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With racing now underway New Zealanders are glued to the spectacle of Emirates Team New Zealand’s AC72 competing in San Francisco for the Louis Vuitton Cup, but there’s a group of seven young men who are paying close attention.
They are the NZL Sailing Team with ETNZ and in six weeks time it will be their turn to take to the stunning San Francisco Bay for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup and race the fast, exciting AC45 catamarans on the same race track that their senior counterparts are competing on now.
22 year old Peter Burling leads the seven-man NZL Sailing Team with ETNZ set to go up against nine other teams in the inaugural Red Bull Youth America’s Cup taking centre stage on San Francisco Bay from 1-4 September – the window between the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series and the 34th America’s Cup.
“It's awesome to finally watch them going around a course and showing what they can do, even if it’s a bit of a one sided affair,” says Burling, who started sailing in the Bay of Plenty. “You wouldn't have to be a bookie to have predicted the racing would be a little uneven in the Louis Vuitton Cup, but I'm sure the America’s Cup will be tight and amazing to watch,” he adds.
The format for racing will be different for the youth sailors explains Burling; “We will be fleet racing not match racing, which means there will be ten boats on the line instead of the one or two we have been watching.”
Burling’s crew features four other current Olympic class campaigners including his 49er crew Blair Tuke, plus Laser sailors Sam Meech and Andy Maloney, as well as Jason Saunders who has switched from the Men’s 470 into the new Olympic multihull discipline. Jono Spurdle and Guy Endean round out the team bringing match racing and keelboat racing experience to the group.
The NZL Sailing Team with ETNZ will all be in San Francisco from the 8th August with a three week lead-up period when practice, training, media and sponsorship commitments will keep all the teams entered in the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup busy.
“We will get about 16 days to sail the AC45s in August before the racing gets under way. This should be plenty of time to iron out the creases in the boat handling and get used to sailing together as a crew,” says Burling.
Racing is over four days starting on Sunday September 1st in the AC45 catamarans used for the America’s Cup World Series regattas. Every sailor in the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup will be aged between 19 and 24 years, and ten teams from eight countries have qualified.
Yachting New Zealand are also pleased to announce today that one of New Zealand’s leading menswear brands, Rodd and Gunn, has come on board as principal team partner and supplier of the on shore and casual clothing. Zhik will be providing technical on water gear and with the support of SOS Rehydration, the NZL Sailing Team with ETNZ have a great set of tools to help perform at their peak.
American based Navatek and Lancer have also teamed up to supply a charter boat and provision for operating costs such as fuel. This ‘coming together’ has been a big theme in the build up of this team; over 100 members of the public pledged support to the team through a crowdfunding campaign on www.thrillpledge.com.
“Thanks for all of your support we couldn't have done it without you,” says Burling extending a sincere message to each of those people on behalf of the team.
The NZL Sailing Team with ETNZ includes…
Peter Burling – Skipper
Blair Tuke – Tactician
Andy Maloney
Jono Spurdle
Jason Saunders
Guy Endean
Sam Meech
Links
RBYAC website
NZL Sailing Team on Facebook
For more information contact:
Jodie Bakewell-White
Yachting New Zealand Communications Manager
M: 021 709 065
E: jodie@yachtingnz.org.nz
