By Alexander Smith
BARCELONA (Reuters) – Kai Hockley, the youngest member of Britain’s America’s Cup sailing team, may only be 18 but as their first intern he is determined to work his way up to the pinnacle of the sport.
Hockley’s voyage to Barcelona, where the British team led by Ben Ainslie will take on holders New Zealand for the coveted “Auld Mug” this weekend, began in north London.
“It’s hard to put into words, but being around the best in your sport is a really good feeling and it really drives you more,” Hockley told Reuters on Thursday after helping to get the team’s high-tech AC75 onto the water for practice.
“Winning is everything and I enjoy it. I enjoy the feeling when you win, so that’s why I work hard,” said the Arsenal fan, who learned to sail in a Pico dinghy on an inner city reservoir.
“I had no clue what I was doing. I was floating around,” recalled Hockley, who swiftly progressed to bigger boats and was soon competing in offshore events, including the Fastnet Race.
“I didn’t really understand how big a deal it was, I just went to have a good time with my friends,” said Hockley, who was only 13, adding: “It was pretty serious at times as well. But we did have good fun and it was a good learning experience.”
‘DRIVEN TO WIN’
Hockley said he has lost count of the number of times he has circumnavigated the Isle of Wight, which is where the America’s Cup itself began with a race in front of Queen Victoria in 1851.
Now he is helping Ainslie, who he counts alongside Lewis Hamilton, former Arsenal soccer player Ian Wright and British sailor Freddie Carr among his sporting heroes, in his quest to “bring the Cup home” to Britain, which has never won the oldest international sporting trophy.
After getting a taste for single-handed racing, Hockley has since competed in keel boats with friends from the Greig City Academy, where teacher Jon Holt has for the past decade successfully promoted sailing as a career pathway.
Hockley, who earlier this week won the Young Sportsperson of the Year award from Britain’s Youth Sport Trust finished his schooling in July, gaining a distinction in sports studies. He has been with Ainslie’s team since August and lists stitching and rope splicing as some of the skills he has learned.
The work ethic in the British team is motivating Hockley to hit the base’s gym and to set his sights on a place in the next Youth America’s Cup, Ainslie’s British SailGP team, where he will be working next season, and “obviously” the America’s Cup.
“That’s the best thing you see about working here … everyone’s driven to win … you can see if you put all that work in, you’ll see the results will come. So that’s why everyone’s just head down,” he said.
Asked if he has any advice for young people seeing sailing for the first time and wondering if it is for them, Hockley said he had started “as a fun thing to do”.
“I didn’t know I was going to end up here. So if you just keep going, keep working hard, it should work out,” said Hockley, adding that his family were “super proud” of his achievements and avid followers of the America’s Cup.
(Reporting by Alexander Smith; Editing by Toby Davis)
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