 | It's pretty disappointing that the two biggest events in sailing are clashing |
Ben Ainslie may be a double Olympic champion but he is caught between a rock and a hard place.
The British sailing star is desperate to help his Team New Zealand syndicate win back the prestigious America's Cup from holders Alinghi in Valencia, Spain.
But as back-up helmsman to first-choice Dean Barker, a strong Kiwi challenge would mean Ainslie is unlikely to be involved in much of the action.
In a further twist, if Team New Zealand qualify from the Louis Vuitton challenger series, which starts on 16 April, to face Alinghi for the America's Cup (23 June-7 July), Ainslie would miss the chance to race his Finn dinghy in this summer's world sailing championships.
And as the Olympic qualifying event, that could scupper his chances of racing for a third straight gold medal at the 2008 Games in Beijing.
"That is a big issue," said the 30-year-old four-time Finn world champion from Lymington.
"Frankly, it's pretty disappointing that the administrators of the sailing world have managed to have the two biggest events in sailing clashing. Someone's obviously not thought about it very hard."
 Swiss team Alinghi beat Team NZ to win the America's Cup in 2003 |
If Ainslie were to miss the worlds in Cascais, Portugal (28 June -13 July) he would be at the mercy of the Royal Yachting Association whose job it is to select the British sailing team for Beijing.
They could still side with Ainslie on the back of two golds and a silver in past Olympics, or they could choose to hand the Finn spot to someone who performed well in Portugal.
"I just have to hope they're realistic about it," he said. "The Olympics is huge for any sportsman so it's very important for me. The only way I can look at it is to focus on the America's Cup and afterwards see what I can do to be in Beijing."
The 32nd America's Cup begins with the Louis Vuitton Cup, the challenger series to decide which of the 11 teams will race Switzerland's Alinghi for the famed "Auld Mug", inaugurated in 1851 off Cowes, and the oldest trophy in sport.
"It is the Formula One of sailing," said Ainslie. "It's big budget, the boats are very technical and they're very tough to sail, physically and mentally. It's the biggest challenge in inshore yacht racing with all the top sailors battling it out."
The teams will compete one-on-one, known as match racing, in both the challenger series and the America's Cup.
Each race is a close-quarter battle, a mix between a gladiatorial contest and a chess match on water, with both multi million-pound boats twisting and turning to gain the advantage.
| Team New Zealand, Luna Rossa and Oracle BMW are probably favourites to win the Louis Vuitton Cup |
"Match racing is very aggressive," said Ainslie. "There's lots of manoeuvring at the start to try to get a jump on the opposition, and the boat handling and crew work at the mark roundings is also pretty demanding. It's exciting stuff."
As back-up helmsman, Ainslie's job has been to sail Team New Zealand's second boat during in-house racing to push Barker and his team to the limit, though he was handed the helm for the last warm-up regatta to blood him in the competition.
When the real action starts, Ainslie will help analyse Team New Zealand's performance, spot the other teams' strengths and weaknesses and be ready to step up if needed.
"This campaign is very much a learning experience for me," said Ainslie, who had a brief aborted America's Cup spell with US entry OneWorld in 2001.
"It's a big change from my Olympic sailing, particularly with the much bigger boats and the fact that I'm used to racing on my own. Here, there's 17 other people on the boat and an overall team of 120.
 Ainslie won his second Olympic gold in Athens in 2004 |
"But I'd like to think I've learned a lot, and in terms of results over the last few seasons, there's not a lot in it between myself and Dean. It's just a question of experience and hopefully I'll be in Dean's position in the future."
Ainslie's future could yet see him trying to achieve his lifelong ambition of winning the America's Cup for Britain.
There's no British entry in Valencia this year after the GBR Challenge syndicate, in which Ainslie was not involved, folded in the aftermath of the 2003 event.
| 606: DEBATE |
But a new venture, dubbed Team Origin, was launched in January by London Olympic bid guru Sir Keith Mills with the aim of targeting a first British victory in the America's Cup.
More than 80 Britons are involved in Valencia, either in a sailing, design or administrative capacity, including Olympic medallists Iain Percy and Ian Walker, and recruitment for Team Origin will soon begin in earnest.
"It's fantastic news, as any British sailor will tell you," said Ainslie. "But I'm contracted to work with this team until end of this America's Cup so I can't really talk to anyone about that until this is over.
"Right now, we're all focused on trying to turn the tables on last time and take the Cup back to New Zealand [Alinghi beat holders Team NZ in 2003].
"Ourselves, Luna Rossa and Oracle BMW are probably favourites to win the Louis Vuitton Cup. Whoever does that will have a tough battle on their hands against the Swiss. But I think they're beatable."
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