Ainslie has to settle for second place (From This is Hampshire)

Ben Ainslie has to settle for second place

12:00am Thursday 11th October 2012 in Hampshire Sport By Will Carson

OLYMPIC star Ben Ainslie had to settle for the runners-up place in only his second outing on the America’s Cup World Series after being beaten on a technicality.

Ainslie’s Ben Ainslie Racing team led the fleet right through to the high-scoring final race of the second San Francisco round of the tournament – but the top spot went to rival Jimmy Spithill after he won the race and ended the regatta on equal points to the five-time Olympic medallist.

The better result in the final race handed the win to Spithill’s Oracle team.

“It was disappointing not to hang onto the lead but after a bad start we did a really good job to fight back and secure second,” said Ainslie, from Lymington.

“I couldn’t be happier with the way the week’s gone really in terms of training and preparation compared with last time around. It’s where we want to be and it gives us a great foundation for the future.

“You have to perform on that final race and Jimmy and his team to their credit did just that, and they won the race and the regatta. “We would have loved to have won; that was our aim going into that race, but overall we’re really happy with the week. “We’ve made some massive improvements from the last regatta and there is still a lot we can improve on.”

Full story in Will Carson's Sail Solent in tomorrow's Daily Echo