Red Bull Youth America’s Cup - The Force Enters Final Phase
by Vincent Casalaina on 16 Aug 2013
wide shot of The Force AC45 s Cup Sam Greenfield
This week marks the final phase of the American Youth Sailing Force’s eighteen month campaign to win the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup (RBYAC).
The Force is sailing their newly commissioned AC45 catamaran in the official training sessions taking place from August 12 to August 28. They are sparring with nine other Youth teams who are vying to win the RBYAC, that takes place Sept. first to fourth on San Francisco’s City Front. The Force is supported by our sponsors
Less Event Admin.com and
Accelerate Sports Performance
These two weeks of training on The Force race boat are the culmination of a months-long effort which involved team member selection, securing training boats, conducting events to gain financial support, hiring coaching staff and physical trainers. As sailing team member Mikey ‘Polish’ Radziejowski puts it, 'I should have been working this summer but this campaign has become a full-time job so it’s hard to do anything else.'
'We still pinch ourselves to realize that this is happening. It’s a trip to think that we’re going to be racing these AC45s in a few weeks,' recounts sailing team member Mikey ‘Polish’ Radziejowski. 'It’s still kind of a starry eyed thing but we’ve been preparing full time for the past seven months and we’ll be ready.'
Team Manager Ian Andrewes is well aware of the significance of this point in time, 'Every single one of the guys on our team is stoked to be here. In all of the talks we’ve had with famous sailors like Russell Coutts and Jimmy Spithill, they tell us, ‘this is a golden opportunity, don’t waste it. You really want to make the most of this’.'
Andrewes focus is laser-sharp and there is only one acceptable outcome.
'It’s not just putting some time and effort into it. We’ve thrown our hearts into this. We truly believe we can win the regatta in September and we’ve done absolutely everything possible to ensure that will happen. Anything less than first place, well, it’s not what we’re planning for.'
Our new video of the team at the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup training is available :
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