Sir Ben Ainslie joked he might be better off handing the helm of his F50 catamaran to the visiting Duchess of Cambridge on Sunday after a succession of poor starts left the British team in a precarious position en route to day two of Plymouth SailGP .
“She would struggle to do worse than me, that’s for sure,” said Ainslie of his starts after finishing fourth, fourth and fifth in the first three races on Saturday and fifth out of nine teams overnight. .
With only the top three qualifying for Sunday’s final sailing, Britain will need to finish high in Sunday’s first two races if they are to perform for the Duchess and for the estimated 10,000 fans at Plymouth Hoe and on spectator boats at Plymouth Sound, the vast majority of whom cheer on the four-time Olympic champion.
Ainslie, who described the turnout as “incredible”, said he hoped Sunday’s royal visitor would provide the team with inspiration.
Patron of the 1851 Trust, the charity arm of Ainslie’s America’s Cup team, the Duchess will compete in a special Commonwealth exhibition race against the New Zealand SailGP team, which includes a British-South African endurance swimmer and UN Patron of the Oceans will have. Lewis Pugh on board.
The Kiwis were the form team on Saturday, finishing second, second and first to top the standings overnight. But Ainslie said the Duchess could handle herself on the water.
“She’s a really handy sailor,” he said, adding that he’d be happy to let her drive the F50 if she wanted to. “She’s crossed the Atlantic a few times, I think. And she sailed with us on the AC45F, which is also a foiling 45-footer. She was driving that boat.
“That’s more difficult than these boats in some ways because it has a tiller instead of a steering wheel, although the control systems aren’t as advanced as on these boats. So I think it will be a step up. I think she will enjoy it.”