Olympic sailor Ben Ainslie appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs on Sunday morning
America’s Cup winner Sir Ben Ainslie was this week’s castaway on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs.
Appearing on the show yesterday, the four-time Olympic gold-medallist selected the eight pieces of music he would take with him to a desert island.
Ainslie, who is now the most successful sailor in the world, chose the following tracks:
I’m Still Standing – Elton John
Read All About It – Emile Sande
Coming Around Again – Carly Simon
Vidi Cor Meum – Patrick Cassidy
The Chain – Fleetwood Mac
Fix You – Coldplay
Nimrod, Enigma Variations
Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong
Coldplay’s Fix You stands out in particular for Ainslie as this song was played at his good friend Andrew Simpson’s funeral.
Simpson died in a tragic sailing accident last year while training for the America’ Cup.
Ainslie was asked if losing Andrew Simpson had changed his attitude towards the sport.
“I suppose I hated it [sailing] for quite a while and we all came back to the UK to try and support Andrew’s family and all of his very close friends.
Something like that, it stops you in your tracks and makes you really wonder what life’s about. It certainly puts things into perspective.”
“For a while I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go back to San Francisco and keep training for the America’s Cup.”
During his interview on the show, presenter Kirsty Young also quizzed the athlete about his love of sailing and his plans for the future.
“I still have one burning desire, which is to win the America’s Cup with a British team”, said Ainslie.
You can listen to the full interview with Sir Ben Ainslie here.
Related articles