| BEN AINSLIE |
Ben Ainslie, Skipper of TEAMORIGIN - Credit onEdition
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Year of Birth: 1977
Nationality: British
Role: Helmsman/Skipper
Ben Ainslie is Britain’s most successful Olympic sailor. In 2008, Ben will endeavour to win his third successive Olympic Gold and has now committed to achieve his America’s Cup ambitions with TEAMORIGIN.
Ainslie’s career in sailing began at the age of 8 with his family in Restronguet, Cornwall. Ben’s father was a proficient sailor who skippered ‘Second Life’ in the first Whitbread Round the World Race of 1973-74. What started as a hobby quickly turned into a way of life, and by the age of 16 Ben was already Laser Radial World Champion. With the help and continuous support of both his parents, Ben set his sights higher and higher until at just 19 years old he won his first Olympic medal - Silver in the Laser class at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Four years later, again sailing the Laser, he achieved every athlete’s dream of Olympic Gold in Sydney.
After the Sydney Olympics, Ben changed focus and spent fourteen months with the ‘One World Challenge’ campaign for the 2003 America’s Cup. In the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Ben won his second Gold medal and third Olympic medal in the larger Finn Class, cementing his place as one of the World's top sailors. After Athens, Ben was given the opportunity to join Emirates Team New Zealand and re-enter the Americas Cup arena. His role was as 'B-boat' helmsman and the experience invaluable. Ben has won eight World and European Championships in his sailing career to date, been crowned ISAF World Sailor of the Year in 1998 and 2002, and four times won British Yachtsman of the Year, but the elusive America’s Cup remain his primary objective and who better to partner him than TEAMORIGIN.
Past America’s Cup Experience
2004 Emirates Team New Zealand - 'B-boat' Helmsman
2000 One World Challenge - 'B-boat' Helmsman
Why you joined TEAMORIGIN:
“It is my dream to win the America’s Cup and I would be so proud to achieve this dream at the helm of a British team. The group of sailors and support staff assembled by Mike and Sir Keith is packed with potential and I can’t wait to get out on the water and show the world what TEAMORIGIN is capable of achieving.”
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