Duchess of Cambridge joins British team at Plymouth's SailGP
The event returned to the city over the weekend
It was a day to remember at the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix in Plymouth for Peter Burling and Blair Tuke’s New Zealand SailGP Team, as it first competed against The Duchess of Cambridge on the waters of Plymouth Sound before claiming its first ever event win in SailGP.
In the three-team final match race, New Zealand triumphed over fellow event final debutants, Nicolai Sehested’s Denmark and season standing leaders, Tom Slingsby’s Australia in challenging conditions on Plymouth Sound.
Before the day’s official racing, Sir Ben Ainslie’s British F50 was driven by The Duchess of Cambridge in a friendly Commonwealth race against New Zealand, accompanied by UN Patron for the Ocean Lewis Pugh, on the event racecourse, with the home team emerging victorious.
The Duchess also visited the SailGP technical site in her role as Patron of the 1851 Trust, the official charity of the Great Britain SailGP Team, where she joined a group of children taking part in the Protect Our Future sustainability program.
New Zealand bounced back from its loss to the Duchess of Cambridge, winning the second race of day two to secure a place in its first event final, and then storming to the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix win.
The Denmark SailGP Team - presented by ROCKWOOL - delivered two second place finishes to secure a place in the three-boat podium final for the first time ever.
Great Britain missed the final - and the chance of winning its first event of the season - in controversial circumstances with a late penalty against Australia meters from the finish line in the day’s final fleet race.
Councillor Richard Bingley, Leader of Plymouth City Council, said: "What an absolutely fantastic weekend in Britain’s Ocean City!
"We were honoured to host the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix in the UK’s first National Marine Park for the second year running.
"With SailGP comes a raft of benefits for Plymouth, including attracting thousands of visitors to our waterfront, providing a welcome boost to the local economy and raising the city’s profile on a global stage."
Cllr Richard Bingley - Leader of Plymouth City Council
The European leg of the championship continues in Copenhagen for the ROCKWOOL Denmark Sail Grand Prix on August 19-20.