Sir Jim Ratcliffe provides the pedal power on-board British America's Cup yacht
by INEOS Britannia 20 May 2024 16:58 NZST
INEOS Chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe joined Sir Ben Ainslie as a cyclor onboard INEOS Britannia's flying America's Cup race boat which is capable of reaching speeds of 100Km/h.
Sir Jim went on-board Britannia in one of the Cyclor positions for a sailing session. Four Cyclors, including Olympic gold medal winning rower Matt Gotrel, provide the power for Britannia via the on-board bikes.
In order for the AC75 to hit top speeds, the Cyclors need to maintain a range of 500-1000 watts on the bikes. INEOS Britannia has a squad of nine Cyclors, who will rotate on and off the boat between races, and the group has been training with top cyclists from the INEOS Grenadiers in preparation for the Cup.
Sir Jim joined INEOS Britannia Cyclors Neil Hunter, Matt Gotrel MBE and David Carr on-board, while Sir Ben and Giles Scott were in the Helm positions and Leigh McMillan and Bleddyn Mon acted as Trimmer and Flight Controller.
Sir Ben said: "It was great to have Sir Jim join us in the Cyclor squad. Providing the hydraulic power to sail a boat travelling at high speed is quite a task, but Sir Jim absolutely nailed it. The INEOS mantra of Grit, Rigour, Humour underpins all of our work at INEOS Britannia, and Sir Jim definitely showcased those three things today by jumping on-board and helping us power Britannia."
The sail took place yesterday after INEOS Britannia, the British Challenger of Record racing for the Royal Yacht Squadron Ltd in the 37th America's Cup, had christened their AC75 race boat "Britannia" at an official naming ceremony in Barcelona.