Iain Percy, the former double Olympic champion, has admitted that his competitive sailing career may be over after Artemis Racing’s elimination from the 35th America’s Cup because he is getting too old for the physical demands on the boats.

Percy, 41, won Finn class gold at Sydney in 2000, then Star class gold with Andrew “Bart” Simpson in 2008 and a silver in London in 2012. He is the team manager with Artemis, but also had the dual role of tactician and grinder on the boat and says it will be down to Nathan Outteridge, the skipper, whether he is there for the next campaign.

“A couple of years ago, I really fancied myself being able to keep the numbers up in the fitness tests with the young guys, then about eight months ago I very much gave up thinking there was even a chance of it,” Percy said. “Age definitely catches up with you.

“It will be Nathan’s call if I sail or not, but frankly it’s not something on a personal level I’m particularly attached to.

“What I care about is Artemis as a team, and Nathan is a very big part of that. He is going to pick a very strong sailing team as we go to the future. I can assure you, at 41, spinning those handles gets tough.”

After Artemis’s loss to Emirates Team New Zealand in the final of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger Play-offs Finals, Percy is flying back to Britain today to be at the birth of his first child, who was due yesterday, before starting preparations for the next America’s Cup.

“We are clearly hugely disappointed because I felt we could go all the way this time and we haven’t,” said Percy, who completely rebuilt the team after San Francisco four years ago.

“We started again and climbed a huge mountain together, and got ourselves to a point where everyone can see we are up there with the best.”

New Zealand will now face Oracle Team USA in the America’s Cup Match starting on Saturday. “We can’t tell you who will win, but it will be the most entertaining sporting contest of 2017,” Percy said.