Sir Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS Britannia withdraws from America's Cup

Sir Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS Britannia has withdrawn its intention to compete in the 38th America's Cup

Sir Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS Britannia has withdrawn its intention to compete in the 38th America's Cup.

The team, which lost 7-2 to Emirates Team New Zealand in the 37th edition last year, has announced it has "reluctantly withdrawn its challenge", claiming a six-month delay in reaching an agreement with Sir Ben Ainslie's Athena Racing Ltd had "undermined its ability to prepare" for the event.

In a statement released on Wednesday evening, INEOS Britannia said: "INEOS Britannia announces that it has withdrawn its intention to challenge for the next America's Cup.

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"The decision has been taken after a protracted negotiation with Athena Racing Ltd following the conclusion of 37th America's Cup in Barcelona.

"The agreement that had been reached with Athena would have allowed both parties to compete in the next cup, but it depended on a rapid resolution. INEOS Britannia had agreed the substantive terms very quickly, but Athena failed to bring the agreement to a timely conclusion.

"INEOS Britannia is of the opinion that this six-month delay has undermined its ability to prepare for the next cup and so has reluctantly withdrawn its challenge."

The team, which was also the British challenger for the 2021 America's Cup in Auckland, was helmed by four-time Olympic champion Ainslie, founder and chief executive of the Athena Sports Group, in Barcelona.

INEOS announced in January that it had failed to reach agreement with Ainslie and would go it alone, but has now admitted defeat.

Chair and Manchester United co-owner Ratcliffe said: "This was a very difficult decision to have taken following our challenge at the last two America's Cups.

"We were the most successful British challenger in modern times with an exceptionally quick boat and we felt with the very effective input from the Mercedes F1 engineers that we had a real chance to win at the next cup. Unfortunately, the opportunity has slipped away."