Renishaw (www.renishaw.com) has confirmed that it has joined Land Rover BAR’s (Ben Ainslie Racing) Technical Innovation Group (TIG)(www.LandRoverBAR.com) as an official supplier, joining the quest to bring the America’s Cup back to Britain. The company will contribute its expertise in metal 3-D printing and position-feedback encoding.

The America’s Cup is the oldest international trophy in world sport, pre-dating the modern Olympics, the Ryder Cup and the World Cup — and Britain has never won it.

The 35th event will be held in Bermuda in 2017; Land Rover BAR is the British challenger, and Ben Ainslie — winner of four Olympic gold sailing medals — is the team principal and skipper.

The Land Rover BAR’s TIG was formed to bring together the best of British talent and industry. The goal is to find advanced technologies and develop them to give the team a competitive edge.

The TIG complements the existing Land Rover BAR design team and allows it to rapidly develop, test and prove these technologies.

Renishaw marketing manager Robin Weston said: “As a British engineering company with core skills in precision and performance, combined with expertise in position encoding and metal 3-D printing, we are delighted to have the opportunity to make a valuable contribution to the TIG and help Land Rover BAR bring the America’s Cup to Britain.”

Renishaw’s contribution will be through its metal additive-manufacturing knowledge, helping to optimise the design and construction of critical 3-D printed metal parts for the team’s boat. It is also contributing by providing on-going expert advice on position encoder technology.

Mr Ainslie said: “We don’t underestimate the challenge ahead of us. We are a first-time challenger for the America’s Cup, and only one challenger has ever won it at the first attempt.

“We want to leave no stone unturned in our search for new technologies that will help us to bring the Cup home. That’s why we have developed the TIG and are pleased to have the support of Renishaw.”