Sir Ben Ainslie - Chapter One
From A Few Wise Words (Volume One), the inspiring story, wisdom and advice from the most successful sailor in the history of the Olympic games.
From his silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta when he was just nineteen, Sir Ben Ainslie went on to become the most successful sailor in the history of the Games, winning medals (including four golds) at five consecutive Olympics.
As a young competitor, he won four World Championships in the Laser class before moving up to the Finn class and winning a further seven World Championship gold medals, thereby becoming one of the most decorated sailors of all time.
He has also competed at the highest levels of professional yacht racing, including challenging for the famous America’s Cup, both as a team member and through his own team, Ben Ainslie Racing (that competed as Land Rover BAR).
He is currently the Team Principal, CEO, and Skipper of INEOS Britannia.
Sir Ben was knighted in 2013 for his services to sailing.
‘You absolutely have to find something you’re passionate about. If you are not passionate about it, then it’s not right for you.”
“I soon learned that it was always much better to be self-critical, to analyse what I did wrong and then work hard on it, rather than just blaming circumstances or other people, and then missing a clear opportunity for self-improvement.”
“There are lots of talented people in the world, in many different walks of life, but the really successful ones are those who genuinely apply themselves the most to whatever they are doing. It’s hard work – and there are simply no short-cuts.”
”Parents should introduce their children to the sort of values that can help them to succeed at whatever they want to do later in life. The importance of hard work and dedication, preparation and focus are obvious examples.”
About success . . .
As a sportsman, my own view of success will of course be highly personal. It’s about setting your goals and those key targets you want to reach as an individual, either short- or long-term, and then striving hard to achieve them. Measuring success in sport is relatively straightforward; you either reach your personal goal (to win a gold medal, for example) or you don’t. To achieve something as big as that, however, will always require a massive amount of effort, sacrifice and many years of preparation. So, when you eventually do win and reach your ultimate goal, you will naturally enjoy a deep sense of fulfilment and pride in the success that you have achieved, but also a huge feeling of relief.
Until recently, my life has been driven primarily by individual success in a sporting environment. But now it’s about the success of the team I’ve been leading to challenge for the America’s Cup, which means setting goals for a large group of people rather than just for me personally.
From junior sailor to Olympic champion . . .
I first started sailing on my own when I was eight years old. My father was a wonderful man and my early inspiration, introducing me to the water at a very young age. He was always a keen sailor and had even taken part in the first Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973, four years before I was born. When he retired, we moved as a family to the coastal hamlet of Restronguet in Cornwall. I was soon invited to join a handful of kids at a local sailing group, where I learned how to sail in a small but competitive dinghy known as the Optimist, which is still favoured by junior sailors around the world today. In the end, I took to this type of boat so well that my father decided to get me one for Christmas. I can remember that my parents somehow managed to get the dinghy upstairs, rigged it up in my bedroom while I was asleep, so it was the first thing that I’d see when I woke up on Christmas morning!
As I learned to master my dinghy, I soon developed a love for the sport, and by the age of ten I was already competing regularly at my local sailing club.
My early education was not particularly great, and I struggled a little at school. I wasn’t really a natural student at that time, I suppose, so I didn’t enjoy school as much as I could have done. I also suffered from a skin allergy – I had quite a conspicuous rash as a youngster and was often picked on by other kids because of it. But, from an early age, I was also developing my love affair with sailing. I would spend most of my time during class at school just daydreaming about sailboats and being on the water.
By the time I was thirteen, I had already been sailing and racing for a while, and was doing pretty well for my age group, competing nationally and also internationally (in the Optimist World Championships). My parents were always brilliant and completely supportive of my sailing activities and the competitions, regularly taking me to events at the weekends. My father was definitely a huge early influence on me. But, needless to say, my developing love of competitive sailing and the amount of travel this required to reach different events was also proving quite disruptive for normal family life.
There was one occasion when something significant happened that would ultimately become a really pivotal moment for me and my future sailing career. I was racing in a local club competition, but it was a difficult race and things didn’t go that well. It seemed to me that the wind wasn’t working in my favour and I was feeling quite hard-done-by. I slipped back several places and just gave up in the end, cruising home simply to finish the race while feeling rather sorry for myself.
I was at home that evening, having dinner with my parents, when my father asked, ‘So, how did you get on in the race today?’
‘Not that well, really,’ I replied. ‘I was a bit unlucky with the wind and didn’t win.’
To my surprise, he then calmly said, ‘Well, OK, that’s interesting, because I was actually there, and I watched the race, and saw how you simply gave up . . . It was an embarrassing moment for me, but I listened to my father as he continued: ‘Look, as a family it’s a really big commitment for us to support you, and as you know, we’re delighted to be able to do that. But, you have got to make a big decision here, Ben. We are of course, more than happy to continue to back you completely, but only if you are willing to commit yourself totally to what you are doing and put everything into it! Now, you don’t have to do that, of course, and if you decide not to, that’s fine, but then you can’t really expect us as a family to keep putting such a big commitment into you as well . . . So, you’re going to have to think about all of this very seriously and decide whether or not you really want to go for it!’
When I look back now, many years later, to that crucial conversation, I remember thinking at the time how my dad was absolutely right. It was a hugely significant turning point for me, and perhaps one of the most important moments of my life. My father had really struck a chord, and from that point onwards I was to commit myself wholeheartedly to becoming the very best I could be. I was soon setting my goals around, quite literally, how to become the best sailor in the world. I found myself taking full responsibility for what I was doing, creating the self-determination needed to improve – and above all to win. . . . . .