Catch me if you can... Duchess leaves Wills in her wake
THEY admit they are i ncredibly competitive, even at Scrabble.
So when William and Kate did battle royal on the high seas off Auckland yesterday, no quarter was given.
Unfortunately for William, the result was not in his favour as each took the helm of a racing yacht. The Duchess of Cambridge is an experienced sailor – she worked as a deckhand for Chay Blyth during her gap year in 2001 – and was always likely to have the upper hand.
Although the Duke took an early lead, Kate soon surged ahead to win the three-mile race, and rubbed briney in the wound by beating him again in a second contest over the same length.
Suitably dressed in a £48 Me and Em Breton top, skinny jeans and £85 Sebago Bala deck shoes, she could not hide her delight, punching the air and giving her husband a defiant salute.
The royal couple were at Waitemata Harbour, home of New Zealand’s America’s Cup team, on the fifth day of their tour Down Under.
For the 32-year-old Duchess, the victory was sweet revenge after William beat her dragonboat racing on their tour of Canada in 2011.
Afterwards the Duke, 31, joked ‘we were sabotaged’ and when someone said the Duchess was looking pleased he replied: ‘I bet she is. Selfless husband. I wanted a quiet night.’
Eric Haagh, skipper of the losing craft, insisted his yacht had developed problems with its sail.
‘William was very competitive – he didn’t want to lose,’ he said. ‘But Kate pushed us around into a bad position. She did very well. When Kate won he just said, “At least she’ll be happy!”’
Dean Barker, the skipper of Team New Zealand, took the Duke sailing in Auckland in 2010.
‘At the time Prince William said Kate would be very envious of the fact that he had been sailing, because she was a very keen sailor,’ he said.
Team manager Grant Dalton said the request to go sailing came from Kensington Palace.
‘There are no friends on the water, though. I’m sure that Prince William would not want to be beaten by his wife,’ he said.
Earlier in the day, the royal couple met staff and families at New Zealand’s biggest airforce base, Whenuapai, on the outskirts of Auckland.