INEOS is to enter a challenge for the 38th America’s Cup under the team name INEOS Britannia after parting ways with four-time Olympic champion Sir Ben Ainslie.
A statement from INEOS said that 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 in which Ben Ainslie’s crew qualified for the America’s Cup Match for the first time since 1964. They ultimately lost 7-2 to New Zealand, but the British skipper had vowed to come back stronger in the next America’s Cup.
INEOS Britannia has now appointed Dave Endean as CEO, having been COO in the last America’s Cup campaign. INEOS will also continue to leverage the design and technology expertise of the Mercedes F1 Team under the guidance of Technical Director, James Allison.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman of INEOS, said: “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. We will now build upon this for the 38th America’s Cup through the INEOS challenge and already have 100 scientists and engineers working on the design of our AC38 yacht.”
However, the INEOS statement prompted a swift response from Ben Ainslie through his team Athena Racing. The statement read: “The British Challenger for the 38th America’s Cup, led by Sir Ben Ainslie, was astounded to read today’s statement from INEOS and Mercedes F1 regarding their planned challenge for the 38th America’s Cup.
“This plan raises significant legal and practical obstacles for them that will play out in the coming days and weeks. Furthermore, Sir Ben Ainslie’s British America’s Cup team will be known as Athena Racing going forwards, aligning with the British Women’s and Youth America’s Cup team, the Athena Pathway.”
What all this means for the 38th America’s Cup negotiations between the Challenger and Defender, and indeed who will race for the teams, will no doubt play out over the coming weeks and months.
