Ainslie secures investment for America’s Cup team

Following the split from Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos, four-time Olympian sailing champion Ben Ainslie has secured funding for Britain’s America’s Cup campaign.

Ainslie’s Athena Racing sold its majority stake to private equity firm Oakley Capital, which will enable it to compete in “long-term financial stability” both during the upcoming America’s Cup and throughout a number of subsequent cycles.

Athena will be the ship’s captain at the 2027 Naples event.

Regarding the plans for the 38th America’s Cup, Ainslie and Ratcliffe had a strained relationship.

Ainslie told the BBC on Tuesday that the “fallout” between him and Ineos was “a difficult decision” because there were “different opinions on how to proceed with the team.”

Ainslie claimed he had been “funding the team myself” and that he will continue to hold a significant shareholding in Athena Racing as team principal.

He claimed for Reuters, “It’s been a lot stressful.” But I had faith in the team, the partnership, and the willingness to take that risk.

Ainslie served as the team’s principal and skipper for Ineos Britannia in an effort to record a first victory for the country since the America’s Cup first started in 1851, having secured Ratcliffe’s support in 2018.

Ainslie won the America’s Cup with Oracle Team USA in 2013 as the most successful sailor in Olympic history.

After the five founding teams, including Athena, formed an alliance, there will be a 55 million euros (£48 million) cap on costs, which will be implemented after the America’s Cup will be held every two years after 2029.

Ainslie praised the decision as “groundbreaking” and said he was confident that broadcasters would be more interested in the new structure.

He claimed that “the America’s Cup has traditionally been a winner-takes-all environment.”

You decide where it is, when it is, the boat’s size, the rules and regulations, and you win.