More than 200 secondary school students took to the water in Portsmouth this week as the 1851 Trust returned to the city where its story began, delivering four days of hands-on science, sailing and careers experiences ahead of Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix in Portsmouth.
Running from 29 June to 2 July, students from Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight took part in sailing, practical science challenges and careers activities at the Andrew Simpson Foundation, using Portsmouth’s waterfront as their classroom.
STEM Crew Live uses the excitement of SailGP to bring science to life, giving young people the chance to explore the technology, teamwork and innovation behind one of the world’s fastest-growing sports. Alongside the live programme, the 1851 Trust engaged 400 students through school assemblies, showcasing real-world careers with team members from Emirates GBR SailGP team and the British America’s Cup team, GB1, introducing students to the people and ideas shaping the future of their sport.
Taking place ahead of the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix in Portsmouth, STEM Crew Live allowed students to step inside the world behind the sport — meeting sailors, engineers and innovators while exploring future careers in technology, engineering, sustainability and clean energy. The programme worked with schools serving communities where opportunities like these aren’t always a given, helping ensure more young people can access inspiring experiences, role models and future pathways.
On 1 July, students were joined by the 1851 Trust’s founder, Sir Ben Ainslie, whose own experience of discovering science through sailing inspired him to establish the charity more than a decade ago. Emirates GBR SailGP team development sailor Kai Hockley, who has been involved with the 1851 Trust as part of the Athena Pathway Programme, also joined the sessions, taking to the water with students and getting hands-on with the STEM and careers activities.
Sir Ben Ainslie said:
“I didn’t find STEM subjects easy at school. What I didn’t realise was that every time I stepped onto a boat, I was using maths and science in everything I did. Once I saw science in action and how it worked beyond the textbook, I understood it. That’s why we set up the 1851 Trust.
“Portsmouth is where our story began, and bringing young people back onto the water here is incredibly important to us. You can’t become what you can’t imagine, and we want every young person to have the chance to step into the world behind the sport, discover that science is already theirs and realise what they’re capable of.”
Emily Johnson, St Edmund’s Catholic School:
“We are an inner-city school although some children will have gone to the beach but never been on the water so important to show them what is on their doorstep. It shows them what is out there, it brings it to life for them making connections to taking options at GCSE and A-level and finding opportunities that are available to them. There is so much talent sat in classroom not fulfilling it’s full potential, and often it is because they don’t realise they have these transferable skills or they haven’t found their passion yet because they simply haven’t been presented with an opportunity to discover it. Programmes like the 1851 Trust STEM Crew Live allows them to discover their ‘I can’ moment and meet inspiring role models like Sir Ben Ainslie that can show them what is possible to achieve”.
On the 25 and 26 July, the Emirates GBR SailGP team returns to home waters for the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix in Portsmouth, racing on the Solent in front of home crowds for the first time this season. For the students taking part in STEM Crew Live, that backdrop made the week all the more vivid — where they will be able to watch the world’s fastest sail racing unfold on the same stretch of water where they’d been learning about aerodynamics and the engineering that makes it all possible.
Portsmouth is where the 1851 Trust began, and this week’s programme marked a return to the mission that inspired the charity more than a decade ago: showing young people that science isn’t confined to a classroom and opening their eyes to where it could take them.
Too many young people switch off from science before they have the chance to see it in action. Through sailing, practical challenges and access to professionals working across sport, engineering and innovation, students experience first-hand how science shapes the world around them.
