The Royal Yacht Squadron has confirmed Athena Racing as the official Challenger of Record for the 38th America’s Cup. This means that the British club, charged with pacting the Protocol with the Defender, New Zealand’s Royal Yacht Squadron, has gone with Ben Ainslie, rather than INEOS Britannia and Jim Ratcliffe, Boating New Zealand reports.
At the end of January, the America’s Cup was met with unexpected news: the split between Ratcliffe and Ainslie, which threw everyone off balance, as the Royal Yacht Squadron was suddenly faced with a choice between the two.
The two leaders, who fought together to attempt Britain’s first America’s Cup victory since 1851, had very different visions. INEOS focused on cutting-edge engineering, while Athena Racing sought to build a lasting legacy. The split was caused by tensions between Ainslie and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who controls INEOS, and who replaced Ainslie with Dave Endean, following a clash between Ratcliffe’s risk-taking strategy and Ainslie’s commitment to sustainable development.
While Athena Racing must seek funding, INEOS Britannia has solid financial backing thanks to Ratcliffe – the UK’s largest fortune – supported by the expertise of Mercedes F1.
Having clarified who will be the Challenger of Record team, it now remains to be seen if INEOS will stay in the race, as Ratcliffe is not a sailing man and came to the America’s Cup through Ainslie. It won’t be because of money, now we will see if the pride of continuing without their natural sporting leader takes precedence.
En español | Ben Ainslie gana la batalla a Jim Ratcliffe como Challenger of Record
