- Ainslie has captained two failed attempts to win sport's oldest trophy with Ineos
- Sources revealed that Ratcliffe had considered quitting sailing.
- Man United co-owner will stay but will move on without Ainslie
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has dramatically parted ways with Sir Ben Ainslie and announced he will continue his quest to win the America's Cup without the four-time Olympic champion.
Tensions between the pair arose following Ineos Britannia's defeat in the Cup final last October, with sources revealing that Ratcliffe has considered quitting sailing after two previous attempts to win the sport's oldest trophy.
But the Manchester United co-owner opted to try again, albeit without the Olympic legend who skipped his two previous attempts, including last year's historic victory in the Challenger series.
The split was confirmed in a cold 197-word statement, in which it was telling that Ratcliffe's comment did not include a single mention of Ainslie.
The absence of public gratitude towards one of Britain's greatest sportsmen will also surprise crew and staff.
Ratcliffe said: “I am enormously proud of what we achieved in Barcelona by developing a British boat that was truly competitive for the first time in decades.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has parted ways with Sir Ben Ainslie, right, but is still aiming to win the America's Cup.
Ainslie claimed victory in the Challenger Series last year, but ultimately came up short in Barcelona.
'It set new benchmarks for British sailing, including winning the Louis Vuitton Cup for the first time and beating Defender in the final for the first time in 90 years.
“We will now leverage 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.”
Since the team was created from scratch by Ainslie, long before Ratcliffe's involvement took the setup to a new level starting in 2018, there could now be a new dispute with Ainslie over the organization's intellectual property.
Both men spoke, after last year's defeat in Barcelona, of their desire to launch another assault in the next edition, most likely in 2027.
However, each accepted that a new sponsor would be needed to share the load with Ineos in a notoriously expensive pursuit.