Claims on Britannia

In January 2025, INEOS Britannia and Sir Ben Ainslie parted ways, and INEOS declared it would enter a challenge for the 38th America’s Cup under the team name INEOS Britannia.

“Unfortunately, INEOS Britannia and Sir Ben could not find agreement on terms to move forward following the conclusion of the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona,” they stated.

INEOS Britannia appointed Dave Endean as CEO and said they would continue to rely on the design and technology expertise of the Mercedes F1 Team under the guidance of Technical Director, James Allison.

The British Challenger for the 38th America’s Cup, led by Sir Ben Ainslie responded at the time stating “This plan raises significant legal and practical obstacles for them that will play out in the coming days and weeks”.

In April 2025, Ineos announced it had “reluctantly withdrawn its challenge” for AC38, claiming a six-month delay in reaching an agreement with Ainslie’s Athena Racing had “undermined its ability to prepare” for the event.

Now, Ineos has launched the first legal salvo, claiming ownership of Britannia.

Over the weekend, British media The Times and The Daily Telegraph published an Ineos Group statement expressing “surprise” that Ainslie’s Athena Racing has kept Britannia.

It read: “Ineos is surprised that the boat we built for the last America’s Cup has been taken by Athena Racing. The boat belongs to Ineos and it is inappropriate to assume it can be used for the next competition without seeking our permission.

The boat was the most successful British boat in history and cost Ineos £180m, and evolved naturally from the first boat, which cost a further £170m. Ineos is taking legal steps for the boat to be returned.”

It’s important to note that this investment in INEOS Britannia represents the culmination of a multi-year design partnership with Mercedes-Applied Science, the R&D and campaign budgets, and not the hull alone.

Ainslie’s team, now rebranded as GB1, is the Challenger of record for the 38th America’s Cup in Naples, with Oakley Capital announced as major investors in December.

GB1 issued a statement in response in which they expressed appreciation for “the sponsorship and support of Ineos over the last two campaigns” and maintained the boat belonged to them.

“It should come as no surprise to Ineos that assets which are owned by and have always been in the possession of Athena Racing are being used for AC 38 [America’s Cup 38],” the statement added.

April 2025 was a hectic month for withdrawals from AC38. Swiss team, Alinghi Red Bull Racing also announced they would not compete, citing a need for greater transparency and financial viability, leading to a wind-down of their team.

Then in October 2025, American Magic confirmed their withdrawal after reviewing the protocol, stating it did not align with their long-term strategic and financial goals. It will be the first time in the event’s 175-year history that no American yacht will be competing.

Focusing its efforts on the SailGP circuit, American Magic co-founder, Doug DeVos went on to buy ROCKWOOL Racing SailGP Team and invest in the American Magic High Performance Center in Pensacola.

The five founding teams of the new America’s Cup Partnership are Emirates Team New Zealand, GB1, Luna Rossa, Tudor Team Alinghi and K-Challenge who share the governance and commercial framework for the event.

As the 31 March deadline for Late Entries looms – after a two-month extension – there are rumours of two pending entries: one from Australia, led by Tom Slingsby and Glenn Ashby, and a Czech Challenge funded by Karel Komárek and said to be relocating to a US base.

americascup.com