It was supposed to be the campaign that finally brought the prestigious America’s Cup sailing prize home to Britain.
Backed by a £174 million sponsorship deal from billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Olympic hero Sir Ben Ainslie was set to conquer the waves in the high-tech yacht Britannia.
However, the challenge has been hit by a storm of litigation, amid claims Sir Ben was warned that Sir Jim would ‘burn your house down’ during a bitter row over funding.
High Court documents reveal that Ineos Racing, connected to Sir Jim’s energy firm Ineos, decided not to renew sponsorship following an unsuccessful America’s Cup bid in 2024.
Lawyers for Ineos say Sir Ben’s Athena Racing was therefore required to hand back any ‘Ineos-funded assets’, including the multi-million pound yacht, which has not happened.
But in a defence to the claim, barristers for Athena say Ineos has ‘unclean hands’ and is not entitled to have the yacht back, as its conduct had been ‘reprehensible and improper’.
They cited an allegation that Rob Nevin, chairman of Ineos Sport, told Sir Ben shortly before the start of the 2024 cup that, for Ineos to fund future cup campaigns for Athena, it would have to transfer all its assets to Ineos.
Fionn Pilbrow KC, for Athena, said in the court documents that Mr Nevin then told Sir Ben: ‘This is what Jim wants. We have a phrase at Ineos: scorched earth. It means that if you don’t give Jim what he wants, he will burn your house down.’
Olympic hero Sir Ben Ainslie was set to conquer the waves in the high-tech yacht Britannia
Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe operates a ‘scorched earth’ policy and will ‘burn your house down’ if you don’t give him what he wants, Sir Ben was allegedly warned
Mr Pilbrow said the alleged comment was a ‘hostile negotiating tactic’ and was ‘unduly aggressive’, and meant Ineos had ‘no entitlement’ to what it sought through the legal action.
A hearing in the claim is yet to take place.
The America’s Cup was first contested in the 1850s and is the oldest international competition in any sport that is still operating, but it has never been won by a British team.
Ineos Britannia became the first British team to compete against the current holder in 2024, but eventually lost 7-2 to Emirates Team New Zealand in Barcelona.
Sir Ben’s GB1 team is now challenging to compete for the 38th America’s Cup in Naples next year.
Conall Patton KC, for Ineos, said in court documents there was a ‘particular prestige associated’ with the Britannia, with the 2024 edition of the cup being Britain’s most successful campaign in the competition’s history.
The barrister continued that the 2021 agreement meant it was ‘commercially necessary’ for Athena to own any yachts designed and carry out ‘research and development activities’, but that any assets funded by Ineos would have to be returned when the agreement expired.
He said Athena could have returned the assets by February 2025, but had ‘refused or failed, within a reasonable time or at all, to transfer any of the Ineos-funded assets held by it’.
He continued: ‘By reason of the defendant’s breach of contract, the claimant has suffered loss, namely the value of the Ineos-funded assets on the date on which they should have been transferred to the claimant.’
But Mr Pilbrow said that while Athena had not transferred any assets to Ineos, this did not breach the agreement.
He also said that Ineos ‘does not have any commercial use’ for the vessel and ‘could have obtained a substitute’ had it wished to do so, and said that transferring the yacht would ‘radically and irreparably harm’ Athena’s preparations for the 2027 cup.
