladiator sailing programme, which is led by Tony Langley.
Sir Ben Ainslie will lead his team aboard Langley Holdings’ Gladiator TP52 in one of the world’s leading high performance monohull race series.
Land Rover BAR’s skipper said the series will will open Land Rover BAR’s challenge for the 36th America’s Cup.
“The return to monohull racing for the America’s Cup means that the 52 Super Series will be great racing for our sailing team,” said Sir Ben.
“We are delighted to be working with Tony Langley, he is one of the biggest supporters of British sailing and this will give us a unique opportunity to return to the subtleties of monohull sailing at an extremely high level,” he continued.
“This allows not just our sailing team, but also our design and performance teams to start developing our tools and methodology as we begin our 36th America’s Cup campaign.” added Sir Ben.
Last month, Emirates Team New Zealand confirmed that their defence of the 36th America’s Cup in Auckland will take place in monohull boats, and not the multihulls of the last two editions.
The full details of the new boats are expected to be unveiled on 31 March 2018, and they will not be available to race next season.
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In the meantime, the Challenger teams will look to develop their monohull sailing skills, which are significantly different to those required for the foiling catamarans raced in the 35th America’s Cup.
Tony Langley will continue at the helm of Gladiator, a role he has maintained since 2012.
The team tied the latest event in Mahon this month, scoring equal points to the 2017 Series champions Azzurra, only losing out on the regatta victory after the tie-breaker.
Land Rover BAR have already said that they will contest the 36th America’s Cup in Auckland, after reaching the challenger semi-finals for the 35th Cup in Bermuda this summer.