The stunning seaside home sailing legend Ben Ainslie is giving up to pursue his dream of winning the sport’s most prestigious competition is on the market.
The five-times Olympic gold medallist is selling his nine-bedroom Victorian mansion at Seaview on the Isle of Wight for £3.5million.
Ainslie, 47, put the property on the market as he was not spending enough time there while he chases Britain’s first ever America’s Cup victory.
Team Ineos Britannia, led by Ainslie, is currently battling the Italian Lunna Rossa Prada Pirellli team in Barcelona for a place in the final against New Zealand.
The teams are currently neck and neck with four race wins each. The first to get seven wins secures the right to challenge Emirates Team New Zealand.
The mansion – Woodlands Vale – is a Grade II listed building with 30 acres of land with views across the Solent.
The property features a billiard room, heated swimming pool, private path down to a beach and spans 13,000 square feet of living space.
It is now up for sale for £3,495,000, having originally been put on the market for £4.5million.
Ainslie has lived at the ‘imposing and architecturally significant’ home with his family since 2016 and has been a regular sailor in Cowes.
He is a member of the local Sea View Yacht Club.
His wife Georgie Thompson previously said the couple were having to sell up as his sailing commitments meant they were not spending much time at the property.
Winkworth estate agents said on their listing: ‘Woodlands Vale is an impressive, imposing and architecturally significant Grade II listed country home.’
Queen Victoria was a frequent visitor of the coastal property as she was friends with its designer Crimean War veteran Lord Calthorpe.
Ainslie’s Ineos Britannia team is attempting to become the first British crew to win the America’s Cup since the competition began in 1851.
In August, Ainslie revealed he was robbed of his £16,000 Rolex at knifepoint by a Barcelona watch gang.
He was confronted by an armed mob and robbed of his luxury watch, Spanish police said.
The sailor was in the city to lead the UK’s Ineos Britannia team in the America’s Cup.
Sir Ben told The Telegraph: ‘Barcelona is a fantastic host city for the America’s Cup, and the team has felt welcomed and is enjoying our stay in this vibrant city.
‘Like in all big cities, you can be affected by opportunistic crime, and my situation is no different. This matter is now with the local authorities.’
Barcelona footballer Robert Lewandowski experienced a similar theft two years ago outside the Ciutat Esportiva training ground.