Ben Ainslie (Macclesfield, England) sails and commands. At 47 years old, he is the only skipper of the Barcelona America’s Cup who combines his role as team manager with that of navigator. He leads the Ineos Britannia (United Kingdom) in the offices and within the AC75 as a pilot; which represents the umpteenth exception for this unusual athlete. Winner of four consecutive Olympic gold medals between 2000 and 2012 and a silver in Atlanta 1996; world champion on eight occasions and winner of the America’s Cup in 2013 with the Oracle Team (United States), Ainslie has made victory a routine. There is, however, a frustration that grows with the years. “My only regret is not having been able to win this competition for the United Kingdom yet,” he says. Following the creation a decade ago of the parent project of the current Ineos Britannia, the squadron is aiming in this edition to surpass the all-powerful Team New Zealand, the defending champion, to make the myth of Sir Ainslie, Commander of the Order of the British Empire since 2009 for his sporting merits and an undisputed icon in the world of sailing.
AskHow does an athlete stay at the top of his game for so long?
Answer. It’s the most difficult thing. You become the target of rivals and you need to explore new boundaries. The difference between winning once or winning many times is in your determination to continue at the highest level. You need to set new goals. That’s how you can stay above the rest.
PWhat can a victory be compared to?
R.That’s interesting. I won the Olympics individually and I felt that sense of great satisfaction from a personal perspective. But I was lucky enough to win the 2013 America’s Cup and the feeling of winning with a team is much more rewarding than if you win individually. That team element is very powerful.
PWhen is an athlete’s competitive appetite satisfied?
RI don’t think I’ll ever do it. We’re all different and I’m a very determined and competitive person. Right now I’m focused on sailing, but maybe in the future it will be a business or another challenge.
PDo you currently consider yourself an athlete, businessman or director?
R. Good question. I am a sailor at heart. But I realised that I couldn’t just wait for an opportunity to do Sail GP or the America’s Cup, but I had to go out and make it happen. Go out and sell the team, sell the sport. That’s what led me to take on a management role as well as a sailor. It’s a challenge, but we might not have a British team if I wasn’t managing and building it.
P.Would winning the America’s Cup for the United Kingdom close a cycle?
RIf you win this competition you have to continue as an organizer, so… In any case, if we don’t win this time we have to keep trying. We need to win it.
PHow many gold medals would you give in exchange for the Copa América?
R. Some, some (smiles). It’s been 10 years since we formed the team and the effort we’ve all made is enormous. In the end you want to see all this dedication rewarded.
PWere you a child prodigy?
R. As a young man, I was talented, but I wouldn’t say I was a child prodigy. I didn’t win everything, I wasn’t a Mozart, so to speak, but I did have a lot of perseverance. There are a lot of talented people out there, but the difference between the people who really go far is the ones who work the hardest. Talent only gets you so far.
PAren’t you afraid of the sea?
R. Sometimes you feel the fear of being in the middle of the sea, but I’m not afraid of it. I do have a great respect for it. Unfortunately, I’ve lost too many friends at sea, so I’m very aware of that.
PWhere is the danger in the sea?
R. Something can always go wrong. I have lost friends in the Ocean Race and the America’s Cup. The risk is there, and on the high seas you are exposed to the elements far from the coast. If something goes wrong, if there is a storm, it is very dangerous. In the America’s Cup we push the boats to their technical and structural limits and if something goes wrong we have already seen that it can be catastrophic. The risk is there.
PAs you get older, do you take fewer risks?
RI don’t think so. You are more experienced and you better assess the balance between risk and reward. But in a competition you have to push hard because if you don’t, you don’t win. This is the balance you have to find.
PWhat have you sacrificed for your career?
R. Family life. I don’t spend nearly as much time with them as I should or would like. That’s the sacrifice.
PIs it easy to regret something?
R. No, I don’t have any regrets. I think I’ve been extremely lucky to have had the opportunities I’ve had. I just wish I’d already won the America’s Cup for the UK. That’s the only thing that frustrates me, but we’ll get there.
P. As Challenger of the Record (the Cup challenger), do you feel that Ineos is above the other rivals?
RNo, absolutely not. If you look at the history of the teams, the teams that have participated the most in this competition are the ones that are performing the best. This is the case of the New Zealanders or Luna Rossa (Italy); although I think that we and American Magic (USA) are close behind. Alinghi Red Bull (Switzerland) and Orient Express (France) have been out of the circuit for a while, but they have a lot of talent and can surprise a lot of people.
PWhat will make the difference in the regattas?
R. The conditions in Barcelona will be very changeable. We will see that certain teams are better in certain circumstances. Mother Nature will have something to say about that (laughs), it is part of the challenge and we all know that, so the sailors’ work will have to be brilliant to compete on the water.
P. Xabi Fernandez [medallista olímpico y entrenador del equipo británico] He says that this will be the most even Copa América.
RI think so. The New Zealanders are performing better, but there is still a long way to go. We still have six weeks of competition ahead of us, and things are going to change a lot. I would say that we still have a lot of potential to discover.
PCan your relationship with the Mercedes Formula 1 team influence your performance?
RIt’s an incredible opportunity. They’ve brought us innovative resources in fluid dynamics, for example, and in other areas. But the beauty of it all is optimizing the resources of a much larger structure without slowing down our progress, which is easy to do.
PDo you feel nervous before competing?
R. You are always nervous when it comes to competing. I am just as anxious now as I was when I was 19 and making my debut at the Games. If you don’t feel this anxiety it means that you don’t care enough about what you’re doing. And if you’re at a point where you don’t care as much, then you’re not focused enough. So a little bit of anxiety is good, because it really sharpens your focus, and that’s how we feel now.
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