Billionaire Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is taking legal action against four-time Olympic champion Sir Ben Ainslie to get back the £180m boat they built together for the America’s Cup.
Sir Jim, co-founder of petrochemicals giant Ineos and one of Britain’s richest men, funded Ainslie’s team for two cycles of the famous yacht race, in Auckland in 2021 and again in Barcelona in 2024.
Ineos’ investment – estimated to be around £350m – saw Ainslie skipper the first UK team to victory in the America’s Cup challenger series but narrowly miss out on the coveted cup when they lost to defenders New Zealand in the final in Spain 18 months ago.
However, despite their 2024 success with the yacht – named Britannia – relations between the two men turned sour and they split just a few months later.
Initially, Sir Jim announced he would be challenging for the 38th America’s Cup, due to take place in Naples, Italy, in 2027, without Ainslie, who set up a rival team.
But Ineos abandoned plans to take part and pulled out of next year’s competition last April. They blamed ‘protracted negotiations’ with Ainslie’s Athena Racing, who they accused of causing a costly six-month delay to settlement talks.
On Saturday the row between the two knights of the realm took a new twist when Ineos released a statement saying it had ‘recently received information’ that Athena Racing – now rebranded as GB1 and backed by private equity firm Oakley Capital – was ‘in possession of the boat built and used during AC37 [America’s Cup 37 in Barcelona]’.
The statement added: ‘Ineos is surprised that the boat we built for the last America’s Cup (AC 37) has been taken by Athena Racing.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sir Ben Ainslie celebrate at the America’s Cup in Barcelona which they eventually lost to defenders New Zealand
The pair were best of friends after leading the Ineos Britannia team into the record books in Barcelona in October 2024. But they fell out soon afterwards and on Saturday it emerged Sir Jim was taking legal action to get the 16,450-tonne boat back
Ainslie with the £180m yacht that Ineos claim is theirs. He says the boat belongs to his team, GB1, and they are entitled to use it for the 2027 race, in Naples, Italy
The crew of Ineos Britainnia in Barcelona harbour last October
‘The boat belongs to Ineos and it is inappropriate to assume it can be used for the next competition without seeking our permission.
‘The boat was the most successful British boat in history and cost Ineos £180m and evolved naturally from the first boat which cost a further £170m. Ineos is taking legal steps for the boat to be returned.’
Ineos claims to have invested a total of £350m in Ainslie’s team for the 2021 and 2024 cups and that it’s success was also helped by the involvement of Mercedes F1, which Ineos part owns.
However, it is unclear whether that outlay bought Sir Jim or Ineos any control of assets or intellectual property.
In response, GB1 issued a statement saying they ‘appreciated the sponsorship and support of Ineos over the last two campaigns’ but insisted the boat was theirs.
‘It should come as no surprise to Ineos that assets which are owned by, and have always been in the possession of, Athena Racing are being used for AC38 [America’s Cup 38],’ the statement added.
Ainslie, 49, told the BBC last year that splitting with Ineos after the ‘fallout’ was ‘a difficult decision’ but stemmed from ‘different opinions on how to move forwards with the team’.
