Sir Ben Ainslie at Shaping Portsmouth Conference

The News, Portsmouth

Sir Ben Ainslie was at Portsmouth Guildhall on Friday, January 17, 2024, at the Shaping Portsmouth conference talking about Sail GP coming to Portsmouth in July 2025.

Transcript

00:00So, Sir Ben, welcome back to Portsmouth today.

00:03We're here to talk about the Emirates Great Britain Cell Grand Prix,

00:07which is coming to our shores in July.

00:10I've seen it's been touted as the most exciting racing on the water,

00:13so for the uninitiated, can you just tell me a bit about what Cell GP is all about?

00:18Well, I think for people who haven't followed it or seen it before,

00:21they'd be really blown away by Cell GP.

00:23It's effectively 50-foot foiling casmorans that lift up out of the water

00:27and go speeds of up to and even over 100 kilometres an hour,

00:31which for any kind of vessel, whether that's a powerboat or a sailing boat,

00:35those are phenomenal speeds.

00:37You've got 12 international teams all racing against each other on a very tight race course

00:42and going for season championships over 14 Grands Prix around the world through the season.

00:49So it's a really, really intense competition, best sailors in the world,

00:53very, very tight race course, like I said.

00:55So get down to South Sea this summer, this July, 19th and 20th July,

01:00and like I say, you'll be blown away by the competition

01:03and just the speed and performance of these boats.

01:06You've sold it, so I think I'll be down there for that time as well.

01:09So obviously it's a return to the shores,

01:11following on for the fantastic weekend we had with the America's Cup here as well.

01:16So what are your memories from that time?

01:18Those are some of the best memories I've had in the sport, actually,

01:22to race in front of a home crowd in America's Cup level competition,

01:26and actually we managed to win both of those events, 2015-2016,

01:30to get a victory in front of the home crowd.

01:33There were really, really huge crowds on South Sea waterfront.

01:37I think we had some of the biggest crowds we ever had in the America's Cup or sailing anywhere in the world.

01:43So brilliant to see that support for the team.

01:46We hope to see that level of support for the local team again in SailGP.

01:51I just think the opportunity to get such a high-level sailing competition to Portsmouth,

01:57which we all know is a big, big part of the maritime history of the UK,

02:02that's just a wonderful opportunity.

02:04It is. Thank you very much.

02:06And ambitions for America's Cup still? Where are you in that journey?

02:10Yeah, so America's Cup, we're still cracking along.

02:12Every time we do it, we get one step closer.

02:14So by that rationale, we should win it next time.

02:17But no, seriously, America's Cup is about continuity,

02:20and we've seen that particularly with Emirates Team New Zealand and also Lunarosa, Prada, Pirelli.

02:25Those are organisations that have been in the America's Cup for 35, 30 years respectively.

02:31And it's that level of continuity that helps you to design the processes,

02:35the design tools, performance tools, and really get an efficient organisation together.

02:39So I'm really proud of where the team has got to.

02:42It was fantastic to make it all the way to the America's Cup last summer.

02:45The goal now, of course, is to go to the next level and win the Cup and bring it home.

02:49Okay. Well, good luck with that one.

02:51Talking back at the time in Portsmouth, you've just come off the shaping conference stage,

02:56and you mentioned about the support you had from the council to bring you down here.

03:00I think there was some disappointment in the city when the design team went out.

03:05Obviously, the race team had to move where the racing was.

03:07You've still got the technologies team in there.

03:09Was that a difficult time, or was that always the plan to move some of the teams out?

03:14No, it absolutely wasn't the plan to move the team away.

03:18That was something that was difficult.

03:20Effectively, it was a decision taken out of our control in terms of the technical programme.

03:26But I'm really proud of what the technologies business has achieved.

03:31I was just down there earlier, and they're going from strength to strength.

03:35You can see by just the way that the activity down there, just how much the business has grown,

03:41the number of people it's employing, having a great impact on the local economy.

03:45I think really showcasing just how successful the British maritime economy can be

03:51and the technologies that we developed through the America's Cup

03:55and involvement with other high-level sailing competitions

03:59can really feed down to the technologies, to the maritime industry on a global level.

04:05It's great to see a Portsmouth-based business doing so well.

04:09So, still very much got a footprint in the city.

04:11And it's not just about the technologies.

04:13Obviously, your 1851 Trust doing some great work across the city and across the UK.

04:18Tell us a bit more about how that's all going.

04:20Yeah, the 1851 Trust, similarly, we founded that alongside the team some 10 years ago.

04:25We had the Duchess of Cambridge as our royal patron.

04:28She's been a fantastic supporter of the Trust and really started off with the STEM subjects

04:33and using the power of sport and certainly the technology behind the America's Cup

04:37to inspire youngsters into those key STEM subjects.

04:40And then, more latterly, moving into sustainability

04:43with a focus on the environment and sustainability

04:46and educating school kids throughout the country.

04:49You know, what are the challenges, but also the solutions

04:52around the sort of environmental sustainable issues that we face around the world today.

04:58And a huge amount of support for the Trust.

05:00Again, it's going from strength to strength,

05:02getting out to so many youngsters, secondary school students around the country.

05:07And we're really proud of that.

05:08And great to see, again, the power of sport really making a difference.

05:11Yeah, that's great work, Ben. Great stuff.

05:13And my final question, it's something you touched on, I think, with the first answer,

05:17but what would be your message to the people of Portsmouth

05:20when it comes to the Grand Prix in July

05:22and coming down and supporting what you're doing and supporting the team?

05:25Well, I think people who remember the America's Cup World Series that we had

05:28will know what a great event both of those were, 2015, 2016.

05:33For those that weren't able to see that or are new to the area,

05:36you've got to get down and take a look.

05:38Honestly, if you think you knew what sailing was all about,

05:42you'd be completely blown away.

05:44It's seriously cool.

05:45So get down and enjoy your time.

05:47And we're really looking forward to seeing you down there.

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