Duchess of Cambridge Joins Sailing Crew and Helps Team Great Britain Beat New Zealand

The Duchess of Cambridge, Catherine, joined Sir Ben Ainslie's sailing crew and helped Team Great Britain beat New Zealand in a friendly Commonwealth race on Sunday.

Catherine, who is an avid sailor herself, visited Plymouth for the World Sail GP race and sailed in the team's F50 catamaran, donning a wet suit for the occasion.

Under the encouragement of Sir Ben, the Duchess briefly seized control of the 49-foot boat as it sped along at speeds of up to 55 miles per hour in the gusting wind, helping to guide the team to victory in a time of 2 minutes and 18 seconds.

As a child, Catherine learnt to sail and to this day it is one of her greatest hobbies.

Sir Ben pointed out that Catherine is a very good sailor in her own right, having sailed with him on foiling boats before and even sailed across the Atlantic.

The Duchess attended the event in Plymouth because she is the patron of the 1851 Trust, a non-profit organisation whose mission is to encourage more young people to participate in sailing.

Before the race, Catherine met young people working on the 1851 Trust “Protect Our Future” initiative making seagrass mats to be planted off Plymouth Sound.

Carnegie Bedlow, 12, from St Hillyer in Jersey said, “I was a little bit nervous but she did what I told her and she was very good.

She asked me if I was interested in sailing.

I do sailing camps in the summer.

I love the ocean.”

The National Marine Aquarium plans to use Catherine's mat as part of an initiative to rebuild four hectares of devastated seagrass meadows, which is approximately the same size as ten football pitches.

According to the National Marine Aquarium, the presence of seagrass is essential to the overall health of the waters surrounding the United Kingdom since it serves as a refuge not just for commercial fish stocks but also for uncommon marine organisms, such as seahorses and stalked jellyfish.

The Duchess appeared to be in high spirits ahead of her race as she was captured grinning from ear to ear and signalling a thumbs up.

But at one point she grew so interested that Sir Ben had to jokingly urge her to hurry up and get moving by saying, “Come on, we've got a race to do, mate.”

The mother of three was then seen on board the vessel with her new team-mates as they set sail.

Royal commentator Victoria Arbiter referred to the Duchess as “the Royal Family's very own ‘sporty spice'” when referring to the member of the Royal Family.

Writing on Twitter, she added, “All eyes will be on the Duchess of Cambridge tomorrow as she takes on ‘hashtag' New Zealand in high speed head to head.”

Catherine has long had a visible passion for sport and has used her platform to highlight a number of sporting endeavours.

The Royal served as a Team GB ambassador for the London 2012 Olympics.

Earlier this year, she took over from Prince Harry as patron of England rugby.

She is also the Royal patron of the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

The Duchess was wearing beige shorts, blue and white striped shirt and blue pumps when she met both teams and was shown how the vessel worked.

She is a very good sailor in her own right, Sir Ben said, pointing out she had sailed with him on foiling boats before and had also sailed across the Atlantic.

Recreational boats have been blamed for putting seagrass in jeopardy, in addition to pedestrians who collect bait and cause harm to seagrass meadows by treading on them while the tide is low.

The National Marine Aquarium plans to use Catherine's mat as part of an initiative to rebuild four hectares of devastated seagrass meadows.

In conclusion, the Duchess of Cambridge's passion for sport has once again been highlighted as she joins Sir Ben Ainslie's sailing crew and helps Team Great Britain beat New Zealand.