The Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton has agreed to become a Royal Patron for the Trust. She said: “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.”
Sir Ben Ainslie will also be a patron for the new charity.
Jo Grindley, Head of Commercial, Marketing, Commercials, and Events at Ben Ainslie Racing, told Team Locals: “1851 was the year of the Great Exhibition in London and the yacht America was invited over to take part in the Great Exhibition by Prince Albert. When it came over it also competed in the America’s Cup — it was called the 100 Pound Cup at that point. It went on to be called the America’s Cup after America won it.
“We have named the Trust after 1851 because what we’re trying to achieve aligns quite well with the exhibition — it’s about great engineering, it’s about art, and those are some of the key goals of the Trust.
“The Trust has been set up to sit alongside Ben Ainslie Racing. The team is all about winning the Cup and bringing it back to Britain. The 1851 is about all the things we hope we can do alongside that — to get more people engaged in the sport, to link in with the stem agenda, and to show that engineering isn’t just about being mucky and dirty; it’s about all the technology that we’re bringing into this boat.
“So we hope that our Visitor Centre that will be in the Ben Ainslie team base here in Portsmouth will have everything from a simulator that the actual sailors train on to learn how to steer this boat in the same way Formula One drivers do to 3D printing which is an application we’re using to make a number of the parts of the building so that the visitor centre will look at sport innovation and technology but also sustainability.
“Sustainability is a big part. This building here in Portsmouth is going to be BREEAM Excellent. We’re hoping to produce between 90 and 100% of our own power through the PV (solar panels) that will be going onto the building.
“The Camber in Portsmouth used to be a coal refinery and to turn that into something through which you can produce your own output is a great goal. We want to then train people to have the skills in the marine industry to move forward. They then become the innovators of the future, so we’re looking at everything from a non-fossil fuel support boat to other future innovations in the marine business.
“We’re very lucky that the Duchess of Cambridge has agreed to become the Royal Patron of the 1851 Trust.”
This exciting news comes after pupils from six schools throughout Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight collaborated with a trio of local artists on a painted mural on the hoardings surrounding the Ben Ainslie Racing headquarters building site.
