special report
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 A youth-laden AC45 glides across San Francisco Bay during a November testing session. ©2012 Guilain Grenier / ORACLE TEAM USA |
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12 Youth Teams Invited to Selection Series December 17, 2012 Invitations have been extended to 12 of the best national youth sailing teams in the world to compete in the February Selection Series for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup. The Red Bull Youth America’s Cup, scheduled September 1-4, 2013, begins with the Selection Series in San Francisco in February. With the goal of ensuring the best of the best are on the starting line of the main event, the Selection Series will narrow the field through a rigorous training workshop and regatta on February 9-24. Double Olympic gold medalists Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher, the Sports Directors for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup, have selected the 12 teams invited to the February Section Series. “There were a lot of applications to compete in the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup – over 30, in fact,” Hagara said. “We looked at the teams to evaluate how they worked as a crew, to check their fitness level – as the AC45 is such a physically demanding boat – and of course they had to be very good sailors. The top 12 teams have been invited to continue their journey.” “This is the best thing that could ever happen for youth sailors. It’s like a dream for me,” said Thomas Mermod of the Swiss youth team, TILT, invited to the February Selection Series. Working in parallel to this selection process for international teams, Oracle Team USA recently held its own trials to select two American teams to support with coaching and mentoring in advance of September’s regatta, which has been specially created to give sailors aged 19-25 a career pathway towards the oldest trophy in international sport: the America’s Cup. Emirates Team New Zealand, Artemis Racing, China Team and Team Korea have also indicated they are supporting teams for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup. Youth crews with the support of an America’s Cup World Series team are eligible for direct entry in September’s regatta, at the discretion of the Regatta Director. The Selection Series in February will be held on the same AC45 wing sail catamarans the teams will race in September, the same boats the America’s Cup crews race in the AC World Series. The teams invited to the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup Selection Series are: See www.americascup.com.
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