By Alexander Smith
LONDON (Reuters) – Ben Ainslie has landed Emirates airline as title sponsor for his Great Britain SailGP Team, a partnership he hopes will set it on a course to triumph in sailing’s answer to Formula One.
Ainslie and Emirates announced the three-year deal ahead of this weekend’s SailGP event in Sydney, with Britain lying third behind New Zealand and defending champions Australia in a battle for a place in May’s $1 million grand final in San Francisco.
“Emirates are right at the highest level of every sport, so we are very, very proud,” Ainslie told Reuters from the Spanish Mediterranean island of Mallorca before heading for Sydney.
Dubai-based Emirates has a long association with America’s Cup defender Team New Zealand, a sponsorship deal which its Chief Marketing Officer Boutros Boutros said would not change.
SailGP is now into its third season with nine teams, an expanding global event footprint, increasing sponsorship and a growing television audience. It said on Wednesday it had signed a new 10-season partnership with Swiss watchmaker Rolex.
“This gives us the ability to start laying the foundations and start planning longer-term in terms of our people and our structure,” said Ainslie, adding that the deal with Emirates also fitted with his team’s sustainability focus.
Ainslie pointed to Emirates completing a demonstration flight using 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) on a Boeing aircraft as an example of how the airline is changing.
The Emirates “Fly Better” logo will be emblazoned on the sails and the hull of the British team’s one-design F50 catamaran, which life above the water on “foils” at speeds nearing 100 kilometres per hour during closely-fought races.
“For us it was a no-brainer,” Boutros said, adding that the airline’s connection to Britain and SailGP’s expansion were among the factors which had drawn it to sponsor Ainslie.
“We are paying a lot, but it is worth it … This Formula One of sailing can only grow,” he told Reuters.
(Reporting by Alexander Smith; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
