Sir Ben Ainslie says he is ready to bury the hatchet with Sir Jim Ratcliffe following a bitter and prolonged dispute. Ainslie was “astounded” to be dropped by Ineos for the next shot at the sailing’s most prestigious event, the America’s Cup, in January.

Ineos Britannia decided to part ways with Ainslie ahead of the 2027 America’s Cup, despite the legendary Olympian leading the team to the final in Barcelona last October. They were the first British team to reach the final in 60 years, but after losing 7-2 to Team New Zealand, Ratcliffe decided to make a contentious call.

The 73-year-old petrochemicals billionaire, who also owns Manchester United and a share in the Mercedes F1 team, severed ties with Ainslie in what became a bitter dispute. Four-time Olympic gold medalist Ainslie, who had enjoyed Ineos’ backing since 2018, turned his team into Athena Racing and announced their intention to compete for Britain in the next America’s Cup.

That brought them into conflict with Ineos over which team owned the intellectual property. In the end, Ratcliffe was forced to back down in the legal battle, leaving Ainslie and Athena Racing to prepare for the next edition, which will be held off the Neapolitan coast in 2027.

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In a statement in April, Ineos Britannia blamed Athena for “a protracted negotiation” which meant “a timely conclusion” couldn’t be reached and they had to “reluctantly” withdraw. It strongly hinted at bad blood between Ainslie and Ratcliffe, but speaking to The Times, the 48-year-old says he would still go for a drink with his former sparring partner.

“I hope so,” he said. “I mean we achieved a lot as a team and Jim and Ineos were a big part of that. Obviously, it's got a lot of interest, both in sport and business, but we always got on very well personally. So let's see.”

He added: “This [how his split with Ineos came about] is the world we live in. There's a lot at stake and it's cut-throat to a certain extent. None of it's necessarily surprising and I'm still really proud of what we achieved in Barcelona.

“We had a fantastic partnership, and we achieved a lot together, but we've definitely moved on. We've both moved on. The IP we developed together we're sharing going forward. We have IP on our side, they have IP on their side, and the agreement is that both teams can take that forward in their own spheres if you like.”

Athena Racing and Ainslie are now in charge of trying to deliver a first win for Britain since the America's Cup began in 1851. However, Ainslie is currently focused on leading his Emirates GBR team to victory in the SailGP championship.

Ratcliffe, meanwhile, has plenty of other things on his plate, with Manchester United trying to firm up plans to build a new stadium at Old Trafford. United are currently 10th in the Premier League following their 1-0 defeat by 10-man Everton on Monday following an embarrassing 15th-place finish last season and defeat in the Europa League final by Tottenham.

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