On A historic day for British sailing, HRH the Princess Royal named Wight Lightning, the first, ever modern America's Cup boat to be built in Great Britain.

The 80ft Formula One machine is the yacht that Peter Harrison's GBR Challenge has designed and constructed to carry Britain's hopes at the 31st America's Cup, starting on October 1.

The naming ceremony took place at the GBR Challenge base in Cowes, less than two miles from the startline of the first ever race for the America's Cup, in 1851.

Internet entrepreneur Peter Harrison, 65, unveiled the long awaited yacht that the ten designers developed in under a year and that took the 34-strong build team, 24,000 man-hours to build over five months.

HRH the Princess Royal explained her confidence in Peter Harrison's team: "The crew have already shown that they can compete with the best in the world and if the boat behind us is fast, this campaign could really put Great Britain back in the frame in one of the most prestigious competitions in the sporting world.

'' Mr Harrison sold his business, Chernikeeff last year for £300m.

At the naming ceremony, he said: "Today is an emotional moment for me, as after all of the months of plotting and planning with David Barnes and Ian Walker, this really brings home that so many of our plans are reaching fruition, making history.

I hope and expect that this is the start of something special for Great Britain.

'' Jason Akers and Brandon Linton were the managers in charge of the boat build at the old FBM yard at Cowes, now the headquarters for GBR Challenge, using their combined knowledge of having built five America's Cup yachts previously.

The pair worked closely with technical group member Jo Richards and project manager Paul Jennings.

Mr Harrison reminded the 300-strong audience of the team's commitment to youth as he invited five-year-old George Pickering, whose entry was chosen from the 18,940 name ideas submitted via Blue Peter, to give the princess a bouquet of flowers.

This week, Wight Lightning is on a container ship on her five-week journey to Auckland.

GBR Challenge's skipper Ian Walker stated: "Today is a historic day, but it will be looked back upon as even more historic if we can succeed in Auckland.

The Louis Vuitton Cup starts in 172 days, and I cannot wait to start racing.

'' Peter Harrison took the wise decision early on in his investment into GBR Challenge to purchase the FBM yard in Cowes, Isle of Wight to act as the UK base for GBR Challenge.

This yard, over nine acres in size and including four large boat sheds, provides the ideal base and set-up for GBR Challenge for this campaign but, most importantly, for many years to come.

Three Japanese ACC boats with which the team have been training and preparing for the America's Cup, fit comfortably into the base with plenty of space to move them around, work on the spars and rigging, house the nine containers as workshop spaces for all key areas and provide the crucial facilities for

Pete the building of Wight Lightning.

Office and team facilities are equally important in any challenge - within the Cowes base a full service is provided including main boardroom, crew briefing room, full presentation and video viewing facilities, crew locker and changing rooms, individual meeting rooms and even dormitory bunk beds for late night training sessions! The GBR Challenge base has been warmly welcomed by locals within the Cowes and Isle of Wight area - FBM had a popular history in the area and it was good news for them to hear that the yard would continue to be a working yard and even better, be the base for the first British America's Cup entry in 14 years! Open days for locals and visitors are planned to allow local people to see the activity taking place right on their door step.

But the team runs parallel facilities in Auckland, New Zealand, which are equally important to GBR Challenge as the team will spend much time there and are due to restart training there next month and carry on until the end of the event.

GBR Challenge general manager, David Barnes, himself a New Zealander and with five America's Cup challenges under his belt, was paramount in securing a fantastic base for GBR Challenge in Auckland - next door to Team New Zealand at Base 8 in Viaduct Basin, Auckland.

Both of the bases - in Cowes and Auckland - provide ideal facilities for sponsors and partners to visit, meet, entertain and feel part of GBR Challenge.

The main boardroom can be used for sponsor own meetings, workshops and presentations.

Presentation equipment, administration and catering facilities are arranged according to needs.

The crew briefing room and video viewing facilities are large enough to allow sponsors to sit in and take part in crew briefings and strategy meetings.