#AmericasCup - Sir Ben Ainslie's America's Cup team is already a serious prospect where it counts on the water. But now they're stepping up on the business side of things after signing former McLaren F1 team principal Martin Whitmarsh to lead the charge.

As YBW.com reports, Whitmarsh will join Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR) as chief executive next month – marking the second significant connection between high-performance yachting and Formula 1 after BAR's partnership with Red Bull Racing's chief designer Adrian Newey.

“I’m delighted that Martin is joining us," said Sir Ben in a statement on the announcement earlier this month. "When we first started to put together the plan for BAR, McLaren were one of the aspirations.

“So it’s particularly appropriate to have one of the original architects of that model as our new CEO."

Whitmarsh joins BAR after 25 years with McLaren, during which he worked up the ranks to CEO of the McLaren Group but is best remembered for his stint as the company's F1 team boss from 2009 to 2013, when he was ousted after an uncompetitive season.

He will take the reins of a hopeful upstart team that's already taken to the waters of Bermuda where the next America's Cup racing will get underway two years from now.

But according to My Sailing, their training will also be conducted on dry land thanks to the latest 3D simulation technology borrowed, appropriately, from the F1 world.

The virtual reality simulator was developed by Dr James Roche, himself a former McLaren employee, who used similar tech to help Lizzy Yarnold to Olympic gold for Britain at Sochi earlier this year.

My Sailing has more on the story HERE.