Ben Ainslie biography
Ben Ainslie, in full Sir Charles Benedict Ainslie, (born February 5, 1977, Macclesfield, Cheshire, England), British crusing champion who turned the most-decorated Olympic mariner of all time when he captured his fourth profession gold medal (fifth medal general) on the 2012 Games in London.
Ainslie was born within the north of England, however when he was seven, his household moved to the coast of Cornwall, the place he realized to sail on the waters of Restronguet Creek. His father, Roddy, was an completed yachtsman, skippering a ship on the primary Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973–74. By the age of 16, Ainslie had change into Laser Radial world and European champion and a rising star within the Laser class, which made its debut as an Olympic occasion on the 1996 Atlanta Games. In a chronic duel with Brazilian Robert Scheidt, the 19-year-old Ainslie needed to accept the silver medal when each males had been disqualified from the final race of the regatta. In the next 4 Games, he proved dominant, successful within the Laser in Sydney (2000) and shifting to the heavier Finn class to take the gold in Athens (2004), Beijing (2008), and London (2012); his 5 medals beat the earlier file of Danish sailor Paul Elvstrøm, who had additionally received 4 straight gold medals (1948–60) however no silver. During that point, Ainslie additionally captured 9 world championships within the single-handed Laser and Finn courses and a world match-racing title, and he was named the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Sailor of the Year 3 times (1999, 2002, and 2008).
Ainslie additionally competed within the America’s Cup collection. He was because of skipper Britain’s Team Origin within the 2012–13 America’s Cup World Series (ACWS), however the group was disbanded in 2010. Ainslie responded by establishing his personal group, Ben Ainslie Racing, which completed third general. His group went on to the Round the Island Race off the Isle of Wright in June 2013, the place they beat the standing multihull file by greater than 16 minutes.
Renowned for his aggressive race techniques and his physicality, Ainslie courted controversy all through his profession, notably when diving off his boat on the finish of a race within the 2011 ISAF world championships and confronting the driving force of a media boat face-to-face. Ainslie was disqualified from the ultimate two races of the championships and narrowly escaped a prolonged ban from the U.Ok.’s Royal Yachting Association. In 2012 it was introduced that Ainslie had been granted a knighthood within the New Year Honours record.