Sir Ben Ainslie said the staging of two America’s Cup buildup races in Portsmouth will have a “huge” impact on the local economy, with Formula One companies ready to invest in the Olympic champion’s ambitious plans for the city.

Ben Ainslie Racing are hoping to become the first British boat to win the America’s Cup in 2017, with the event to be held in either Bermuda or San Diego. Before then, Portsmouth will host two America’s Cup world series races in July 2015 and July 2016.

A sailing hub being built in Portsmouth at a cost of £12m will become the home of BAR when it is completed by May next year. The government has already committed £7.5m to the Portsmouth project at Camber Docks, while a total £80m of private investment will be spent on Ainslie’s team.

Discussions with Adrian Newey, the F1 engineer and Red Bull technical director, are continuing, and Ainslie is confident of securing partnerships with F1-related companies. “If we were to bring the America’s Cup itself to Portsmouth it would create thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions in revenue,” Ainslie said.

“There is huge potential but even just having the America’s Cup world series and the team being based in Portsmouth will create hundreds of jobs directly and indirectly. That will have a big impact on the area.”

Ainslie, the most decorated Olympic sailor in history, is working alongside Sir Keith Mills and other financial backers whose goal is to bring the America’s Cup to Portsmouth after 2017. Ainslie secured the title with Oracle USA in 2013, triumphing in remarkable style after coming back from 8-1 down to win 9-8 against Team New Zealand.

Mills said: “We have a big plan to use the America’s Cup in Portsmouth in the same way we used the Olympic Games in east London, as a means of regenerating a city that has had a tough time in recent years.

“The public money isn’t going into the team itself, it’s going into the base which will be a visitors centre, somewhere to bring school kids in and for education and apprenticeships. What we’d like to see the America’s Cup do is what Formula One has done in the Thames Valley, and there are literally hundreds of companies involved in supplying the F1 industry.”