America's Cup: With the Duchess at his side

Kate can crank. The Duchess of Cambridge proved this during a visit to the headquarters of Sir Ben Ainslie's America's Cup campaign BAR in Portsmouth when she bravely took to the grinder. During her visit, the patron saint of British Cup chasers could see how much fun she was having among the sailors.

The Duchess of Cambridge was personally introduced to the brave new Cup world by boss Sir Ben Ainslie. She also met the design team and was let in on a few secrets from the masterminds behind the computers. "It was fantastic to have the Duchess visit us today," said the delighted Ainslie, "we've only just returned to training on the Solent. Today was a chance for us to show the state of play and explain the challenges we face in the technical side of the campaign. The whole team has been working hard recently. We have also made good progress with regard to the concepts for the planned BAR visitor centre. The same goes for the new team headquarters in Portsmouth."

The visit also took Duchess Kate to the construction site in Old Portsmouth, where the new headquarters of the British Cup campaign is currently being built. An artist's project was presented here, which is being realised in collaboration with street artists James Waterfield, My Dog Sighs and students. The painting depicts the skyline from Portsmouth to Ryde of the Isle of Wight, where the America's Cup was born in 1851. The Duchess and Sir Ben Ainslie immortalised themselves in the painting with a picture of the team's AC-45 catamaran. The British America's Cup World Series regattas will be held off Portsmouth in July 2015 and 2016 with these fast twin-hulls.

Team BAR will move to its new headquarters in May. The visitor centre is expected to open its doors to some attractions for the first time in July, before being fully open to fans from September. Team promoter Sir Keith Mills, one of the driving forces behind London's then successful Olympic bid, said: "We are expecting well over half a million visitors. It's going to be an exciting year."