Teenager Rachael Betschart has been an opportunity that very few people in the world receive to drive a SailGP F50 boat.

Betschart got the chance to steer the Team Emirates GBR boat as part of her prize for finishing as the top femaie at the Waszp Series final in Chicago. She claimed her reward by travelling to Cádiz, Spain, where she spent lask week embedded in the culture of the British team.

While she only got to drive the boat for a short period, a week later Betschart’s voice lights up as she recalls the experience.

“I got to sail on the boat just for 15 minutes but it felt like a lifetime,” she said.

“It really felt like I was flying rather than sailing, which is just the coolest feeling ever. I remeber getting up off the foils and I was trying to process that I was on the boat and going at incredible speeds.

“It felt surreal and was hard to comprehend in the moment but then you forget about it for a second and it’s just go go go.”

While the top sailors make it look easy, Betschart is keen to pint out the skills and teamwork needed to succeed.

“There is so much going on in that boat and I don’t think people realise exactly what goes on as they just see it looking cool and going fast,” she said.

“The crew make it look easy but it’s really not and there is so much to pay attention to. I wasn’t really doing anything and was just along for the ride but I was trying to listen to the comms, make sure I was in the right place at the right time and it’s definitely given me an appreciation of just how much work is involved.

“The Waszp feels a bit more like sailing itself and it’s much smaller and a bit more physical as you are making the boat sail by yourself, whereas the F50 is a team effort and you need the whole team to make the boat fly.”

During the week Betschart became something of an Instagram poster girl for SailGP, with the British team reminding her of a letter she had written to Ben Ainslie when she was aged just 8. Now more than a decade later, Betschart is following in the footsteps of her sailing hero.

“I did remember writing that letter,” Betschart said.

“The team came up to me and showed me the letter. It was funny seeing it again and they asked me to look at it and read it. I was a huge fan of Ben Ainslie, I still am. He was my idol when I was younger and I wanted to be a sailor like him as he was the most decorated Olympic sailor in the world.

“That was a massive thing when I was young so it was really cool to be able to shadow his team and make it like full circle. Unfortunately he wasn’t there last week but I am so thankful that he was my inspiration.”

Betschart is now at Exeter University studying mechanical engineering and her time in Cádiz off the water was just as important as that spent on it as she returns to her studies

“The week definitely opened my eyes and I just didn’t want to leave to go back to university,” she said.

“I wanted to stay with the team but it opened my eyes to this part of the sailing world with debriefs of the team, the structure of how they analyse their day and I can definitely relate that to my sailing.

“Joining their shore crew and spending time with their data analysts will help me with my engineering course at school and sailing.

“I am going to keep in touch with the guys on the team and I would love to go to another event, so I’m just going to put myself out there.

“I am hoping I can get back across for SailGP in Bermuda in May. It’s unfortunate timing for me because that is the middle of exam season but I’m hoping I can work my way around it.”