Ben Ainslie Why I am giving up the SailGP helm

 

As a four-time Olympic champion and America’s Cup helmsman, Ben Ainslie is not used to handing over the reins in any sporting competition. 

But having campaigned for the best part of two decades as a single-handed sailor and driven his own America’s Cup challenger for the past 10 years, it is definitely not often that Ainslie hands over the wheel of any boat in his charge.

So it feels all the more significant that yesterday Emirates GBR  announced that double Olympic champion Giles Scott is to take over the driver role from Ainslie with immediate effect.

It represents a symbolic shift, both for Ainslie and for the team. Not that the 46-year-old is retiring from sailing. Far from it. There is the small matter of the America’s Cup in Barcelona later this year. And Ainslie will continue to be involved in SailGP as Emirates GBR chief executive. But it is a big moment nonetheless, as Ainslie passes the baton to the next generation at the start of what could be his final year as a competitive sailor.

Ainslie describes it as “probably the toughest decision” he has had to make in his entire sporting career.

“It’s difficult as a sportsperson to know when to step back,” he admits. “I mean, it’s not like I’m running for the hills. I’ve still got the America’s Cup, which is huge. But I really enjoy this series. The F50s [the foiling catamarans used in SailGP] are incredible boats. It’s great racing; probably the most fun sailing I’ve ever done in my career. And we’ve got a wonderful team. So giving it up is a really difficult decision.”

Ainslie is confident he has made the right call, though. The truth is, he says, something had to give. He has been juggling so many balls: CEO and driver of Ineos Britannia, the America’s Cup team he set up 10 years ago, which is now funded by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and in a technical partnership with Mercedes F1; CEO and driver of SailGP, the rapidly expanding global sailing series that now features 13 events across the season. And that is before you consider he is a husband and father to two small children.

“Yes, it’s a lot,” Ainslie concedes. “It’s something I’ve had to think hard about. It’s just trying to find that balance between my responsibilities to Jim, to Ineos, to the America’s Cup team, to the SailGP team. And then, of course, the most important thing: my family. I probably see Georgie and the kids once every other weekend on average, which is tough.”

Ultimately, Ainslie feels that stepping back from SailGP is the best thing for both teams: America’s Cup and SailGP. “Look, I’m 46,” he says. “It’s no secret that I’m in the autumn of my career, shall we say. Clearly I’m thinking about the future, the ownership and the management of both teams, which are in a really good place.

“It’s been an amazing journey in both the America’s Cup and SailGP in the last couple of years. I’m really proud of what we’ve been able to build up in both arenas. But you know, you look at the way both teams are growing … the America’s Cup team, which is far larger than it was when we started out in 2014, with the partnership we now have with Mercedes F1 and so on. 

“And then SailGP, which has commercial responsibilities to its partners like Emirates. Trying to run all of that, and be on the water with all of that, it’s getting to the point where it’s not humanly possible. Something had to give.”