America’s Cup challenger INEOS Britannia has split from its team principal and skipper Sir Ben Ainslie in a move that has “astounded” his camp.
It comes after the Olympic sailing legend’s team failed to win the Auld Mug from Emirates Team New Zealand in the most recent America’s Cup in October 2024.
In a statement, INEOS said: “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 chair Sir Jim Ratcliffe added: “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.
“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.”
Despite this, it’s understood that Sir Ben and Sir Jim had a strained relationship as of late regarding INEOS’s future America’s Cup plans. It’s understood the company will continue its campaign under the Britannia name.
Sir Ben’s team, which will now be known as Athena Racing, said they were "astounded" by the news which also “raises significant legal and practical obstacles for them”, as BBC Sport reports.
It comes just over a year after Sir Ben stepped down as driver for Britain’s SailGP team to concentrate his efforts on the America’s Cup campaign with INEOS.
At the time he was quoted as saying: “At some point, you’ve got to realise that you can’t do everything.”
