Sir Ben Ainslie on the America’s Cup, INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe

so Ben how big a moment is this we're getting naming of the America's Cup Challenger yeah it's a big big day for the team this is three years of work really and hundreds of thousands of man hours in terms of design and Engineering manufacturer boat build and then now to the day getting the boat in the water and for us as Sailors getting out and putting her through her Paces so huge team effort and I'm really proud of the team for getting us at this point still a lot of work to be done between now and when start racing end of August for the America's Cup itself what sort of challenge is it putting together this team how many staff how how much does it take to build such a boat it's a big organization we're now just over 200 people we have a very strong collaboration with Mercedes Formula 1 team on the design and technical side of the program and so we're split between Brackley in northamptonshire which of course is the Mercedes Formula 1 base and here in Barcelona which is our sailing operations base so it's a big team effort a lot goes into these campaigns it's really hard to explain to people just how complex these boats are you know we've got over 100,000 components that are all individually modeled and manufactured that go into the these boats and so it's a it's a huge technical game it's really like in a way it's like Formula One on steroids when you look at the the technical Challenge and that's how you benefit as suppose from being part of inos the fact there is the F1 branch of it as well yeah look we're really proud to be part of the ne Sports Group and uh not just from the corporate perspective there are some huge benefits in terms of the learnings shared learnings across all of the sports whether that be you know all blacks rugby Mercedes Formula 1 you know grenadiers cycling Eli Kip chogi and his running teams there's some fantastic opportunities there to learn from the very best in sport particularly in our world the technical world we talked about Mercedes Formula 1 but we also have cycla on these boats the cycla are powering all of the Aero functions on the boat there's a huge physical demand on them so of course being able to get get out there and train with the Grenadier cycling team the very best in in the world of cycling that's a huge opportunity for us and what's the Jim like to deal with how Hands-On is he Jim's great he's very Hands-On we meet roughly every six weeks and we talk through the program a lot of the big decisions I'll talk through with him personally sometimes one-on-one so he's very engaged he loves the well he just loves sport in general but he loves the challenge of the America's Cup you know this is the only International sporting trophy that Britain has never won and I think a little bit like myself and the rest of the team here that's really what motivates Jim about this Challenge and what's special about it I mean that's the thing about this competition put it in a sense of scale of World sport I mean you've obviously got huge uh array of of sailing success but this is such an it's the oldest Cup in sport isn't it it really is it's the oldest International sporting trophy ironically enough started around the a of white in 1851 Britain has never won it like I said it's the only sporting trophy International sporting trophy we've never won and we look at our really proud Maritime Heritage and sporting Heritage in the UK that's something seriously missing in our in our trophy cabinet if you if you want to liken it to to to that so that that's really again that's the motivation for the team to write that wrong in our sporting history why has it not happened well it hasn't happened because it's incredibly hard to win it's I I would say it's one of the toughest things you can do in sport or in any environment frankly because it's a technical game the winners effectively write the rules for the next competition there's a quirkiness about it in that respect and when you have a very very strong Team Defender previous winner as we call them Defender uh Emirates Team New Zealand that is a really well organized funded team has great sailing team great designers you know that's like taking on you know the All Blacks of sailing and it's uh like I said it's an incredibly tough challenge but one that we're up for yeah so how sort of day-to-day does um Jim get involved with finessing the boat and all the plans how are you sort of exchanging messages the whole time yeah we're in contact regularly you know he's a busy busy man of course got a lot of business interest a lot of sporting interest now but we catch up in person once every six weeks we speak much more regular than that on the phone he's engaged he want to know he wants to know how things are going how the team's progressing all of the big decisions we'll discuss and debate so very very active backer of the team and we're very fortunate to to have his his support and interest and the rest of the unor Sports Group I mean and having someone who's so engaged across so many sports you must be amazed how he actually has the time well he's an impressive he's he's an impressive man in uh like you say how can he be so heavily involved such a broad spectrum of not only sporting interest but of course anyos as a business is hugely successful so yeah but you know he's driven I'm sure that's big part of the secret to the success have we s of been following then his involvement in Manchester United in recent months obviously that's the probably the most high-profile things he's done absolutely and he's very very passionate about that we know that and we've seen already quite some changes at man united I expect to see a lot more to come but you know that's uh that that's a whole other challenge world of football I don't really know much about football I I I only know about sailing boats that's that's really we we focus on that but it'd be great to see man united get back to the heights of where it has been uh in in Years Gone by in one of the leading clubs in Europe I know I know that's the intention do you see from everything that he's been doing here how that can benefit say Manchester United and and how handson he is and how determined he is to change cultures and things like that yeah I think so when you when you look at anyos and you speak to Jim you know their core values are grip determination rigor you know you need that in business but boy you really need that in the sporting world so if that gets passed along to man united I think probably we've already seen a little bit of that coming to the four and this is just the start so expect to see great things out of man united in in years to come it's not going to happen overnight but in years to come I'm sure they'll make it it'll have a big impact do you ever get your advice sort as an outsider someone who has that sort of sporting success that drive for Glory to know how what it takes to win that can be transferable skills to a certain extent I mean that's a beauty of in your sports that it is transferable we discuss you know an area where perhaps in America's Cup we've got a certain level of expertise experience as all all the other sports will inevitably have but when it comes like I said when it comes to World of football I've got no idea what I'm talking about so uh I certainly won't be getting getting involved with u Manu Manu first 11 team selection I can guarantee you that but you know when you look at say for Formula 1 even rugby and and football all these different components the different elements ever sort of say oh actually is it can they put a word in a different part of the group if they're down here and say actually I'm spotting what you're doing here and this might be useful from what we see in in our Sports definitely definitely and like I said we've seen that you know for example the work we've done with the Grenadier cycling team there's been some areas we've fed back to some of the other teams so it is very a lot of the areas of focus are very transferable across all the sports but yeah like I said when you get into the the the the fine detail of these Sports and of course the experts those experts relevant experts you know they've got to get on with it and and make their decisions and and get to get the team focused and get them to the top yeah cuz you spend a lot of time obviously with Mercedes they're all now targeted towards the new engine rules and things like that for two years however closely you follow it so they've got to build a incredible sporting Beast as you have here yeah absolutely and we know that it's been a big challenge in F1 for Mercedes last two or three seasons being dominant for for eight seasons and then you know being on the back foot slightly performance-wise having lived and breathed it to a certain extent work working heavily in Brackley over the last 3 years I can see just how determined they are you know to get themselves back to the top of Formula 1 big regulation change coming up next year well for the 26 Season and I know they're fully focused on that and getting themselves back up to the top where I think they deserve to be and with Lewis leaving as well yeah Lewis Lewis Moving on but you know he's he's been a huge part of that success at Mercedes but great opportunity for new to come through so what will it take to win the America's Cup obviously you've got to ensure you're there in the you know the final competition yeah well America's Cup is a technology race that's finished off by a sailing race so you know the last three years has been about the technology the development now we're getting the boat in the water and it's really on the sailors in particular to to make sure that we do a good job operating the boat working with the designers the engineers to make sure we have the functionality we can control the boat as we want to control it and we do a really good job of EX in the performance in the boat if we can do that in the next three months and get to the race with the boat close to it or at its Optimum then I think we we stand a good chance and what does it mean to you you've achieved so much at the Olympics and previously obviously winning the America's Cup what does it mean to you is it about trying to win it under the British flag yeah it's a huge challenge it's the biggest challenge in my Sporting Life or my life in general most of my life's been being about sports so it's the biggest challenge I've ever undertaken and I'm sure it's the same for the rest of the team as we talked about winning the America's Cup is one of the toughest things you can do in sport so that's the motivation it would mean a huge amount for us if we can achieve that goal but we're not getting ahead of ourselves excellent thanks so much and good luck okay thanks thanks