Everyone has a story to tell about Sir Jim Ratcliff at the one haven in his sporting empire where everything goes according to plan. Among them is English sailor Freddie Carr, who took part in the rather tragic 2021 America's Cup race in Auckland and is an integral part of a campaign that is now making history in Barcelona.
Carr was with Ben Ainslie all the way, long before the latter met Ratcliffe for gin in Mayfair six years ago, when they agreed to a partnership that has so far generated a £250m bill.
Carr is outgoing and funny. He's easy to like. Ratcliffe feels the same, so they talk about a variety of topics, often football and often on long bike rides on bikes borrowed from Ratcliffe's other acquisition, INEOS Grenadiers.
These rides started a few years before Ratcliffe bought Manchester United. Yet mile after mile, up and down, his boss's boss talked about the club he supported, citing the names and stories of United players from the 1960s and 1970s.
“He went into amazing detail,” Carr told me a few months ago. “With Sir Jim, it's all about the details. Obsessed with little nuggets of information about absolutely anything and everything. Great guy.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe took over football duties at Manchester United at the beginning of the year
For a die-hard Man United fan like the INEOS billionaire, the team's current decline must be heartbreaking
Freddie Carr, an integral part of his team's America's Cup performance, praised his boss for his unerring eye for detail
Ainslie said something similar when we talked in February, as it happens. At every stage of this collaboration with Ratcliffe, a WhatsApp notification tone appeared on his phone – this is Ratcliffe's intrigue in the smallest detail: he is not the quietest of partners. These messages regularly include questions about elements of technology and the concept of his links with the Mercedes F1 All Blacks or Cycling team would be useful.
From what I understand, this has expanded over the last few weeks to text messages to more peripheral figures in the operation. Ratcliffe checked the progress of legal documents and tedious administrative processes; the smallest matters that are undoubtedly important, but probably unnecessary for Ratcliffe to concern himself with.
The more I heard these passages, the more interesting and unusual it seemed to me because Ratcliffe had paid experts to conduct these discussions for him. Maybe it's just a smart level of care. Or the innate curiosity of a man who made a fortune digging for buried fuels.
It is worth adding that Ainslie does not say a bad word about Ratcliffe. Quite the opposite. They value interaction and fuel interest, and together they are on top of the wave – INEOS Britannia is the first British team to reach the America's Cup final since 1964 and if they beat the New Zealand sailors, it will end a losing streak that stretches back 173 years.
Sir Ben Ainslie is another athlete who has worked closely with Ratcliffe and is keenly aware of his high standards
Over the next 10 days, Ainslie will attempt to restore historic glory to his British sailing team
For Ainslie, now 47 and 12 years removed from leaving the Olympics in search of new glory, captaining a Cup winner is the missing piece of the greatest legacy. The same goes for veterans like Carr.
But it is tempting to look at the coming week in the context of Ratcliffe's sporting reputation. He, too, needs a win to show that his ability to dig success out of the ground can be a skill that can be transferred to the sport's stranger terrain.
Things haven't been great in the last decade since he started diversifying his interests. Not in relation to the money spent. We know that.
The unbeatable strength of the Team Sky riders, while some of their methods may have been questionable in good times, now they are punching below their resources as the INEOS Grenadiers. Of those areas where Ratcliffe has a less influential stake, Mercedes cannot reach Red Bull's postcode in F1 and the All Blacks are ranked 3rd in the world.
And then you reach Manchester United, the crown jewel of the INEOS sports portfolio, where every detail of the current day is the punch line. A club whose place in Ratcliffe's heart would suggest he could cope with any coughing or babbling.
When he was asked last week if he believed in Erik, Hagan clumsily tried to avoid the grenade, saying, “I guess I don't want to answer that question. I like Erik. He's a very good coach, but ultimately it's not my decision.
INEOS investments, in which the company has a smaller share, have not always been successful, like the current version of Mercedes
Ratcliffe was reluctant to fully back his troubled Old Trafford manager Erik ten Hag
It was hardly an endorsement, and also a touch of disingenuousness – it was quite ridiculous to suggest he was taking a backseat. If Ratcliffe is chasing the sailing team's paperwork, you can be sure his fingerprints will be all over the most important decision from his early days at United, where his initial buy-in was five times greater than his efforts to win the yacht race. His all-star cast of advisors will have their say, but Ratcliffe clearly wants to put on his big boy hat.
There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, it may be better if owners are willing to be present and get their hands dirty. It is therefore necessary to examine Ratcliffe's judgment under a microscope.
We tend to believe in messiahs when it comes to sports, just as those who have achieved success in other worlds often see messiahs when they look in the mirror. After eight months, Ratcliffe is no longer satisfied that his name is not Glazer.
That United's performance on the pitch continues to be abysmal is a misconception in many places, but the persistent malaise under Ten Hag hits right at the door for Ratcliffe and those he appointed around him. They decided to keep him in the summer in the face of decent evidence, just as they are now considering the merits of their choice. The perception of this cohort is directly linked to Ten Hag's performance, which is a rough sea that is difficult to live on.
Despite his desire to create an atmosphere of distance, Ratcliffe's fingerprints will be visible on all major decisions made at United
There are some in one corner of Ratcliffe's sporting world who believe he will do well at United. Chief among them is Ainslie.
He once told me about a boss who had “zero tolerance for bull” and an unparalleled ability to spot it. That's why Ainslie came clean to him ahead of the ill-fated 2021 America's Cup challenger series in Auckland, when Ratcliffe believed his sailing team was on the right track, despite what everyone knew on the ground. Ratcliffe liked this honesty, financed another campaign, and now has a boat in Barcelona that has sailed further under the British flag than any other in 60 years.
If next week ends well, it will be the ultimate validation of his patience, judgment, and obsession with trivia. He would deserve it.
In Manchester United and several of his other projects, he is no longer so close to calm waters.
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One friend who works behind the scenes at all the Slams recently shared an innocent memory of a training day at Wimbledon when the grounds were largely deserted except for this Spaniard who was laughing maniacally to himself as he chased his baseball cap for 50 minutes. yards after being in strong winds.
He smiles at everyone and knows all the courtesy car drivers and courthouse staff by name – she said it's a charming touch that puts him above many of his peers. Another employee talked about a guy who is second to none when it comes to tipping locker room attendants. He's not a bad player either.
