BT joins Land Rover BAR as Sustainable Technology Partner

BT, the global communications company, has been announced as Sustainable Technology Partner to Land Rover BAR, the British team led by Sir Ben Ainslie to bring the America’s Cup home.

The two organisations have already come together to launch 100% Sport, a global initiative to inspire sports fans around the world to take action to tackle climate change and reduce carbon emissions by switching to renewable electricity . The initiative was announced by Niall Dunne (Chief Sustainability Officer for BT) and Ben Ainslie (Land Rover BAR’s Team Principal and Skipper) at the Social Good Summit 2015 in New York on 27th September.

The partnership is based on the joint belief that, when harnessed effectively, the power of the sports fan could make a remarkable difference. “There are huge numbers of sports fans and sports participants in clubs all over the world, and if we can inspire them to go 100% per cent renewable electricity, then we could change the world,” said Niall Dunne. BT is a founding member of RE100, and is already powered by 100% renewable electricity in the UK. It has committed to working towards 100% renewable electricity globally by 2020.

The most successful Olympic sailor of all time has championed sustainable sport since setting up his own British America’s Cup team, Land Rover BAR in 2014. The team are pioneering sustainability in many areas, working with their exclusive sustainability partner 11th Hour Racing. They are the only British sports team to have been awarded the Olympic-inspired international sustainability standard ISO20121. The electricity at the new Land Rover BAR base is powered through solar and renewable energy sources and the team’s official renewable energy partner Low Carbon, a company responsible for 20% of renewable energy in Britain, has installed the very latest, high efficiency solar photovoltaic (PV) technology.

BT and Land Rover BAR will work together on several sustainable technology projects, initially focused on data analytics. BT will provide data architecture experts to the team who will, amongst other areas, work on the team’s ‘pit lane’ style performance analysis. Land Rover BAR are using cutting edge technology to take performance analysis off the water – the place where it has been traditionally done in the America’s Cup –– and move it to a ‘Mission Control’ room at their home in Portsmouth. It provides very similar functionality to the pit lane race analysis seen in Formula 1.

It doesn’t matter whether their boats are training on local waters, or competing in Bermuda, Land Rover BAR’s Mission Control is operational. The result is a great saving in energy, as the design and performance analysis teams can stay at their desks, rather than chasing the boats around the world and around the race track – a pastime that used to burn a lot of energy.

“It’s fantastic to be working with another great British technology brand,” commented Ben Ainslie. “Not only will they help provide technology to help bring the Cup home, they will also help us to take our message of sustainable sport to a much wider audience.”

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About Land Rover BAR

Sarah Alexander, Land Rover BAR Press Officer

e. Sarah.alexander@landroverbar.com t. +44 7766 391 276 / +44 1489 587 838

Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR) was launched on June 10th 2014 in the presence of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge. The team was conceived by four times Olympic gold medalist and 34th America's Cup winner, Sir Ben Ainslie, with the long-term aim of challenging for Britain and bringing the America's Cup back home to where it all began in 1851. Ben has developed and will lead a British entry capable of winning the prestigious trophy, something Britain has so far never managed to achieve.

Land Rover BAR is a commercial sporting team, with a number of individual private investors alongside corporate partners. The team is made up of some of the best British and international sailors, designers, builders and racing support.

Sports teams represent key role models in society. This privileged position is not taken for granted at Land Rover BAR. The team believe our influence should extend far beyond the race course, and have put sustainability at the heart of operations since launching the team with Sustainability Partner 11th Hour Racing in 2014.

The team have built a new headquarters in the centre of Portsmouth, the 74,000 sq ft. building houses all the team's activities, and will welcome the public into a Visitor Centre hosted by the 1851 Trust. The Trust is the team's official charity, and HRH The Duchess of Cambridge is its Royal Patron.

Portsmouth will also host a second Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series event on 21st-24th July 2016. Hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected to come and watch the racing, enjoy the festivities, and cheer for the home team.

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