THE old hand and the young gun have always proved an irresistible combination, in film and in sport. But the new alliance between the Olympic triple gold medallist Ben Ainslie and John Bertrand, the hero of Australia II’s victory in the 1983 America’s Cup, comes straight from Hollywood central casting.

At the age of 62, Bertrand remains a sporting icon in his homeland, like Steve Waugh, a symbol of Australia’s sporting invincibility. His bestselling autobiography was called Born to Win. Ainslie is 30 years his junior and might just borrow the title for his own autobiography, due out later this year. Bertrand has won an America’s Cup, while Ainslie’s own Cup career has barely begun. But Ainslie has won three Olympic golds, two in the Finn class, in which Bertrand won bronze in Montreal in 1976.

With the Australian Olympic sailor Andrew Palfrey, Bertrand and Ainslie will compete in the Audi Etchells world championships, which begin in Port Phillip, Melbourne, this week. The crew, with Bertrand at the helm, won the Australian national championships two months ago. “I’m paying for my own ticket down there,” says Ainslie. “I’m doing it for the love and because it’s John. When we were down for the national championships, I went round to his house for dinner and he asked if I would do the worlds. You don’t say no.

“He’s an amazing character, a real philosopher and watching him and listening to him can only improve me as a sailor. He’s always trying to analyse the things you say, what you’re doing on the boat, the decisions you make and he’s still really fast in a straight line. I was impressed. He’s still got the touch.”

Bertrand is happy to repay the compliment. “Racing with these guys, with Ben and Andrew, is a fantastic opportunity for me,” he said recently. “Their decision-making is fantastic. Everything flows on the boat.”

Many of the world’s top sailors, including the great America’s Cup skipper Dennis Conner, have won the world title in the Etchells, a three-man, 30ft one-design boat. Ainslie will work the middle of the boat, with Bertrand at the helm and Palfrey at the front end. Not surprisingly, the crew are among the favourites for the hugely competitive week-long event.

Ainslie’s plans for the rest of the year remain on hold, pending the ruling of the New York courts on the future of the next America’s Cup, due at the end of this month. If Alinghi win the case, Ainslie will be at the helm of Team Origin, the British challenger, for the 33rd America’s Cup in Valencia in the summer of 2010. If the US-based Oracle syndicate win, the Cup could be postponed for two years, which might encourage Ainslie to switch classes and compete against Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson, the current Olympic champions and his closest friends, in the two-man Star.

“If the Cup did fall apart and nothing was going to happen for three or four years, it would be more of a challenge to do the Star, something to get my teeth stuck into,” he says. “I’ve sailed the Finn at two Games and I love the boat, but to carry on for another four years nonstop would be hard work. To have a new learning curve would get me more fired up for it.”

Ainslie believes it’s “95%” probable that he will stay in the Finn, however. “I can get back into the Finn at the back end of 2010 and still be in good shape for 2012,” he adds. The problem for Ainslie would come if the next America’s Cup was scheduled for 2011 or into Olympic year. He would then be forced to choose between the prospect of winning a fourth gold, at his home Olympics, and helming Team Origin in the America’s Cup. “I don’t know what would happen then,” he says. “We’d have to work out the best way to deal with it.”

Ainslie, at least, has the luxury of being able to make his own decisions. His sponsorship with JP Morgan Asset Management has been renewed until 2012, which will enable the triple Olympic champion to compete in the Round the Island race and at Cowes Week, traditional highlights of the British sailing summer.