America's Cup: Bleddyn Mon hoping for shot at glory with Ineos Team UK
- Published
The boats that fly: sailing as you have never seen it before
Welsh sailor Bleddyn Mon said it would be an "amazing" achievement to be part of a British team to win the America's Cup for the first time.
Mon is part of Ineos Team UK, led by Sir Ben Ainslie, who are hoping to compete in the America's Cup in New Zealand in March.
Before that, they have to win the Challenger Series and will be competing against teams from the USA and Italy.
"The New Zealand team at the moment are the ones to beat," Mon said.
"They're the defenders, they have the home advantage and have been sailing these boats for the longest period of time now and they're looking very good.
"But it would be an amazing thing for me personally, and for the team, to be able to bring that Cup back home to Britain for the first time."
The Challenger Series starts on 15 January in Auckland and runs until 22 February. The winner will then take on Team New Zealand from 6 March for the 36th America's Cup.
Mon, from Anglesey, has a dual role in Team UK. He is a sailor who also works alongside the performance and analysis teams.
Bleddyn Môn (left) and Luke Parkinson onboard Ineos Team UK
The British team suffered some setbacks in the warm-up races last month, with Ainslie warning they had three weeks to improve their performance.
But Mon says the team have been working hard to put things right over the Christmas and New Year period.
"It's probably been the busiest Christmas and New Year I've ever had but I'm looking forward to getting out there and back to racing," Mon added.
"We were a bit disappointed with how we got on before Christmas and that was the first time we got to line up with other teams and get a feel where we were.
"To be honest, it was a good thing that we had that because it was kind of a reality check for us and it made us look in areas we probably wouldn't have done otherwise.
"We've made some big changes since then - its only been three or four weeks but there's a lot you can do in three or four weeks when you really put your mind to it.
"We still have more things to improve but we feel we are in a much better place now than we were a few weeks ago."
Emirates Team New Zealand (foreground) are the defending America's Cup champions that Ineos Team UK aim to beat
Mon said it was a "privilege" to work alongside Ainslie, Britain's most successful Olympic sailor, who won five medals - including four golds - across five Games.
"He's one of the greatest sailors that's ever been in history. He's very driven and very focused as everyone in the team is," Mon said.
"We're all here to try to win the America's Cup, so everybody's putting all the effort in they can. It's a big push and in two months' time it will all be over.
"We'll do everything that we can in the meantime to give ourselves the best shot.
"There's an element of pressure in terms of making sure that we get the most out of the boat.
"Our role as sailors is to do exactly that - to use the equipment that we have to the best of our ability."
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