As we countdown to the 35th America’s Cup The Royal Gazette will bring you one fun fact a day about the boats, the sailors, the crew, or the history of this illustrious competition. There are now 34 days until the month-long sporting spectacle gets under way.

If May and June are anything like the previous edition in 2013, then Bermuda is in for an exciting month of sailing.

The Cup was all but lost for Oracle Team USA who, having been penalised two victories at the start of the match against Emirates Team New Zealand, collapsed to an 8-1 deficit.

Staring down the barrel of a huge defeat Oracle Team USA, boosted by the arrival of Ben Ainslie, turned things around in stunning fashion.

The American defender rattled off seven straight victories to even the score at 8-8, and with momentum shifting completely in their favour, won the 19 winner-takes-all race in San Francisco Bay by 44 seconds, giving the team and skipper Jimmy Spithill, their second America’s Cup after victory in Valencia in 2010.

Boat speed had been everything in those closing races, with Oracle Team USA steadily improving to a point where they could hydrofoil upwind at 30-32 knots, incredible performance never seen before in the America’s Cup.

“It was a fantastic race. We wouldn’t have it any other way,” Spithill said afterwards. “We came from behind, the guys showed so much heart. On your own you’re nothing, but a team like this can make you look great… We were facing the barrel of a gun at 8-1 and the guys didn’t even flinch.