Coaches are an integral part of any America’s Cup Team. Their role involves analysing performance, comparing data, advising on tactics and spotting differentials as well as being the ultimate sounding-board for ideation and innovation. INEOS Britannia has three coaches in its ranks, Rob Wilson, Xabi Fernandez and Ian Willliams, each of whom play a pivotal role in the team. Learn more about the INEOS Britannia coaches below.
Rob Wilson
Rob Wilson grew up in Shepperton, Surrey, and fell into sailing after a family friend needed an extra person for an Under 11 racing event. He fell in love with the sport and at the age of 13, Rob was selected to go to Yokohama, Japan, for his first Optimist World Championship (in 1989). Joining him at that event was another young British upstart also sailing in his first Optimist Worlds…Ben Ainslie.
After a successful youth sailing career, Rob began sailing the Olympic Tornado and became a member of the RYA World Class Performance Squad. After the Tornado was removed from the Olympics, Rob decided to step away from racing and focus on a coaching career – something he had done alongside his own competing since he was a teenager. He coached former Tornado rival Leigh McMillan and his team in the Extreme Sailing Series as well as Paralympian Helena Lucas who became the first ever British sailor to win a Paralympic gold medal at London 2012.
He was later approached by Ben Ainslie to coach his British team for the 35th America’s Cup, a role he has then repeated for the following two America’s Cups. Rob is also Coach for the Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team, which secured three events wins in the most recent Season.
Xabi Fernandez
Xabi Fernandez is a double Olympic medalist, winning gold at Athens 2004 and silver at Beijing 2008. He’s also competed in five Volvo Ocean Races. Xabi, from Ibarra in northern Spain, began sailing at the age of seven on a family holiday. After moving from the Optimists to the bigger Vaurien, he began winning national championships and then progressed into the Olympic classes.
In a 10-year period, Xabi competed at eight major events; two Olympics, four round the world races and two America’s Cup Campaigns. Xabi joined the British Challenge for the 35th America’s Cup in Bermuda and did two campaigns as a sailor, before taking on a Coach role for the 37th America’s Cup. Xabi and Rob Wilson work very closely together to provide the team with insight and information to perform at their best.
Ian Williams
Ian Williams is INEOS Britannia’s Start Coach, prepping the team for the match racing style of this year’s America’s Cup. As a seven-time winner of the World Match Racing Championships, there’s not many others as qualified for the role as he is. Ian spent his youth sailing before becoming a lawyer in London, a job he left in 2005 to pursue a professional sailing career.
The move clearly paid off, with him placing 2nd at the 2005/5 World Match Racing Tour and rising to No.1 in the Match Racing rankings in 2007. Although he is famed for his match racing success, Ian has competed in a wide range of classes and series, including fleet racing championships, four keelboat classes, the Extreme Sailing Series and the M32 catamaran series.