Wednesday 21 January 2015 14:01, UK
Sir Ben Ainslie is confident his BAR team can bring the America’s Cup home to Britain for the first time.
The inaugural competition was held off the Isle of Wight in 1851 – but the British have never won the trophy.
Ainslie - the most successful Olympic sailor of all-time – was an integral part of the Oracle Team USA team that won the America’s Cup last year in one of the greatest comebacks ever.
His part in their success prompted the founding of a new team - Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR) – and the four-time gold medallist says they are making good progress ahead of the 35th America’s Cup, to be held in Bermuda in 2017.
"It is such a historic event," Ainslie told the Press Association. "It is the one thing we've never won in Britain.
"It is the oldest international sporting trophy in the world, so for us it is the equivalent of going out and winning the Tour de France for the first time.
It is a huge deal. It would be very, very special."
Ainslie and his wife, former Sky Sports News presenter Georgie Thompson, made the headlines earlier this week after being rescued on their honeymoon by Sir Richard Branson having run into problems with their boat.
Branson's staff helped to fix the mechanical issue within a matter of hours, but Ainslie and Thompson stayed for a couple of days at his Necker Island home.
"You don't spend a bit of time with Richard Branson without talking about his story, how he has achieved what he has," Ainslie added.
"He is a very inspiring guy. I really enjoyed spending time with him, getting to know him better and (we) talked about many things."
Asked if the incident had been a ploy to get Branson to sponsor BAR, Ainslie laughed and said: "Well, he is actually really interested in the America's Cup!
"He has been passionate about it for a long time, but that would have to make sense for the Virgin brand, so who knows."
"For us in sailing and me personally, there's no bigger challenge then putting together and running an America's Cup team," Ainslie said, speaking on behalf of the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation - a charity set up to honour the life and legacy of his friend who died in a sailing accident in 2013.
"That's what gets me up in the morning. It is a huge challenge, a huge responsibility.
"We are going to end up quite close to 100 people so we need to make sure we get it right for their sakes, for our investors, for our sponsors and, ultimately, because we want to win."
