Sir Ben Ainslie’s Portsmouth-based team another step closer to ending 170 years of British sporting hurt in the America’s Cup

Ineos Team UK and skipper Sir Ben Ainslie celebrate with the Christmas Cup following their victory in the Prada Cup round robins off Auckland Harbour. Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images.

His Ineos Team UK have progressed to the Prada Cup challenger final after completing their round robin qualifying series with a 100 per cent record.

Victory in the Prada Cup final will take the Portsmouth-based team through to the America’s Cup final against holders Team New Zealand.

There, a further victory would see Ainslie and co become the first British winners of a tournament first held off the Isle of Wight in 1851.

Ineos Team UK skipper Ben Ainslie is presented with the Christmas Cup after winning the Prada Cup round robin qualifying event. Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images.

After winning all four races in the first set of round robin qualifiers, Team UK - onboard their £110m yacht Britannia - defeated Italians Luna Rossa off Auckland at the weekend to book their place in the final.

The third challenger, American Magic, couldn’t compete in the last round of qualifying after their boat Patriot capsized the previous week.

Ainslie’s team had a major problem in the lead-up to Saturday's race with the cunningham, the hydraulic downhaul system which controls the shape of the sail.

Due to a malfunction before the race, Team UK was forced to basically rely on guesswork during a remarkable encounter with Luna Rossa that saw the lead change hand nine times.

Despite not being able to make all the adjustments needed to the mainsail, Ainslie and Giles Scott kept calm and picked their way through the shifts to take the win by 33 seconds.

‘We had a few issues going into the race unfortunately with our cunningham,’ reported Ainslie.

‘That meant from the start we were on the back foot and missing one of the key settings for powering the boat.

‘But the guys just did an awesome job getting us around the track in one piece and getting the win.

‘That was a great moment for the team because we've had a tough build up to this competition. I'm incredibly proud of everybody.

‘That said, we know we have a long way to go. Whilst we've got ourselves into the Prada Cup final, it's just one step on the road.

‘One step at a time but the team have done a fantastic job.’

Ainslie’s team now have three full weeks to develop their boat before competing again.

But Luna Rossa and American Magic now go into a best-of-seven Prada Cup semi-final series, starting this coming Friday, to decide who meets Team UK in the final.

The Prada Cup final, the best of 13 races, starts on February 13 and the America’s Cup itself, again the best of 13 series, begins on March 6.

Though no British boat has ever won the cup, Ainslie was part of the American team that produced one of the greatest comebacks in sporting history in 2013.

Trailing 8-1 to Team New Zealand, Ainslie helped the Americans win eight races in a row to take the silverware 9-8 off the shore of San Francisco.