British sailor admits America’s Cup opponents are ‘almost’ unbeatable but backs his team’s tenacity to cause an upset

“Look, we’re the underdogs in this, without a shadow of doubt,” Ben Ainslie says calmly as he prepares for the greatest sporting challenge of his life against Team New Zealand in the America’s Cup, which begins on Saturday in Barcelona. “They’re the clear favourites but that’s a good thing. We’ve got pretty much everything to gain and nothing to lose. We’ve got the opportunity of a lifetime, so we’re really going to go for it.”

Ainslie won gold medals in sailing at four successive Olympic Games but even those achievements would be surpassed if he could inspire a first British victory in the 173-year history of one of the world’s oldest surviving sporting competition. It is 60 years since a British boat was even in a position to race for the America’s Cup, which began on the waters around the Isle of Wight in 1851, and Ainslie and his Ineos Britannia team have just come through a bruising qualifying series.