America's Cup: British challenger forced into name change after Olympic Association row

Sir Ben Ainslie will again lead the British America's Cup challenge. Photo / Getty Images

The British challenge for the America's Cup has hit an early snag, with campaign funder billionaire Jim Ratcliffe caught in a row with the British Olympic Association.

After Ratcliffe's company Ineos agreed to offer Sir Ben Ainslie's crew a war chest of NZ$217 million, the team changed their name from Land Rover Ben Ainslie Racing to Ineos Team GB.

Ratcliffe's support aims to see Britain bring home the sailing trophy for the first time since 1851, but a squall has blown up between the industrialist – and the BOA, owner of the Team GB name.

Ratcliffe thought he had BOA's backing to use the Team GB name without charge, something flatly denied by the sporting body.

The BOA says it told the billionaire it would never give up the trademark for free, with money it gets from it used to back Britain's Olympic campaigns.

The row escalated with Mr Ratcliffe writing to the BOA, saying he "naively" thought use of Team GB would be seen in a "patriotic light", and claiming he was told he faced a multi-million bill to use the trademark.

As a result, the businessman invited BOA to "take a long walk off a short plank" in the letter, saying he would rename the yachting campaign to "Team UK, which I much prefer".

BOA said it is self-funded and "must protect the Team GB trademark", adding it "encouraged partnership discussions, which were rejected. At no stage were there any demands for specific financial figures."