Sir Ben Ainslie, principal and skipper of Great Britain’s 35th America’s Cup syndicate, can not wait to get harnessed into the NACRA F20 catamaran and begin foiling around the Great Sound at high speed.

The greatest sailor in Olympic history and America’s Cup winner has travelled to Bermuda to take part in a training camp with some of his Ben Ainslie Racing team-mates.

“It’s really about learning a lot about the conditions on the water to help our team both in terms of sailing and design,” explained Sir Ben, who arrived from the United Kingdom yesterday.

“It’s a little bit chilly back home right now, so it’s nice to get some warmer weather sailing and, of course, learn more about the conditions on the Great Sound.

“We are still two-and-a-half years away [from the America’s Cup] but all that period is going to be crucial, so we are very happy to be back in Bermuda and for us it’s the start of a long journey here.

“But we could not have wished to be competing in a nicer place.

“We’ve sailed here a lot and really enjoy the conditions and we are looking forward to getting to know everyone better in the community, which will only help us in the build-up to the Cup.

“We want to get to know the locals a little bit better and try and be part of the sailing community here.”

A handful of BAR team members arrived three days ahead of Sir Ben to unload and rig two NACRA F20 foiling catamarans that are based in Dockyard.

“They are really cool boats and are pretty scary to sail because they are almost as quick as the real deal, the 62-footers,” Sir Ben said. “They are a third of the size [of the AC62] and trapezing at that speed is quite scary. But at the end they are perfect boats for this kind of training for us.”

Sir Ben played a pivotal role in Oracle Team USA’s dramatic comeback to defend the coveted “Auld Mug” at the 34th America’s Cup in San Francisco in 2013.

He joined the crew as the team’s tactician and helped turn an 8-1 deficit into a 9-8 triumph for the defender.

The year before, the 37-year-old Briton captured a fourth-consecutive gold at the 2012 London Olympics.

Sir Ben has won medals at five consecutive Olympics from 1996-2012, including gold at the past four. He is also a past Laser, Laser Radial and Finn world champion and multiple King Edward VII Gold Cup winner, having won back-to-back titles here in the International One Design racing sloop in 2009 and 2010.