INEOS removes Ben Ainslie from team
Published on January 23rd, 2025
Ben Ainslie, the most successful sailor in Olympic history, has been fired.
After winning his fifth consecutive Olympic medal, Ainslie helped defender Oracle Team USA win the 2013 America’s Cup. The British champion then launched Ben Ainslie Racing for the 2017 event, and then partnered with INEOS Chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe for the 2021 and 2024 editions.
Ainslie was 0-3 in these three attempts to win the America’s Cup which was enough for Ratcliffe to move on as indicated in this INEOS statement:
INEOS will enter a challenge for the 38th America’s Cup under the team name INEOS Britannia after parting ways with Sir Ben Ainslie.
Unfortunately, INEOS Britannia and Sir Ben could not find agreement on terms to move forward following the conclusion of the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona.
INEOS Britannia has appointed Dave Endean as CEO, who brings immense experience in sailing and the America’s Cup. INEOS will also continue to leverage the design and technology expertise of the Mercedes F1 Team under the guidance of Technical Director, James Allison.
“I am enormously proud of what we achieved in Barcelona in developing a British boat that was truly competitive for the first time in decades,” said Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman of INEOS.
“It set new benchmarks for British sailing, including winning the Louis Vuitton Cup for the first time, and taking races off the Defender in the finals for the first time in 90 years.
“We will now build upon this for the 38th America’s Cup through the INEOS challenge and already have 100 scientists and engineers working on the design of our AC38 yacht.”
More details on the INEOS Britannia challenge will follow in due course.
Details: https://www.americascup.com/
Defender New Zealand will work with the Challenger of Record from Great Britain to organize the 38th America’s Cup. Anticipated to be held in 2027, the two teams have agreed on some details with the venue to be confirmed by June 2025 after Barcelona declined hosting another edition.