Sir Ben Ainslie was allegedly told that Sir Jim Ratcliffe would 'burn your house down' in a dispute over funding for America's Cup campaigns, according to High Court documents. The legal battle involves Ineos Racing, linked to Sir Jim's Ineos Group, suing Sir Ben's Athena Racing over claims it breached a deal by refusing to return the multimillion-pound yacht Ineos Britannia, captained by Sir Ben in the 2024 America's Cup.
Court documents seen by the Press Association reveal that Ineos provided £174 million of funding to design, construct and test the Britannia. Ineos decided not to renew the agreement for the 2027 cup, meaning Athena was required to hand back 'Ineos-funded assets', including the yacht. Ineos claims Athena has breached the contract, with the legal claim valued at £10 million or more.
Athena's defence argues that Ineos has 'unclean hands' and is not entitled to the yacht due to 'reprehensible and improper' conduct. This includes an allegation that Rob Nevin, chairman of Ineos Sport, told Sir Ben that to secure future funding, Athena must transfer all assets to Ineos. Fionn Pilbrow KC, for Athena, stated that Nevin said: '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.'
An Ineos spokesperson said: 'The case is before the court and we will respect that process. Unlike others, we have no intention of conducting these proceedings in the media.' The America's Cup, first contested in the 1850s, has never been won by a British team. Ineos Britannia became the first British team to compete against the holder in 2024, losing 7-2 to Emirates Team New Zealand. Sir Ben's GB1 team is now challenging for the 38th America's Cup in Naples next year.
Conall Patton KC, for Ineos, argued that the 2021 agreement required Athena to return assets funded by Ineos when the deal expired. Athena could have returned the assets by February 2025 but has 'refused or failed' to do so. Athena's barrister countered that Ineos has no commercial use for the yacht and that transferring it would 'radically and irreparably harm' Athena's preparations for the next cup.
