Sea trials of secret new sportsboat begin at Ben Ainslie Racing
More photos of a mysterious new performance boat have emerged showing it being lowered into the water at Ben Ainslie Racing’s facility in Portsmouth.
The brightly coloured graphics are thought to be a disguise to prevent giving too much away about the final look of the boat, adding to speculation about who the final customer is or why such elaborate steps to disguise it are being taken.
The mystery boat takes to the water outside the Ben Ainslie Racing site
One reason could be that it’s a superyacht tender being developed for a very private individual but the more intriguing theory is that it may be a prototype for a production vessel from a more mainstream manufacturer.
Mystery new powerboat spotted at Ben Ainslie Racing
MBY can reveal exclusive spy shots of a secret new sportsboat seen leaving the Ben Ainslie Racing site in Portsmouth
What the new photos do show is some idea of the scale. Judging from the person on board it looks to be around 30-35ft long while pictures of the twin sterndrives with stainless steel propellers suggest it is likely to be a genuine high performance leisure boat rather than a run of the mill sportscruiser or dedicated race boat.
The involvement of Ben Ainslie Racing also raises questions about the type of technology it may feature. The hull looks fairly conventional in shape without any visible steps so perhaps their expertise in lightweight carbon fibre construction may be the reason behind their involvement.
More to follow…
