Ineos Britannia announced on Thursday that Ben Ainslie had parted with the British America's Cup Team after his third attempt at leading his country to victory in October ended in failure.

A statement stated that "Unfortunately, INEOS Britannia could not reach agreement on terms for moving forward after the conclusion of America's Cup 37 in Barcelona."

The British were hoping that Britain would win the "Auld Mug", the cup for the first ever, in Barcelona, after being backed by Jim Ratcliffe and his 100 million pounds ($123.55 millions).

Britain, with the most successful Olympic sailing sailor as the skipper, reached the finals for the first 60 years after defeating Italy. They then faced New Zealand's defenders.

Ainslie’s boat, however, was defeated 7-2.

Ratcliffe said that the company's focus is now on building the boat for the next sailing competition. He owns the Grenadiers cycling team, and has a small stake in Manchester United, where he manages soccer operations.

He said: "I'm extremely proud of what we accomplished in Barcelona by developing a British vessel that was competitive for the very first time in many decades."

We will build on this in the 38th America's Cup with the INEOS Challenge and already have over 100 scientists and engineers designing our AC38 yacht." Reporting by Martyn Davis Editing by Toby Davis

(source: Reuters)