Living in the Scuttlebutt World
Published on January 27th, 2025
by Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt Sailing News
While San Diego may be revered for its comfortable climate, we suffer through our local sports teams. Our professional basketball team left in 1984, our professional football team left in 2016, and our professional baseball team is now mired in ownership turmoil… not the first time.
So, I can appreciate the mood in Great Britain. I learned long ago these are serious people, having targeted an innocent April Fools gag their direction. They are a proud nation, and their hopes of claiming the America’s Cup are now gagging on a fart cloud of confusion.
The imploded marriage between skipper Sir Ben Ainslie and money man INEOS Chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe is having an environmental impact. Partnered for the 2021 and 2024 editions, these two rocked the internet on January 23 with their separation statements, and have since left their people to smell the stink.
With the lawyers now involved, do you bet against the richest person in the UK? Ratcliffe made his billions in the messy oil and chemical trade, which is the irony as Ainslie had previously promoted himself on a ‘good for the planet’ platform. So much for dancing with the devil…
The America’s Cup defender has been quiet amid the turmoil, which isn’t newsworthy other than the Brits are/were the Challenger of Record involved in establishing the Protocol for the 38th America’s Cup. As the rules for the 2024 event were released in November 2021, the clock is ticking.
The venue for the next America’s Cup is to be revealed in June 2025, so that much we know. But the Protocol is what everyone waits for before they throw their hat into the ring, and we are reminded that it is the club Royal Yacht Squadron, and not the team, which is the Challenger of Record.
The baseball season in the USA starts March 27 for the San Diego Padres, and my offseason has been stinky too. Ownership issues, instead of player signings, have filled the headlines, and the roster has some big holes. I don’t know who will be on my team, so Great Britain, I feel your pain. Hope we both have some resolution soon.