Duchess of Cambridge joins Olympic legend Sir Ben Ainslie for high-speed yacht ride

1/10
Mark Chandler20 May 2016

The Duchess of Cambridge joined Olympic legend Sir Ben Ainslie at the helm of a racing yacht for a thrilling high-speed ride today.

Kate donned safety gear including a helmet and lifejacket to join the multiple gold medal-winner aboard his 45ft catamaran T1 for a training circuit in the Solent.

Earlier she had wowed as she recycled a sleek nautical-themed Alexander McQueen outfit for her visit to the Land Rover BAR racing team in nearby Portsmouth.

She previously wore the outfit on a June 2014 visit to Bletchley Park. It was the third time that the duchess has visited the BAR (Ben Ainslie Racing) base, having dropped by before the centre was opened and again during the first round of the America's Cup World Series which was held in the city last July before being cut short by heavy winds and rain.

Crowds gathered to watch as the duchess was transferred on to the catamaran - a trial model as the team develops its racing vessel - for the hour-long trip from Portsmouth Harbour to near the Isle of Wight.

Kate, a keen sailor, could be seen helping with the rigging as the catamaran was preparing to sail before she took the controls, the role normally taken by skipper Sir Ben.

Taking the helm: Kate waves to the crowds:
Peter Nicholls/Reuters

As the catamaran reached a top speed of 34 knots, the catamaran first of all raised up on to one of the hulls before rising up into the air where it skimmed along with both hulls in the air and only the foils remaining in the water.

The support vessels struggled to keep up with the catamaran as it flew over the choppy water as it headed back to Portsmouth from the Island.

Kate and her team of four professional sailors, including Sir Ben, carried out three loops of the route before heading back to base.

Before taking to the water, the duchess toured the Land Rover BAR (Ben Ainslie Racing) base at Old Portsmouth.

Speaking after returning to base, Sir Ben said he had been "amazed" at how well Kate had taken the helm and he would happily give her a place on his team.

He said: "I think the duchess had a great time, it certainly looked that way. It was perfect sailing conditions, we had about 15 knots of wind, we were going up to 33 or 34 knots which is close to 40mph.

"The duchess was steering the boat for about half of the session and I think the guys were all really impressed with how well she had sailed, she had done a bit of sailing before.

"We had a great sail, it was a blast and she thoroughly enjoyed it."

He continued: "There were a few moments from the front of the boat that she was a better helms person than I am so I wasn't too happy about that so you never know I might give her a place.

"It was great to have the duchess supporting the team as patron of the 1851 Trust and supporting our America's Cup bid and it's a real buzz when she is here sailing and joining us."

Additional reporting by the Press Association.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in