British sailor Ben Ainslie's quest "to claim a maiden America's Cup triumph for Britain received a financial boost on Tuesday" with the government announcing a £7.5M ($12.6M) "fund for a permanent team base in Portsmouth," according to Amlan Chakraborty of REUTERS.
Four-time Olympic Gold Medalist Ainslie will lead an £80M ($137M) British challenge for the 35th America's Cup in '17. British PM David Cameron said, "Sir Ben Ainslie's project is truly fantastic news for Portsmouth and the Solent. This is an exciting and historic challenge and I hope the whole country can get behind Sir Ben's campaign" (REUTERS, 7/1). The BBC reported last month Portsmouth City Council "approved plans" to build the £12M ($20.6M) team headquarters at Camber Docks. The Portsmouth base "is set to a be focal point for the design and construction of the team boats and will also provide sports science and fitness facilities as well as a visitor centre." Construction work "is due to start immediately, with a planned completion date in May 2015" (BBC, 7/1).
