Land Rover BAR: The influence of the AC is spreading widely in GBR; Ben Ainslie in San Diego this we

PORTSMOUTH, GBR – The influence of the America’s Cup is spreading widely. The latest move has been to the next series of Shipwrights’ Lectures on the south coast of England. The cutting edge technology employed in the building of Cup boats, which has delivered world-beating performance, will be the focus of these lectures because British Marine, the organisers, is a strong believer in promoting progress and innovation.

These lectures which will be held at the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton in January, where experts from Land Rover BAR will cover all aspects of design, build and hydraulic power generation. The “Tech Deck and Education Centre” of the British AC team will also be available for the apprentices to visit, and it will be held in conjunction with the London Boat Show.

This week Ben Ainslie will be in San Diego to mentor the BAR Academy entry in the penultimate event of the Extreme Sailing series. Ainslie will helm the foiling GC32 as well as take on a mentoring role for the young sailors. He said before departure: "I am so proud of everything the Land Rover BAR Academy team has achieved since we launched the programme back in January 2014. All their hard work, commitment and dedication really came together in Bermuda and the Red Bull Youth America's Cup success; it was a real achievement! I'm looking forward to joining the team in San Diego and getting back amongst the Extreme Sailing Series fleet."

["The Last Post" is a regular Sailing Illustrated contributor, a consummate and veteran journalist of considerable repute – so much so that he, like The Fifth Beatle, has chosen to file under this clever nom de plume in the best traditions of American journalism dating back at least as far as that revolutionary-era writer Silence Dogood, a.k.a. Benjamin Franklin. This is his third submission since SI began in May 2017. –TFE]