The Duchess inspired a British sailing victory over New Zealand last Sunday, July 31, in front of a crowd of thousands. Kate donned a wetsuit as she joined the British racing team on their F50 catamaran in a friendly Commonwealth Race alongside Olympian Sir Ben Ainslie.
A video of her entry into the race was shared on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Instagram account, attracting thousands of likes and enthusiastic reactions from royal fans within hours.
It was captioned: “On the water with @sailgpgbr last weekend.
“It’s not just the racing that is so important to these teams, but so is their commitment to protecting the future of our planet and inspiring the next generation to do the same.
“It was so good to see the Protect our Future program doing just this with @1851trust.
“Thanks for racing too!”
The race took place ahead of the official closing events of the SailGP international sailing competition in Plymouth.
Britain took on endurance swimmer and environmentalist Lewis Pugh as a gas tracker alongside Peter Burling and Blair Tuke on New Zealand’s F50.
Kate’s team sailed to an easy win in front of thousands along the Plymouth coast.
The Duchess visited the SailGP event site in her role as patroness of the 1851 Trust, the official charity of the Great Britain SailGP Team.
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She seemed intrigued by the tour, although the time it took led to Sir Ben quipping, “Come on, we’ve got a race to do, mate.”
Before the race, Kate excitedly met young people who told her how to grow seagrass, and she participated in activities to educate young people about sustainability.
Carnegie Bedlow, 12, of St Helier in Jersey, said: “I was a little nervous, but she did what I said and she was very good.
“She asked me if I was interested in sailing. I do sailing camps in the summer, I love the ocean.”