America’s Cup fans will of course know the story of the unpleasant jousting that has been going on recently between the two former campaign partners. Ratcliffe’s opening salvo came in the form of a surprise press release on his company website announcing that his team – INEOS Britannia – had parted ways with five-time Olympic medallist Ainslie and would be mounting a challenge for AC38 in partnership with the Mercedes F1 team.
Sir Ben’s irate retort followed quickly in which he declared his astonishment of the INEOS move and warned of the ‘significant legal and practical obstacles’ that would surely befall them in the coming weeks.
While British AC fans scratched their heads over the viability of the UK fielding two teams for the next edition of yachting’s oldest and most prestigious competition, the Royal Yacht Squadron maintained a steely and inscrutable silence on the matter.
