The catchphrase “Above and Beyond” on the wing-sail of Land Rover BAR’s AC45F perhaps best encapsulates the British team’s remarkable showing in the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series.

Led by Sir Ben Ainslie, the skipper and team principal, the team won the series and with it two vital bonus points that gives them a head start in the America’s Cup Qualifiers to start next May in the Great Sound.

“It’s been a real boost for the team, there’s no question,” Matt Cornwell, the Land Rover BAR grinder and bowman, said.

“It certainly lifts the team and I think helps with the focus, the drive and the push.

“And not just for the five guys on the boat, but for everyone else on the team, who is working so hard.”

The British challenger won four of the nine events on the world series circuit spread across two years, including the two they hosted at their home port in Portsmouth.

With the world series now behind them, the team’s focus has shifted solely on its primary objective of becoming the first British team to win the Auld Mug.

“It’s so nice to get that victory but the really important thing is to quickly put it behind us,” Cornwell said.

“You have to realise that that’s just one of the highs you get in the sporting calendar.

“It was certainly a high for the team but the real goal is next year and the most important thing now is to completely refocus and put everything into the Cup now.

“The World Series is brilliant.

“But that’s behind us and despite the advantage of having those two points we still need to have the fastest boat or else we are not going to make it through to the final, that’s for sure.”

Cornwell and his colleagues are presently training in the Great Sound on the team’s AC45S foiling catamaran, which serves as a test platform for the America’s Cup Class boat that they will compete in next year.

They have even had the opportunity to line up against their America’s Cup rivals — Oracle Team USA, the defender, Artemis Racing and SoftBank Team Japan — during the short time they have been on the island.

“That’s one of the big benefits of being here and something we are enjoying; having the other boats around and seeing how they are performing and sailing the boats,” Cornwell said.

“It’s been great to be on home waters but obviously after a while you do want to have some of the other teams around, and it’s certainly a big step being here and being able to see those other teams on the water too and checking with them.

“We did two winters in a row back in Portsmouth and it was fine but definitely very testing.

“I think we have earned ourselves a nice winter in Bermuda where it’s much milder and we’re walking around in shorts and T-shirts, which we wouldn’t be doing in Portsmouth right now.”

Cornwell said the team’s transition from the UK to their Bermuda base at the Royal Naval Dockyard has gone fairly smoothly

“Obviously there’s been some chaotic days,” he added. “A couple of weeks ago everything was in transition and the logistics of moving it all, the people and families, and relocating out here has obviously been a big deal. It’s a great little facility and we are so close to the race area.

“There’s still plenty of work to be done. But it’s going to have a lovely VIP area and the shed which we’ve got for the boats is a great little area.”

n Bermuda’s Campbell Patton and siblings Cecilia and Michael Wollmann will look to sign off at the Aon Youth Sailing World Championships in Auckland, New Zealand, on a good note today.

Patton enters the final races 37th in the 57-boat boys Laser Radial while the Wollmanns are tenth in the 20-boat Nacra 15 fleet.