Charles Benedict Ainslie, CBE (born 5 February 1977 in Macclesfield) is an English sailor and three-times Olympic gold medalist. He started sailing at the age of 8 and first competed at the age of 10.[1] Ainslie's first international competition was the 1989 Optimist world championships held in Japan where he placed 37th.
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The son of Roderick 'Roddy' Ainslie, who captained a boat that took part in the first Whitbread Round The World Race in 1973. Ainslie attended Pennington Infant School, Peter Symonds College[2] and Truro School in Cornwall.[3]
He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2001 New Year Honours after his success in Sydney, and was promoted to Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2005 New Year Honours following the Athens Games.[4][5] He was again promoted, to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours, following the Beijing Games.[6]
He won the International Sailing Federation top Award more times than anyone else being named ISAF World Sailor of the Year in 1998, 2002 and 2008. He was also nominated 2004 and 2011.
He was awarded the title of British Yachtsman of the Year in 1995, 1999, 2000 and 2002.
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sailing | ||
| Competitor for Great Britain | ||
| Gold | 2008 Beijing | Finn |
| Gold | 2004 Athens | Finn |
| Gold | 2000 Sydney | Laser |
| Silver | 1996 Atlanta | Laser |
Ainslie won silver at the 1996 Olympic Games and gold in the 2000 Summer Olympics in the Laser class. He put on 40 pounds (18 kg) and moved to the larger Finn class for the 2004 Summer Olympics, where he won gold, a feat he repeated in the 2008 competition.
At the 2011 ISAF World Championships he was winning the regatta but was disqualified under rule 69 (gross misconduct) for physically threatening a photographer. Ainslie felt the photographer's boat wake had prevented him from passing a competitor.[7]
He has won the following World Championships titles
Other World Results
37th 1989 Optimist World Championships held in Japan
2nd 1994 IYRU Youth Sailing World Championships in Marathon
43rd 1994 Laser World Championship
21st 1995 Laser World Championship
3rd 1996 Laser World Championship
3rd 1997 Laser World Championship
3rd 2000 Laser World Championship
3rd 2009 Etchells World Championships
4th 2010 - Team Origin - TP52 Audi Medcup
1st 1993 Laser Radial European Championship, Greece
At the beginning of 2005 he worked in the role of Tactician in the New Zealand based Team New Zealand who were preparing to compete in the challenger selection process to win the right to Challenge for the 32nd America's Cup.
In May 2005 Ainslie took the decision to relinquish the role of tactician and focus on improving his Match Racing skills as helmsman of the 'B' boat used to practice and tune the race boat helmed by Dean Barker.
Ainslie figure headed a British challenge for the Cup alongside Sir Keith Mills the team was named Team Origin. However this challenge withdraw without competing following a period of discussion regarding the future format of the event.
In December 2010, Ainslie finished in first place in the World Match Racing Tour, and is the 2010 ISAF Match Racing Champion.
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