A London teenager has been selected by Sir Ben Ainslie to join the development programme for his British sailing teams.

Kai Hockley, 18, from Tottenham, London, will work with Sir Ben’s Athena Group, which includes the Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team, the INEOS Britannia America’s Cup Team and the Athena Pathway Women’s and Youth America’s Cup Teams, for the next 12 months to develop as a sailor. The programme will focus on boosting Kai’s experience on foiling boats, which are raced in SailGP and the America’s Cup, with the eventual aim of him joining the British teams as a professional sailor.

Kai was first introduced to sailing by his school, The Greig City Academy in Haringey, London, and has gone on to excel in the sport, winning Young Skipper of The Year at Cowes Week in 2023. Despite his success, there was a lack of opportunities in the marine industry that were accessible for Kai, due to them either being short-term or unpaid. This was highlighted to Sir Ben and Emirates GBR’s CMO/CCO Jo Grindley by Greig City Academy Teacher Jon Holt, and together they created a new internship programme which provides long-term, paid opportunities to young people. Kai was the first intake on the programme and has joined Emirates GBR’s shore team to gain experience of boat handling and maintenance at five SailGP events around the world in Australia, New Zealand, Bermuda and the US.

During this time, his passion and dedication to the sport became apparent with the teen making a 200-mile round trip every weekend to go sailing on the Isle of Wight. Sir Ben’s INEOS Britannia teammate, David ‘Freddie’ Carr, had mentored Kai for several years through his voluntary work with The Greig City Academy and noted the talent he had. After being impressed by Kai’s work with the Emirates GBR shore team, Sir Ben, Freddie, Jo and Jon worked together to create a 12-month development plan for Kai. The plan, starting this summer, includes sailing in the WASZP single-handed foiling dinghies, training in the Grinder position on the SailGP foiling F50 race boat and joining the Athena Pathway Programme as its teams prepare for the Youth and Women’s America’s Cups.

Sir Ben said he was “thrilled” to welcome Kai to the Athena Group.

“Kai is a real standout talent,” he said.

“He has an impressive journey ahead, starting with a detailed development plan at Emirates GBR before heading to work with the Athena Pathway programme and eventually on to INEOS Britannia for the America’s Cup this autumn. Kai will continue to develop his sailing skills, but with more of a focus on the foiling classes such as the WASZPs or the F50.

“We look forward to seeing Kai’s journey unfold as we welcome more interns from The Greig City Academy and continue our efforts to make the marine industry more inclusive and accessible.”

Earlier this month, three Greig City Academy students, Felipe, Corneille and Max, joined Kai for a foiling training camp on the WASZP boats in Weymouth, which was fully funded and supported by Sir Ben’s Athena Group in collaboration with the Andrew Simpson Foundation and its Performance Academy. The four students spent five days on the WASZPs, learning how to handle the foiling boats, maintain flight and pull off manoeuvres while foiling.

Kai was officially announced as a development sailor with Sir Ben’s teams at Cowes Week on Wednesday, where a video message from Sir Ben and Freddie Carr was played out to the crowds. Kai then signalled the start of the first race of the day by firing the cannons at the Royal Yacht Squadron, before heading out to compete himself in the Flying 15 class. After competing at Cowes Week, Kai will move to Barcelona to work with the British America’s Cup Teams, INEOS Britannia and Athena Pathway as a development sailor.

Kai said he was “buzzing” to join the Athena Group teams and get to grips with foiling boats while learning from the best in the industry.

“I’m buzzing to have this opportunity. It’s a great experience working with teams at this level where there are Olympians and World Champions and learning how they operate and work within a team. Meeting people like Ben Ainslie, Giles Scott, Hannah Mills and getting to work with them is an amazing opportunity. They’re at the top level of the sport and so many people are inspired by them so it’s amazing to be able to learn from them. I’m looking forward to joining the teams and my main goals are to compete at the WASZP World Championships next year and get a role on-board the Emirates GBR F50.”

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