Ainslie's race against time driven by Formula One science and pedal power

THE America's Cup is a waiting game and, on the exit of the Bay of Palma in Mallorca, a 40-foot sailing boat is bobbing up and down in the water

- Matt Majendie

Any further out to sea and contact will be lost with the design team back at the Brackley HQ of Mercedes, from which the Formula One team have won eight constructors' titles and guided Lewis Hamilton to six of his seven drivers' crowns.

For this Cup campaign, 60 Mercedes staff have been moved across to work with INEOS Britannia and Sir Ben Ainslie's third attempt at winning sport's oldest trophy for Great Britain for the first time in the event's 172-year history.

One minute, the crew of four are sitting passing round snacks and drinks; the next, they are attempting to fly across the water. Towed by a speedboat in order to give them the sufficient speed to rise onto its foils, there are a series of false dawns before they are up and away.

The team's Cup test boat is being put through its paces to see how it reacts as the waves get choppier. In adjoining vessels, laptops are poring over live data; so, too, on shore, in a double-decker of shipping containers and at Brackley, where many of INEOS Britannia's own design team are situated.

For such an old event, it is all very cutting edge; sensors attached to every part of the boat to see how it reacts to any given eventuality. While the racing does not begin in earnest until August 2024 in Barcelona, Ainslie and his team are in a crucial race against time.