Ben Ainslie: ‘We were having a tussle and then I saw a guy pull a knife out’

Ben Ainslie was consumed by his sporting obsession when the gang of men came for him in Barcelona. After a fraught day, while pursuing his dream of finally winning the America’s Cup with his own team, he stewed over the perennial problems of competing at this level of elite sport where the layers of money, technology and raw ambition can become so tangled. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, they confronted him.

“I was walking back with my wife and father-in-law from dinner,” Ainslie says. “It was around 9.30 on a busy street near where we’re living. These four guys had tracked us and went past us and did a 180-degree turn and came back. The one guy grabbed my arm and tried to take my watch. I grabbed his arm to stop him. We were having a tussle and then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw another guy pull a knife out and come towards me.”

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It’s a beautiful morning in Barcelona and, sitting in his office, Ainslie leans back in his chair to indicate the strategic retreat he chose on that very different night. “I let it go and they got the watch. But they caught me at a bad time. I’d had a difficult conversation with someone so I was in a pretty bad mood. After these guys split up, I knew which one had the watch and so I chased him. It was not the guy with a knife. He was long gone. The guy with the watch was running and I ran after him for about a kilometre.”

The 47-year-old Ainslie, a ruthless and brilliant yachtsman who won gold medals at four successive Olympic Games between 2000 and 2012, laughs dryly when I ask if he was closing in on the much younger mugger. “No. I was cursing my lack of fitness at this point, but that’s probably a good thing. I don’t think it would have been a good idea to have caught him.”

We pause to consider the grisly scenario of facing another knife and then, in a nifty tack, Ainslie cracks a joke: “They’re lucky they didn’t try that on Jimmy Spithill. He would probably have floored them all.”

This little anecdote captures Ainslie’s essence. He is as friendly and charming as he is combative and relentless – and, all the time, the America’s Cup and his sailing rivals occupy so many of his introspective reflections. He and Spithill, a 46-year-old Australian, have a long and complicated sailing history. They have been fierce rivals as well as inspired teammates and their respective boats, Ineos Britannia and Luna Rossa, are currently 1-1 in a 13-race series to decide who will lift the Louis Vuitton Cup next week.

Whether it’s Ainslie’s British team, or the Italian boat helmed by Spithill, the winner will cherish the real prize – a place in the America’s Cup to challenge the defending champions, Emirates Team New Zealand next month.

The America’s Cup was first staged in 1851, in a race around the Isle of Wight, and Britain has never won the trophy. It is one of the oldest competitions in world sport and Ainslie’s desire to win it for Britain has driven him for the past 10 years.

He is now backed by Ineos, the company run by the British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who spent £1.25bn earlier this year to clinch a 27.7% stake in the ownership of Manchester United. Ratcliffe is now in charge of football operations at Old Trafford but his commitment to Ainslie has led him to invest at least £200m in two attempts, so far, to win the America’s Cup.

In 2021, the last time the America’s Cup was held, Spithill’s Luna Rossa trounced Ainslie’s Ineos 7-1 in the challenger final in Auckland. Spithill and the Italians are desperate to win again and then defeat the Kiwis. But so much will be settled by the battle between the two skippers. I have interviewed Ainslie numerous times over the years and he’s always told me how he relishes the gladiatorial nature of his sport. Spithill, as befits his punchy name, is just the same.

“Jimmy’s a boxer,” Ainslie says with a grin. “He loved boxing competitively in his youth in Sydney. He was bloody good and thought about having a crack at professional boxing. Jimmy’s a really good sportsman with that ultimate professional mentality. I still take the piss out of him. He grew up in Sydney but Jimmy’s been an American, an Italian and, every now and then, an Aussie.”

In 2013, Team Oracle, representing the United States and skippered by Spithill, were 4-1 down against New Zealand when they asked Ainslie to become their tactician. It was a different role for him and he struggled initially. When Oracle were 8-1 down, they seemed without hope. Team New Zealand needed one more win to seal the America’s Cup.

But Ainslie became more assertive. Race by race, win after win, the gap closed and the interaction between Ainslie and Spithill was captured on live broadcasts. In one memorable moment Ainslie could be heard yelling at Spithill: “Yeah, yeah, just sail the boat, Jimmy!”

At 8-8, the final race was exhilarating as Ainslie drove on his teammates with a demanding instruction: “This is it … this is it … work your arses off!”

Ainslie is too smart to rehash those moments now. Asked if he was bossing Spithill, when demanding that he get on and race, he says: “No, no. It was just an interesting moment in the middle of the race. Bearing in mind that we’re constantly trying to improve, and develop the boat, Jimmy was taking everything in. But it was a critical moment and I wanted to make sure we focused. We could chat about the improvements we might make after the race. The good thing about Jimmy is that he’s the ultimate pro. He doesn’t get too fussed by that kind of stuff.”

Before Oracle won the America’s Cup in San Francisco, Ainslie and Spithill had competed against each other on the match racing circuit. “Jimmy didn’t really have an Olympic background. He was focused on match racing. I did the Olympics and learned many of my match-racing skills against Jimmy. We then had that amazing partnership in San Francisco so he will understand me better than almost any of my competitors and vice versa.”

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Do they get on socially? “We’re not best mates but I think we have a great relationship. Whenever we cross paths we definitely have a coffee or a beer. And at his press conferences he comes out with some great one-liners. Quite how long he spends preparing those, God only knows. But he’s colourful and great for the sport. He can try to intimidate people but he’s never done that with me. We have a healthy respect.”

What is it like working with the 71-year-old Ratcliffe? “Jim’s incredibly focused and determined, as his achievements indicate. He loves a challenge, and there’s probably no bigger challenge than the America’s Cup. I think that’s drawn him into it.”

The challenge of righting the listing juggernaut of United is surely even more demanding? “I was more interested when he was keen on buying Chelsea,” he quips. Ainslie is a Chelsea supporter and, considering his interest in business strategies and management, I wonder what he has made of his club’s direction since they were taken over by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital. “I don’t know any of the individuals but it’s clearly a bit of a mess,” Ainslie replies bluntly.

Ratcliffe has made many headlines at United. Has Ainslie also been urged to ensure that the 180 staff under his control keep tidy offices and avoid working from home? He smiles. “Fundamentally, he wanted the organisation to be 100% focused on technical performance. So if we’re spending money, spend it wisely. It’s what we’ve been driving for anyway.

“Take this base in Barcelona, for example. Compared with our neighbour [the Swiss team] Alinghi Red Bull Racing, our base cost a quarter of the price. It’s also 90% reusable and we can take it anywhere in the world. Their base can’t be taken anywhere – so that’s a sunk cost.

“We’ve got a big budget but every pound is focused on the technical programme. We would do that anyway but Jim was really supporting and pushing this. But there’s a difference between business and sport where teams are delicately balanced in terms of the individuals and you’ve got to be careful. You want to save money and be efficient, but you’ve got to make sure you look after people. You need that balance.”

There is also a huge contrast as United have millions of supporters around the world while the America’s Cup remains on the margins of mainstream sport. “Yeah, but if we can get all the way through to the Cup there would be a big rise in supporters. Britain’s never got there so to make it this time would be a big moment.”

Ainslie’s team have been boosted by their partnership with Mercedes’s Formula One racing team, another sporting entity in which Ratcliffe is involved. Fifty of Britannia’s employees are based at Mercedes’s base in Brackley, where design innovations mean that, as Ainslie says, the America’s Cup is like F1 on water.

Does he expect Ratcliffe to keep investing in his America’s Cup venture, whatever happens next month? “My feeling is that he would like to. He loves the sport, the team and being here in the ambiance of competition. But ultimately, he’ll be performance-driven.”

The technological, economic and racing demands on Ainslie are huge and he admits that, this year, he has spent “about a week at home”. Does he feel guilty when being absent so much while his wife, the sports broadcaster and podcast host, Georgie Thompson, looks after their eight-year-old daughter and three-year-old son? “A little bit, yeah. It’s been tough for the family. Modern technology is great and helps us keep in touch. But it’s not the same as being there in person.

“On Bellatrix’s birthday I’d finished sailing here and flew back, managed to get in for her bedtime. I just tucked her in, went to bed, got up at 4am and came back [to Barcelona].

“Today [25 September] is actually my wife’s birthday. They’re flying out as we speak, so it’ll be great to see them. We’ll go out for a quiet family meal.”

I can’t help noticing the replacement Rolex on Ainslie’s wrist and he laughs when I suggest he avoids grappling with any knife‑wielding muggers. “Oh yeah, the famous watch. This is a new one and it’s one of the perks of being a Rolex ambassador. They’re very generous and keep sending replacements.”

This weekend there are crucial races on Saturday and Sunday and, as he tries to beat Spithill and the Italians, Ainslie says: “It’s hard to switch off. I’m usually pretty good at getting off to sleep but once you’re racing it’s not just the sporting element. It’s what’s going on with the team. Are people and the boat OK? It’s quite complex. But I’m committed to winning the America’s Cup, however long it takes. We’ll keep going until we get the job done.”