It is rare that an athlete finds time to let his mind wander during competition, especially at a World Championships, but so dominant was Ben Ainslie at the Finn Gold Cup in Cornwall last month that in a couple of races he had enough of a lead to allow a stroll down memory lane.
“There were some great moments when I broke free on my own and had the chance to savour it,” the three-times Olympic champion said last week. “I looked out across Falmouth Bay, where I learnt to sail as a youngster, and reflected on how much had happened between then and now and where I was going next. I got emotional a couple of times.”
This was not the sentimentality of an ageing champion nearing the end. Ainslie is 35 and heading for his fifth Olympics but there are many more memories to be gathered. “I feel as if there is a lot more to come,” he said. “As long as my fitness holds up — and that’s the key — I’m always going to be learning more.”
The familiar landmarks of his childhood inspired him, as did the knowledge that the regatta would end with him being the first athlete to run with the Olympic Torch in Britain. Ainslie won seven of the nine races and was third in the other two, giving him a massive lead and a sixth Finn world title.
“It was a lot closer than the results look,” Ainslie said. “The scoreboard made it look like a bit of a cruise but it was a big fleet with 90-odd boats on one start, so very difficult. What was most pleasing was to come through in such strong winds. As one of the smallest guys, I’m normally more confident in light winds.”
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Since Ainslie was named in the Olympic squad last autumn, he has added about 1¾ stone to his America’s Cup racing weight. Hours in the gym, despite a worrying back injury in February, have prepared him for the summer challenges, first at the Skandia Sail for Gold World Cup regatta in Weymouth and Portland this week and then back on the same waters for the Olympics.
Regarded as the most aggressive sailor in the fleet, Ainslie has put a lot of work into improving his scrapping skills to eke out the best position in every race. “My goal is to be still in with a chance to win even if I’m not sailing 100 per cent,” he said.
“If things are going well and I can get great leads, that’s fantastic, but there is no second chance with the Olympics and so even if things are not going well I will keep fighting, staying in there so that I have a chance to win in the last race.”
The implication is that he thinks his rivals will blink under pressure. He would certainly relish chasing down the leaders on the last day. “I have no idea what my rivals think about me and I don’t care, but the Olympics is different,” he said. “There are so many races over such a long period and always an element of the unknown. It’s a long time to keep getting it right.”
If he becomes the most garlanded sailor in Olympic history by winning a fourth gold, there will be little time for sitting on his laurels. Ten days after the Olympics, Ainslie will fly to San Francisco for the start of his fourth cycle as an America’s Cup sailor, joining a group whom he has never sailed with on a boat he does not know for an adventure that could end in him leading the first British team to win the 160-year-old trophy.
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After a spell with the American One World Challenge team in 2001, being reserve skipper for Team New Zealand in 2005 and then helmsman of Sir Keith Mills’s aborted Team Origin British bid, he returns in charge of his own team, Ben Ainslie Racing, which will contest the next but one America’s Cup, probably in 2015. First he will help BMW Oracle to defend their title next year, possibly as the tune-up helmsman. In return, Larry Ellison, the owner of the American team, has given Ainslie seed money to form his own team and attract financial backers.
“We’ll see where I fit in with Oracle,” he said. “I’m not expecting to waltz in and be given the reins. They can use me how they want.” And two years later, he will beat them? “Yes,” Ainslie says with a smile. “That would be nice.”
Like a shark, the world’s greatest sailor must always be moving and devouring to survive.
• Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell won their opening race in the 470 class at the Skandia Sail for Gold World Cup regatta in Weymouth and Portland, and Nick Dempsey and Bryony Shaw have made solid starts in the windsurfing, lying fifth and second respectively. In the match-racing round robin, Lucy Macgregor’s crew beat Germany and New Zealand but lost to Finland.