Ainslie says sorry after Worlds rant
Two-time Argo Group Cup winner Ben Ainslie has apologised for his rant that put paid to his bid for a sixth Finn World title at the ongoing ISAF World Championship in Perth, Australia at the weekend.The multiple Olympic gold medallist was disqualified for two races for gross misconduct which effectively ruled him out of contention for the title.Ainslie, who opted not to defend his Gold Cup crown in Bermuda this year, was involved in a heated verbal spat with the driver of a media boat that he accused of impeding his progress on the race course.As the first two boats in the ninth race rounded the gate for the second beat and headed towards the shore, a media boat followed close to leeward of the leader. This caused wash for Ainslie who attempted to wave the media boat off.When the leaders passed through the gate and headed towards the finishing line, the same media boat followed the leader to the finishing line leaving a large wake, which again affected Ainslie’s race.After the race the Brit jumped into the water and swam over to the media boat to confront the boat’s driver.A jury later blamed both parties for the incident but disqualified Ainslie for two races, which not could be discarded from his race series.The top sailor expressed remorse for his actions and eventually had to settle for 11th overall.“I overreacted to what I thought was a situation where I felt my performance was being severely hindered,” read a statement on Ainslie’s official website. “We’ve all apologised to each other and are looking forward to moving on.”Ainslie believes the incident was blown out of proportion.“I’m very sorry that the jury decided to react the way they did over something which really wasn’t as big as it was blown up to be,” he wrote. “It’s very disappointing that the Championship has been decided this way.“I’ve worked extremely hard over the last six weeks and have been training incredibly hard to get to this position in a venue, which has been difficult for me with my size against the bigger sailors. I feel like I’ve actually sailed one of the best regattas of my life so to be in this situation now is very disappointing.”Britain’s most decorated Olympic sailor won a maiden Gold Cup in 2009 and successfully defended his crown the following year in Hamilton Harbour.Due to scheduling conflicts with his 2012 Olympic qualifying bid, Ainslie passed up the opportunity to gun for a third straight Gold Cup crown earlier this year.