New rivalries set to be ignited at the Unicredit Youth America’s Cup

The UniCredit Youth America’s Cup is a glimpse into the very future of the America’s Cup itself. The crucible of ambition and, indeed, the very cauldron of competition, the waters of Barcelona are going to be jumping to a very different beat between September 17-26 when new rivalries will be ignited that could well define the destiny of the oldest trophy in international sports for decades to come.

Talent burns bright in Barcelona, and we are in for a feast of high-pressure, high-stakes sailing with no prizes for second place. It’s all about winning, ‘There is no Second’ to coin a famous America’s Cup phrase, and the young, super-talented sailors are ready for the fight of their lives.

The fully-equalised AC40s have been re-located to the designated facility down at the stunningly re-furbished ‘nou’ Port Olímpic which is set to be the beating heart of the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup. Now with striking new liveries, these speed machines, capable of hitting in excess of 50 knots, are the platforms upon which greatness can be achieved – and the fleet racing in both the America’s Cup and Invited Teams divisions is expected to be white hot.

AMERICA’S CUP YOUTH TEAMS

Picking the outright winner is almost impossible in this division but the obvious places to start are with the sailors who have been embedded with the senior America’s Cup teams and received the most on-water wheel and foiling time. Two names stand-out in the form of Marco Gradoni for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and Harry Melges IV for NYYC American Magic, but they both know that reputations are nothing – it’s all about performance. These two fine sailors have been pushing their senior helms hard in AC40 training, whilst Gradoni was a regular at the team’s Cagliari camp, tuning up the new AC75 and doing extensive testing on the Italian LEQ12. These two look like generational sailors but will have to top a super-competitive fleet in the AC Team division.

And the competition is fierce. One group of sailors you can never discount are the Kiwis, who have been quietly practising hard from dawn-to-dusk on the waters in Auckland and on their Simulator. Leo Takahashi, starboard helm, leads the Kiwi UniCredit Youth Team and is an ace match-racer as well as consistently topping the leaderboard in the Simulator. This is the team that everyone will be watching.

Other names in the AC Teams fleet to watch out for include Nick Robins, helm and skipper of the British Athena Pathway Youth Team who, as a team, have been putting in impressive hours on their AC40 since setting up base in Badalona. The British are highly rated and will win races for sure. Elsewhere, Enzo Balanger who leads the French Orient Express Racing Youth Team is pure sailing talent and will revel in the big fleet format, especially if conditions are tricky, whilst the dark horses amongst the AC Youth Teams are Switzerland's Alinghi Red Bull Racing. Jann Schüpbach, the hard-driving ex-Olympic campaigner is a coming superstar of foiling and leads a well-drilled Swiss team that has talent to burn. The Swiss have ensured that their sailors are super-prepared with both on-water and Simulator training so it’s really all about execution. Too tough to call in the AC Teams.

INVITED TEAMS

The Invited Teams from Sweden, Netherlands, Australia, Germany, Canada and Spain, are a much harder fleet to pick the front-runners from. There is expected to be some real talent emerging here and we are anticipating seeing some of the tightest fleet racing in the early rounds, where literally anyone could score race wins and start stringing a competitive regatta together. The teams have all been hard at work on the Simulator and it’s all about transferring from the digital to the real world that will see the talent emerge.

On paper, the Swedish team would appear to be front-runners, with the ‘Swedish Challenge powered by Artemis Technologies’ having bought their own AC40 and trained extensively in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Oscar Engström has been designated as skipper, alongside Hanno Seifert and these two have formed a dynamic partnership through plenty of time on the water, which could be telling come race time.

For the other five Invited Teams, it will be interesting to see who emerges through the fleet racing and again, the Simulator is perhaps the best indicator of form. Team Andoo Australia and JAJO DutchSail have been delivering strong performances whilst AC Team Germany has talented team members eager to make their mark. Concord Pacific Racing (Canada) and SailTeam BCN have both been on the water and very active in the Simulator so we could well see some surprises.

The Invited Teams group is undoubtedly one of the hardest to call – can the winner here upset the established AC Teams and the pre-regatta odds? We shall see. The way the regatta format works is that the top three teams from each group progress to a Final Series of fleet races and after four races, the top two teams will progress to a match-race, winner-takes-all final to be crowned as the 2024 UniCredit Youth America’s Cup champions. High stakes. High pressure. Multi-disciplinary between fleet and match-racing, the winners will be worthy champions.

At stake for the sailors, in this ultimate career shop-window, is an exquisite trophy. Made up of sterling silver and gold plate, the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup Trophy has a base weighing approximately 13 kg and is 50cm tall and 60cm wide. At its presentation, it was described as: “a shining symbol of the partnership between UniCredit and the Youth America's Cup, a shared dedication to empowering young future leaders, encapsulated in the design of a bowline knot.”

All is set for a defining UniCredit Youth America’s Cup. New and special rivalries will be ignited whilst the chance to burst onto the radars of the senior America’s Cup teams is an ever-present possibility. For sure the talent scouts will be watching, data will be analysed, and racecraft noted as everyone looks for the next big thing and the next hot property in the America’s Cup.