Thousands of people are expected to throng Plymouth’s waterfront to watch some of the world’s fastest wind-powered boats zip around the Sound in the SailGP contest. Billed as the planet’s most competitive racing on water, the event returns to Britain’s Ocean City, on July 30 and 31, after making a huge splash last year.
The races feature catamarans that raise above the water on foils racing at speeds of up to 62mph.
Out on Plymouth Sound, Sir Ben Ainslie is hoping to lead his Great Britain team to a victory that would break the stranglehold Tom Slingsby and his Australia SailGP Team are developing on the competition. The two-time defending champion Australia has also claimed the first two events of Season 3, defeating Ainslie and the Phil Robertson-led Canada team in both finals.
On Sunday, July 31, The Duchess of Cambridge, Royal Patron of the 1851 Trust, will visit Plymouth and join a group of young people taking part in the Protect Our Future program by the 1851 Trust – the official charity of the Great Britain SailGP Team. Her Royal Highness will then get a taste of the incredible speed and skill involved in SailGP when she boards Mr Ainslie’s British F50 and takes part in a friendly Commonwealth race against UN Patron of the Oceans, Lewis Pugh, who will race with Peter Burling and Blair Tuke’s New Zealand SailGP Team. The race will take place ahead of the three SailGP races on the final day of the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix and be commentated live from the Official Race Village.
The races begin at 2pm on Saturday and Sunday, and will be finished by 3.30pm.
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