Ben Ainslie Racing – An Impressive Perspective

From 107m up you get a great

perspective on Britain’s current America’s Cup campaign. Rising high

above the country’s famous naval city, Portsmouth’s distinctive

Spinnaker Tower was the venue for Ben Ainslie Racing’s (BAR) latest

announcement, but it also provided a superb view of the current state of

the team’s new base at Camber Quay.

Set to the east side of the

harbour entrance in the historic part of the city you are left in no

doubt as to the scale of this project. This is no slab sided industrial

unit with a flashy team sign hung above a pair of painted sliding doors,

this will be a building and a programme designed to last well beyond

the next Cup. A building and a site created with two objectives in mind,

to be the base for the next British America’s Cup team, while creating

an interactive visitor centre for the public.

The area, just

opposite the Portsmouth to IOW ferry terminal, has been flattened and

the early steels that will form one end of the building are starting to

take shape. At present they are just up to the first floor of what will

be the equivalent height of a six storey building. When you then start

to imagine the rest of the floors spread across the building’s footprint

you start to realise just how big the new premises will be and how big

an undertaking just the building project is. The new BAR base will be

the size of a small shopping centre.

And that’s when it hit me

properly. This is unlike any British America’s Cup project that I’ve

witnessed before. Ben Ainslie Racing’s Cup campaign is already a

commitment on a huge scale. A campaign budget of £80 million with nearly

£8million coming from the Government, never has a British Cup team

drawn such economic support from the country itself.

But even

then, to dwell on the financial undertaking of a large construction

project in the middle of a busy city is to simply scratch the surface of

BAR’s ambitions. The object of the press call was to announce the

team’s 1851 Trust which aims to, ‘inspire and engage a new generation

through sailing and the marine industry, providing young people with the

education, skills and training to become innovators of the future and

stewards of the marine environment.’

Lord Grade made the

introductory speech and introduced Sir Keith Mills who confirmed that

the Duchess of Cambridge had agreed to be the Patron of the Trust. Three

huge names in one sentence, all putting their weight behind an

America’s Cup campaign. And while the Cup will not be won on the basis

of which team has the most impressive line up of dignitaries, there is

no question that BAR has already amassed some incredible support with a

wealth of talent and track records to match.

A statement from Her

Highness read, “I am delighted to be Royal Patron of the 1851 Trust. I

feel very fortunate to have enjoyed sailing from a young age and I know

it is a great way of providing young people with the opportunity to

develop skills and confidence. It is a hugely exciting time for sailing

as the British Challenger bids to bring the America’s Cup back to

Britain. I am looking forward to being part of this journey and I hope

that through the 1851 Trust we can engage and inspire a new generation

into sailing along the way,”

Sir Keith Mills is no stranger to

wining bids and delivering to a deadline having been deputy chair of the

London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games. He also knows plenty

about ensuring that such huge undertakings provide a lasting legacy.

Talking to him after the presentation he described the effort that went

into the Invictus Games and how an invitation to the Palace turned into a

task of organising a huge international sporting event in just seven

months. An event that one presumes, with Royal backing, couldn’t be

allowed fail. And it didn’t, far from it.

If there’s one thing

that Sir Keith is known for it is making the right calls and delivering.

And while his previous attempt at the Cup with Team Origin had to be

halted, it did so because the Cup world was in a very different state.

While

it is true that we still don’t know where and when the 35th America’s

Cup will take place, the mood within the Defender and Challenger camps

is very different to what we became used to during the five or so years

that followed the 32nd Cup in Valencia.

With such big stakes at

play, there is always the potential for dispute, dispute that has in the

past derailed the event, but this time the mood is different. There

will be plenty of robust discussions behind the scenes, but all the

teams know that it is in their combined interests to ensure that the

35th America’s Cup happens and lives up to the spectacular event of last

year. As one Cup skipper said to me a few weeks ago, ‘Many of us in

this cycle were affected by that destructive period. Our careers and

campaigns were put on hold, many were let down by the Cup. We know what

failure feels like and are determined to make sure it doesn’t happen

this time around.’

For his own team, Ainslie sees the next Cup cycle as being more than just about a racing event.

“When

you look at the venue we have and our proximity to the open water where

we will be both training and hosting a couple of AC45 World Series

events in 2015 and 2016, it is an impressive set up for a base,” he

said. “But it’s more than that. It’s about providing apprenticeships,

getting youngsters through the base and inspiring them through

engineering and sailing. This in itself brings the whole project

together.”

So how certain was Ainslie that BAR would be able to go the full distance?

“I

hope people know me well enough and see the kind of people who are

behind our team, to know that none of us are the type to commit to

something like this and do it half heartedly,” he said. “We’ll be

there.”

With his back to the window, 107m above the Solent, the

view behind and below provided the perfect context. With the yellow

flashing lights of construction traffic flickering below, BAR is clearly

already in full swing. The announcement of the 1851 Trust, drove the

point home.

This is a Cup campaign that already has serious momentum with an impressive array of backers that will not let it fail.

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