Ben Ainslie says Team New Zealand will still be an America’s Cup force

• Team New Zealand had criticised boat size reduction
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Ben Ainslie is confident that rivals Team New Zealand will be strong challengers at the 2017 America’s Cup despite the team being highly critical of the controversial decision to reduce the boat size for the competition .

Earlier this year plans were approved to change boats from 62ft (AC62) catamarans to AC45s in the 45ft to 50ft range for the 2017 competition in Bermuda. The decision resulted in the Italian team Luna Rossa withdrawing from the America’s Cup and Team New Zealand’s chief executive accused the remaining four crews of “self-serving manoeuvring”.

Related: Luna Rossa pull out of America’s Cup in protest over reduced boat size

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