Howard Pridding, Chief Executive of the British Marine Federation (BMF), has commented on Ben Ainslie‘s British America’s Cup Challenge. This was launched by Sir Ben Ainslie, one of Britain‘s best sailors, on June 10, 2014.

Ben Ainslie hopes to bring the Americas Cup back to Britain Photo credit to Lloyd Images/Ben Ainslie Racing

Howard Pridding, Chief Executive of the British Marine Federation said: “We wholeheartedly welcome today’s announcement that Sir Ben Ainslie will be launching a bid for the America’s Cup. The British Marine Federation will be delighted to help him in any way we can with this ambition.

“This is fantastic news, not just in terms of sporting excellence but also because of the strong links there will be between this bid and innovation and technology in the British marine industry. We already have many world beating companies in the UK leisure marine sector and we are a major manufacturing and sports success story.

“An America’s Cup bid will be at the leading edge of marine technology and there are major opportunities for this to be a catalyst for innovation, jobs and skills across the sector. This would give us a competitive advantage in a similar way to the impact of Formula One on the broader UK automotive sector.

“The fact that the bid may be based on the south coast will be a major boost to the Solent area and will help in terms of local jobs, skills and regeneration.

“We wish Sir Ben every success in his bid.”