Sir Ben Ainslie on 'super competitive' Princess Kate and his plans to get her back on the water

The Olympic champion sailor Sir Ben Ainslie has long been impressed by the Princess of Wales's fearless sailing skills. 

And nearly ten years after he first invited Kate to join him at the pinnacle of professional sailing, yacht racing with the British team in the America's Cup - the oldest competition in international sport - he reveals exclusively to Hello! that the invitation remains. 

"I'm hopeful we'll be able to convince the princess to come down for another sail, whether it's through Sail GP or the America's Cup next year down in Naples," Sir Ben, 49, who is the CEO of the Emirates Great Britain Sail GP team, and whose company Athena will be competing in the prestigious 2027 America's Cup yacht race, tells HELLO!. 

"She came sailing with us on the boat (in 2017) and sadly didn't make it out to Bermuda, and then we've had two campaigns since, and we've always kept in touch," Ben continues. "I'm pretty confident we can convince her to get back out on one of these boats sometime soon."

Ben and the Princess first met during the London 2012 Olympics, where he won his fourth gold medal, crowning him as the most successful sailor in Olympic history. 

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In 2014, the pair teamed up to launch the UK's America's Cup bid, a campaign to win the oldest trophy in international sport, something that the British team hasn't achieved in the 175 years since the yacht race began. The same year, Kate became a patron of The 1851 Trust, a charity co-founded by Ben to educate and empower youth through STEM and climate learning. 

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They remain in contact, with Ben sending her an annual update on his projects, including the competitions and charity. "She's always incredibly generous and writes a nice response, keen to know what's going on with the teams and the trust." 

What does he make of the Wales children, who Kate has introduced to the sport, following in their mother's wake? 

"She's a very accomplished sailor," Ben says. "We did a race in Plymouth against the New Zealand team and she was steering our boat - with a little bit of guidance - but she was on the handlebar steering the boat, and we won. 

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"She's obviously a very great sportswoman across a number of sports, and super competitive, so I'm sure that there's some fantastic inter-family competition, which no doubt spurs them all along."

Royal connections

This weekend will see the SailGP competition arrive in the UK for Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix Portsmouth, the eighth stop of the Rolex SailGP Championship, where 20,000 spectators are expected across the weekend to watch 13 50-foot yachts reach speeds of over 100 kilometres an hour. "For a sailing boat, that's phenomenal," Ben explains. "It's a full-on spectacle. It's sailing you've never seen before."

At the start of the weekend,  Ben welcomed the Princess Royal to Portsmouth, where she met the GB team and toured  the race boat ahead of practice racing, before the official races kick off on Saturday and Sunday. 

It's nearly 40 years since they first met when Ben was a junior sailor at West Kirby Lake, in Liverpool. "She came with her children and I was maybe only 11 years old," he remembers. In 2013 at Buckingham Palace, Princess Anne knighted Ben at Buckingham Palace. "I've been fortunate enough to meet her a number of times  - what a fantastic influence she's had on sport in the UK." 

© Felix Diemer for SailGP

Have they ever reflected on that initial encounter? "I've got to know Zara and Mike Tindall over the years with Georgie, my wife (the broadcaster Georgie Thompson), and I think it might have come up in conversation a couple of times. It's a funny old world, isn't it?"

Two years ago, Ben stepped down as the driver of the Emirates Great Britain SailGP team, continuing in his role as the CEO of the team. "It's more emotional watching it, because when you're doing it, you're so in the thick of the competition. But I'm super proud of the team, they're doing a fantastic job." This year, he's hoping for a British win. "We finished second last year, obviously we want to win in front of the home crowd."

© Chris Huang for SailGP

Ben, who shares daughter Bellatrix, 10 and son Fox, five with Georgie, says he won't be forcing his sailing legacy on his children. "There's not so much sailing in Wimbledon! (where the family lives in London). If we go on holiday, if there's a beach or boats around, I'll take them out. But I've got no desire to push them in any direction, certainly not into sailing. If they want to do that, great, but I'm definitely not going to be one of those pushy parents." 

Next on the horizon is hopes of an America's Cup win in Naples in 2027 to finally achieve a 175 year dream. "Definitely. We've got a great team."

For more information, visit Emirates GBR.

Tickets for the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix this weekend are available at SailGP.