The Princess Royal toured SailGP's technology hub in Southampton ahead of the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix in Portsmouth, as Emirates Airline confirmed its continued role as title sponsor of the event.

The Princess Royal, who serves as president of the Royal Yachting Association (RYA), was hosted by Sir Ben Ainslie, team principal and CEO of the Emirates GBR SailGP Team, along with RYA chair Sir Michael Arthur and Emirates president Sir Tim Clark. She was briefed on the championship's growth and its investment in British engineering and technology.

During the visit, she met SailGP athletes from Britain and other national teams, toured the Emirates GBR F50 race boat, examined the event's wing technology, tried the SailGP simulator, and was shown how the championship uses large volumes of data for performance analysis, race officiating, and broadcasting.

Emirates holds several roles at the event: title partner of the Portsmouth race, global and exclusive airline partner of SailGP overall, and naming partner of the Emirates Great Britain team. The airline said it would run fan activities on land over the two days, including hospitality, tours of the team's technical base, and giveaways, along with post-race entertainment.  

Emirates has sponsored sailing since 2004, when it became the naming partner of Emirates Team New Zealand in the America's Cup. It previously sponsored Portsmouth's Spinnaker Tower from 2015 to 2020 and backed America's Cup World Series events in the city in 2015 and 2016. The airline's other British sponsorships include Arsenal FC, the FA Cup, Lancashire Cricket Club, Wimbledon, and European rugby's Champions Cup and Challenge Cup.

Source: Emirates PR