Presentation of the Red Bull Youth America's Cup
The Red Bull Youth America's Cup will be held for the first time in September 2013 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Reserved for 19-24 year olds, this international competition (10 teams and 8 participating countries in 2013) aims to identify the best young sailors in the world by giving them the chance to prepare for the America's Cup challenge.
The regattas take place on AC45Fs equipped with foils, flying just like their America's Cup counterpart. The first four days are dedicated to the qualification phases, at the end of which only the top eight teams will qualify for the final, which lasts two days.
Zoom on the 2 e edition
In 2017 - for the 2 e edition - 12 international crews competed in Bermuda, as part of the 35th edition e America's Cup. France was represented by Team France Jeune, Groupama Team France's counterpart in the America's Cup. After brilliantly passing the selection phases, the tricolour crew took part in the finals, which took place on 20th and 21st June 2017 with a total of six races. The objective? To score as many points as possible to climb on the top step of the podium.
The eight finalists thus met for two days of racing, with three heats per day. On the first day of the final, Team France Jeune sailed particularly well in the first heats, but was penalised in the last heat. A mixed result for the French team.
The second day took place in 8 to 12 knots of wind. The first round was devoted to the duel between Team France Jeune and Land Rover Bar Academy (United Kingdom), who were neck and neck in 4th place. But thanks to a good strategic decision, the English and Swiss passed the French, leaving them in 6th place e place.
On the 2 e sleeve, the tricolor crew took a bad start and voluntarily made the choice to fly the start. With a penalty he finished at the 6 e place. Finally, on the 3 e round, Team France Jeune got off to a bad start and was trying to catch up with the rest of the fleet by alternating between 7th and 8th place. As for the kiwis, they were crossing for the 3 e times in a row the finish line in first position, securing a place on the podium. But a twist in the rankings has upset the pre-set ranking. The Swedes fouled the Germans, who crashed into the last buoy before the finish line. This foul greatly benefited the English, who were able to finish in third place es and keep their first place in the overall rankings.
Team France Jeune finishes at the 5 e place in the general classification. A "great experience." for the team that allowed them all to learn a lot and to discover a lot of new materials. However, the French team remains disappointed with this place, even if it allows them to join the top 5, out of 12 selected teams.
The kiwis can't hold on to the victory of 4 years ago and take the 2 e place in the general classification. The British climbed to the top, while Switzerland (Team Tilt Sailing) completed the podium.
Overall standings (after 6 rounds)
- Land Rover Bar Academy (United Kingdom) / 50 points
- NZL Sailing Team (New Zealand) / 48 points
- Team Tilt Sailing (Switzerland) / 42 points
- Artemis Youth Racing (Sweden) / 37 points
- Team France Jeune (France) / 35 points
- Spanish Impulse (Spain) / 34 points
- SVB Team Germany (Germany) / 33 points
- Team BDA (Bermuda) / 33 points
A word from the skipper
"This last day in Bermuda marks the end of a year and a half of work. It's quite disappointing to finish in fifth place and it's going to take us a little time to digest this defeat. But we have nothing to be ashamed of, because we were up against a very high level. Unfortunately we didn't manage to sail at our highest level today. In addition to getting off to a bad start, we didn't manage to position ourselves well within the fleet during the races. We lacked speed and were often less well positioned than the other teams downwind. The Red Bull Youth America's Cup is a very tough competition as everything is concentrated over four days of racing and the slightest mistake can be very costly. But that's just the way it is. The New Zealanders were very impressive in their consistency today. But it wasn't enough for them to win the competition against the English. The English, unlike us, are more used to fleet sailing and they were certainly more comfortable than us. Congratulations to them said the crew skipper, Robin Follin.
