Olympic sailing champion keen to sign up Duchess for his crew
THE Duchess of Cambridge could be joining the World Series team, Sir Ben Ainslie, the Olympic sailing champion, has suggested, after he said she had the skills to perform at the top level.
The Duchess met the multiple gold medal winner yesterday during a visit to the south coast, which saw her step aboard his 45ft catamaran for a training circuit in the Solent alongside the Land Rover BAR America’s Cup team. Sir Ben said his team would love to get the Duchess on board for a race.
In world series events they are allowed to take a guest crew member.
“We would love to get her racing with us as well if we can,” he said.
“There’s a lot going on and we will see what the schedule allows.”
He described The Duchess, who confidently took the helm during the session, as “very good” at sailing and added that his team was impressed with her skills.
“She has clearly done a fair amount of sailing before,” he added.
“She had a feel for the boat… to be able to steer one of those at close to 40mph for even a skilled sailor is a real challenge and she did a great job.”
He also said he hoped that The Duchess, who changed out of her £1,375 Alexander McQueen outfit for the three-lap training circuit, would bring Prince George and Princess Charlotte to the centre.
He said: “She is certainly keen to get the Prince and Princess sailing at some time in the future, whether that is down here or elsewhere.” The Duchess, who is the royal patron of the 1851 Trust, which was set up by Sir Ben to encourage young people to take to the sea, had earlier visited the Land Rover BAR team headquarters in Portsmouth, where she launched two sailing projects and officially opened a new education centre aimed at secondary school pupils.
One pupil, Ashlyn Collins, 15, who attended the opening, said she was struck after meeting the Duchess by “how pretty she was”.
The schoolgirl added: “She said she enjoyed sailing and [told us] we should definitely have a go.”