THE Duchess of Cambridge left a trail of smitten sailors in her wake when she visited Portland ’s Olympic venue yesterday.
The Team GB Ambassador, who is visiting as many Olympic sports as possible to show her support for the athletes, watched the Laser and Laser Radial dinghy races.
She was joined by Princess Anne and Olympic rowing star Steve Regdrave as they ventured put into the bay to watch the racing.
She saw Portland’s Ali Young and Weymouth’s Paul Goodison battle to fifth and third in their final medal races from the 52ft VIP Beneteau motor cruiser.
The Duchess then caught a bit of the 49er high-performance Skiff racing, featuring Exmouth contenders Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes before going ashore to look around the Team GB containers in the dinghy park, where Games legend Sir Steve Redgrave was also visiting.
The glamorous Royal met with Olympic sailors Paul Goodison, Annie Lush, Ben Ainslie , Luke Patience , Stuart Bithell and windsurfer Nick Dempsey , who were all said to be ‘fairly smitten’ with her.
She took a special interest in Ainslie’s record fourth gold medal and congratulated him on his historic achievement.
British Sailing Team communication manager Lindsey Bell said: “She was very chatty and interested in everything, including the support and technical staff. She looked inside the boat and team containers, Steve Redgrave was there as well.
“She chatted away to the team members who were around, including Ben, and looked at his medal. The Duchess asked about nutrition and talked to the support staff about their roles.
“She went out on a boat to watch the Laser racing and the start of the 49er, she seems lovely, really nice and had her picture taken with everybody.”
Five-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Steve also attended the victory ceremonies, held within the sailing academy on Osprey Quay in front of the Olympic Rings in Portland Harbour.
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