Ben Ainslie is a sailing legend, and his results speak for themselves. This page gives you an insight into his dinghy sailing career, with loads of tips to help improve your own sailing.
About Ben Ainslie
Dinghies sailed
Dinghy Sailing Career
Results highlights
Optimists
- 1992 UK National Champion
- 1992 37th at Optimist Worlds
Lasers / Laser Radials
- Silver at 1996 Olympics
- Gold at 2000 Olympics
- 1st 1993 Laser Radial World Championships
- 1st 1995 IYRU Youth Sailing World Championships
- 1st 1998 Laser World Championships
- 1st 1999 Laser World Championships
Finn
- Gold at 2004 Olympics
- Gold at 2008 Olympics
- Gold at 2012 Olypmics
- 1st 2002 Finn World Championships
- 1st 2003 ISAF Sailing World Championships
- 1st 2004 Finn World Championships
- 1st 2005 Finn World Championships
- 1st 2008 Finn World Championships
- 1st 2010 ISAF Open Match Racing World Championship
- 1st 2012 Finn World Championships
Ben Ainslie and the America’s Cup
Although Ben Ainslie began his America’s Cup career back in 2003 with the ill-fated One World challenge, the source of his sailing fame was really his success as an Olympic dingy sailor – until 2013. In that year, with Oracle Team USA on the ropes against Emirates Team New Zealand, Ainslie was pulled in as a replacement tactician and the American team’s fortunes reversed. With Ainslie on board, Oracle went on to win 10 of the remaining 14 races (including a streak of 8 straight race wins) to snatch the cup which was so nearly in New Zealand hands.
It was widely hailed as one of the greatest comebacks in sporting history, and in many circles Ainslie was credited with being one of the main reasons for the turnaround.
Although his influence is almost certainly over-stated (particularly in the British Press, which tended to suggest that Oracle’s success was almost entirely down to Ainslie’s contribution), he did, nevertheless, form a formidable three-way partnership with Jimmy Spithill and Tom Slingsby. This grouping, coupled with a boat which was clearly quicker than the New Zealand boat in the latter stages of the finals, proved enough to claw back the seemingly impossibly large deficit and win the cup for Larry Ellison’s team.
Almost immediately after the 2013 victory, Ainslie announced his intention to form a British team, with the aim of “bringing the cup back home” to Britain. He secured finance from several sources and set up LandRover BAR with the aim to be a long-term America’s Cup team. They competed in the 2017 Luis Vuitton Cup, but were knocked out by the eventual winners – Emirates Team New Zealand – at the semi-final stage. The boat was not as competitive as some of the other teams, clearly struggling for pace at times, but the team did seem strong (particularly tactically) and probably won more races than the boat’s design deserved.
Undeterred, Ainslie quickly announced that the team would be competing in the next America’s Cup, and it will be interesting to see if the team can produce a competitive design. If they do, then LandRover BAR will be a formidable opponent.
Ben Ainslie Videos
- Ainslie’s Sailing Tips and Advice
- Ainslie sailing Optimists
- Ainslie sailing at the 1996 Olympics in a Laser
- Ainslie sailing at the 2000 Olympics in a Laser
- Ainslie sailing at the 2004 Olympics in a Finn
- Ainslie sailing at the 2008 Olympics in a Finn
- Ainslie sailing at the 2012 Olympics in a Finn
Sailing Tips and Advice
Tips for Starting
Tips for Upwind Sailing
Tips for Tacking
Tips for Roll Tacking
Tips for the Windward Mark
Tips for Downwind Sailing
Tips for Reaching
Tips for the Leeward Mark
Optimist Sailing
Footage of Ainslie sailing Optimists is relatively rare, but this video from the 1989 Optimist Selection trials has him in boat number K3059. Ainslie finished 3rd overall, qualifying for his first World Championships in Yokohama, Japan.
1996 Olympics
Ainslie’s first Olympic Games resulted in a Silver medal – the only time he didn’t win Gold at an Olympics. Robert Scheidt won Gold in the last race when both he and Ainslie were disqualified under the Black Flag rule for being over the line. Ainslie was apparently very upset at Scheidt’s tactics (although Scheidt didn’t do anything outside of the rules), and the rivalry intensified over the next four years culminating in the controversial Gold medal for Ainslie at the 2000 Games.
2000 Olympics
2004 Olympics
2008 Olympics
2012 Olympics
Ben Ainslie Books
Ainslie has penned two books – both well worth a read. From the perspective of improving your sailing, the better of the two is the Laser Campaign Manual, which is full of great tips for improving your ILCA sailing. It is also helpful for sailors of other boats, but the majority of the content is quite boat-specific.
His autobiography provides a real insight into the mind of a serial Olympic Champion, as well as offering an up-close-and-personal view of an exciting period in sailing history.
Links
- Official Site: benainslie.com
Podcasts
Ainslie has his own podcast, Performance People, that he hosts with his wife, Georgie Ainslie. The main website is here, and you should be able to listen to it wherever you normally get your podcasts.
The always brilliant Shirley Robertson Sailing Podcast has featured Ben on a number of occasions, but there are two episodes that focus entirely on just Ben, and they are well worth an hour or two of your time. You can find them here (scroll down to Series 2, episodes 3 and 4), or wherever you normally listen to your podcasts.
Ben has also featured on the High Performance podcast – a hugely popular series looking at top performers from a wide range of sectors.
He has also featured on Desert Island Discs, where he talks about his life alongside his favourite music. You can listen to Ainslie on Desert Island Discs here.