Rossiter ready to go, as INEOS Britannia compete for Britain’s first America’s Cup win
Newbury’s Matt Rossiter will compete in the America’s Cup, after his INEOS Britannia team won the Louis Vuitton Cup last week.
The Sir Jim Ratcliffe backed team beat Italian contenders Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli 7-4 on Friday, after a week of intense competition.
The triumph qualifies the British team to face holders Emirates Team New Zealand in the America’s Cup, which starts this Saturday.
Rossiter discussed his role in the engine room of the boat and what it means to be associated with an elite performance organisation.
“There’s eight of us cyclors,” Rossiter explained.
“Four of us will race and then we’ll all swap over.
“In the cockpit you don't really see what’s happening, you’re head down, doing your job and pedalling.”
The cyclors help to power the vessel along by pedalling in the heart of the boat, requiring huge determination and endurance at the elite level.
The British entry is captained by Sir Ben Ainslie and was designed by Mercedes Formula One’s James Allison, with INEOS sparing no expense in the hunt for Britain’s first ever America’s Cup win.
Despite such precision engineering, things can go wrong, as shown by race three of the LV Cup, where weather conditions saw the race abandoned for the day.
“I was an Olympic rower before this, and it was very unusual for races to be cancelled,” he said.
“It’s very common in sailing, a race can be called off on the start line.
“Guys are used to switching off and on within a few minutes.
“You just have to focus on what you need to do.”
Saturday will give INEOS Britannia a chance to make history in Barcelona, and Rossiter is proud to be a part of one of world sport’s true elite performance teams.
“It’s absolutely amazing, I actively try and make sure that I’m making the most of it,” he explained.
“When you’re in the midst of something you normalise it and take it for granted.
“We’ve got 250 people, 75 mechanics for sails, oil, hydraulics, painters… they’re all incredibly skilled.
“Then there’s just as many very intelligent people looking at computer models and simulations.
“There’s 20 of us on the sailing team… we’re actually in the minority!
“It’s an engineering company with a few sailors attached.”
Being part of the INEOS family has given Rossiter some opportunities away from sailing too.
“We’ve been lucky enough to go cycling with the INEOS Grenadiers cycling team,” he said.
“We’ve had a few training camps with them which was a real privilege.
“It feels amazing to be part of this project. So many people are all pushing in the same direction to achieve the same goal, each part is just as important as the other.
“I feel lucky to be one of the guys on the boat trying to make the most out of it.”
Action in Barcelona gets underway on Saturday at 2pm, with coverage available on Eurosport and TNT Sports.