BT and Ben Ainslie to promote sustainability at world sailing competition

As an official partner of the event, BT will be promoting sustainability at the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series which will be held in Portsmouth on 22-24 July.

A ‘BT 100% Sport Zone’ will be set up, which is to be a family-friendly area for people online and present at the event, to share their experiences of living, working and playing sports in a sustainable way.

The Global 100% Sport initiative was created last year by BT and Ben Ainslie to promote sustainability among fans.

As part of the fan experience, the BT 100% Sport Zone will include the Power Challenge: an activity allowing fans to see how they might fare in the America’s Cup, where the energy is 100% generated by the crew, and they will be able to compare their scores to the crew’s on a leader borad.

There will also be a BT 100% Sport photo booth and a hashtag has also been chosen for the occasion: #go100percent.

The zone will feature more focused sailing installations such as a replica of the Land Rover BAR AC45 catamaran’s wingsail, and experts will be present to explain fans the mechanics of the boat.

Niall Dunne, BT’s chief sustainability officer, said: “BT is delighted to have such a presence at this great sporting occasion. We’re committed to helping our customers live and work more sustainably and want to use the America’s Cup World Series in Portsmouth to spread the 100% Sport message and get everyone involved.”

Niall Dunne added: “BT has spearheaded the 100% Sport campaign since launching it with Sir Ben Ainslie last year. Our commitments as Technology in Sustainability partner for Land Rover BAR builds on our work to help make the planet fit for the future. Now we are urging sports fans to think and act sustainably on a local level and share how they will #go100percent to make a better world.”

BT and Land Rover BAR are working together on new technologies permitting to reduce the number of people needed on water during practices and races, reducing travel footprint and allowing the team to be one of the most sustainable sports team in the world.