Close to the Wind, by Ben Ainslie
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.In most sporting contests the plan is to win, but in Ben Ainslie's most memorable race he made no attempt to do so, finishing halfway down the Laser fleet in the final race at the Sydney Olympics.
The method in this apparent madness was that, due to the scoring system, his best chance of claiming gold was to smother the chances of his nearest rival, Brazilian Robert Scheidt.
Mission accomplished (just), he won further golds at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, but he starts his autobiography with a blow-by-blow account of that Sydney confrontation. Rightly so, because it encapsulates his personality: pleasant and unassuming off the water, ruthless on it.
There are no great revelations here, unless you count the fact that Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell insists on calling him "Matthew" every time they meet, but it's an interesting self-portrait.
Ainslie plans to compete at the 2012 Olympics (when he will be 35) and, as skipper of the TeamOrigin challenge, yearns to wrest the America's Cup back for Britain. It's been 158 years but with Ainslie at the helm, don't bet against it.
Published in hardback by Yellow Jersey, £18.99
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments