There are five men on the high side of the boat, ripped like boxers and kitted out like stormtroopers. They’re leaning back, feet tucked under a webbing strap, 10ft above the Solent on the edge of a catamaran that can sail three times faster than the wind.
I’m clinging on to the low side, much closer to the water. The safety officer has urged me to keep three points of contact with the boat at all times, which is troubling because I only have two hands.
At one end of the line of stormtroopers is Ben Ainslie – Sir Ben – by any reasonable standard the greatest competitive sailor in history and the greatest of any kind since Nelson. Medals in five consecutive Olympics, the