Ben Ainslie has left the Ineos Britannia America’s Cup sailing team after disagreement on way forward
INEOS issued a statement (today 23 January 2025) confirming the exit of Sir Ben Ainslie from the Ineos Britannia America’s Cup sailing team, and the appointment of Dave Endean as the new CEO.
Endean was Project Director with the team in AC36 COO, and responsible for the day-to-day running and operations of the team’s Ac37 campaign alongside Ainslie.
INEOS Statement . . .
INEOS will enter a challenge for the 38th America’s Cup under the team name INEOS Britannia after parting ways with Sir Ben Ainslie.
Unfortunately, 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.
INEOS Britannia has appointed Dave Endean as CEO, who brings immense experience in sailing and the America’s Cup. 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. It set new benchmarks for British sailing, including winning the Louis Vuitton Cup for the first time, and taking races off the Defender in the finals for the first time in 90 years. 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.”
More details on the INEOS Britannia challenge will follow in due course.
