Sir Ben Ainslie talks about the upcoming Sail GP event in July taking place in Portsmouth.
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00:00So Ben, welcome back to Portsmouth today. We're here to talk about the Emirates Great Britain Cell Grand Prix, which is coming to our shores in July.
00:10I've seen it's been touted as the most exciting racing on the water, so for the uninitiated, can you just tell me a bit about what Cell GP is all about?
00:18Well I think for people that haven't followed it or seen it before, they'd be really blown away by Cell GP.
00:23It's effectively 50-foot foiling catamarans that lift up out of the water and go speeds of up to and even over 100 kilometres an hour,
00:31which for any kind of vessel, whether that's a powerboat or a sailing boat, those are phenomenal speeds.
00:37You've got 12 international teams all racing against each other on a very tight race course,
00:42and going for season championships over 14 Grands Prix around the world through the season.
00:49It's a really, really intense competition, best sailors in the world, very, very tight race course like I said,
00:55so get down to South Sea this summer, this July, 1920th July, and like I said you'll be blown away by the competition and just the speed and performance of these boats.
01:05What would be your message to the people of Portsmouth when it comes to the Grand Prix in July and coming down and supporting what you're doing and supporting the team?
01:13Well, I think people who remember the America's Cup World Series that we had will know what a great event both of those were, 2015-2016.
01:20For those that weren't able to see that or are new to the area, you've got to get down and take a look.
01:26Honestly, if you think you knew what sailing was all about, you'd be completely blown away.
01:31It's seriously cool, so get down and enjoy your time and we're really looking forward to seeing you down there.