The new America’s Cup wing sail foiling catamaran will be “more manoeuvrable” and “better suited” to Bermuda’s racecourse.

That’s the opinion of Sir Ben Ainslie, team principal and skipper of British challenger Ben Ainslie Racing, who firmly backs the amendment to the class rule for the 35th America’s Cup that resulted in the withdrawal of Luna Rossa.

The Italian challenger withdrew criticising decisions by organisers as “unprecedented and illegitimate” and their complaints were backed by Emirates Team New Zealand whose own involvement in the next instalment of the Cup remains in doubt.

The majority of America’s Cup teams agreed to change the class rule from the AC62 catamaran to the smaller AC48 at a recent competitor forum. Those changes, organisers said, were aimed at significantly reducing costs for the 2017 America’s Cup.

It is the first time in America’s Cup history that the class rule has been revised in midstream.

Ainslie, who won the ‘Auld Mug’ as a tactician with Oracle at the 34th America’s Cup in San Francisco, believes the class rule change was done in the best interests of the event.

“Personally, I do not just think this is a good idea, I think it is absolutely essential for the long-term good of the Cup,” he said. “The new boats will be able to achieve speeds of close to 50 miles an hour, far faster than any other current racing series in global sailing, and a match for the 72ft boats that raced the 34th America’s Cup.

“Most people would not even notice the difference in size of boat. They will still be spectacular boats, they will still fly out of the water on hydrofoils at phenomenal speeds, they will still be crewed by incredible athletes.

“If anything, the racing may even be better as the boats will be more manoeuvrable. Certainly they will be better suited to the Bermuda racecourse.”

The new America’s Cup catamaran will be sailed by a crew of six.

Tom Slingsby, tactician of Oracle Team USA. the defender, said the amendment to the class rule was partly inspired by the encouraging results from tests conducted in the modified AC45 catamaran syndicates had been using as a prototype for the AC62.

“I think all of the teams who have been sailing the so-called AC45 ‘turbo’ boats over the past few months have been surprised by the performance they’ve seen, which is partly what inspired this idea of a new, smaller class,” he said.

“In our boat we were doing roughly the same speed as the 72 when the breeze was up and we were maybe a little faster than the 72 in lighter winds.

“The new class is going to be an amazing boat. The boat we sailed in San Francisco was excellent. It was manoeuvrable, fast and reacted well and the new class will be a step on from that.

“By the time the America’s Cup comes around in 2017, we’re going to be seeing two boats going head-to-head, foil-tacking all around the place, trying to break cover on the foils. It’s going to be incredible for those of us on the boat and I know it will be spectacular to watch.”