Ben Ainslie has apparently decided to hang-up his sailing boots, keeping his feet on dry land for the next America’s Cup.
In a recent interview with Rick Broadbent of the The Times, Ainslie said that he planned on keeping his feet on dry land when he leads the 2027 America’s Cup bid.
This has been the unspoken question since the end of the last America’s Cup . . . Was Ben going to step away from his hands-on quest to bring the Auld Mug back home?
Now, it seems that with the Athena Race team on firmer ground, finance in the hands of Peter Newman and new CEO Ian Walker on board, it is time to concentrate his undoubted abilities into getting their AC75 redesigned and rebuilt, to squeeze that winning edge – that was missing last time – out of her and finally bring the Cup home.
And he has decided that in Dylan Fletcher and his well honed crew from AC37 he has a firm foundation to allow him to concentrate on giving them a Cup winner.
In AC37 Ainslie helmed the British team to the first actual challenger appearance by a British yacht in the America’s Cup Match in 60 years. That 2024 appearance ended in a 7-2 defeat to the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand.
He now has what likely is his last chance to complete the circle and bring the Cup home.
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