The drama of the way in which the series unfolded, the majesty of these enormous catamarans up on their foils, and perhaps most importantly, the innovative television coverage, which for the first time was shown to the masses on You Tube, brought a new audience to the America's Cup. Ainslie played a key role in that success. In winning the Auld Mug for the first time, albeit as part of an American team, Ainslie also fulfilled a lifetime ambition. The eight year old boy who awoke on Christmas morning to find a second-hand Optimist dinghy in his bedroom in Cornwall, which his father had rigged up overnight, has now achieved the twin goals he set himself when he embarked upon a career in sailing to win Olympic gold and to win the America's Cup.
When Ainslie was drafted into the team Oracle afterguard following their disastrous start to this series, there was always the possibility that some of his gold-dust might rub off on the rest of the team. Perhaps more than anything, what Ainslie brought to Oracle was his winning mentality. when he said in a column in this newspaper last week that he truly believed Oracle could turn around what was at that point a 7-1 deficit.
The America's Cup is a team sport akin to Formula One, requiring monstrous funding and a veritable army of people simply to get the boats out on the water. Ainslie is just one small cog in the multi-billion dollar machine that is Oracle Team USA. Win or lose on Wednesday, Ainslie's reputation has been burnished. Sponsors will surely be beathing a path to his door ahead of the 35th Cup.