Emirates Team New Zealand: time for the youth to shine

With Emirates Team New Zealand now stepping into the background as the Louis Vuitton Cup progresses into the knock out stages, it is time for the next generation of kiwi America’s Cup sailors to take centre stage as the Unicredit Youth America’s Cup kicks of on Tuesday 17th September in Barcelona.

The Emirates Team New Zealand Youth America’s Cup team of Leonard Takahashi, Oscar Gunn, Veerle ten Have, Josh Armit and Seb Menzies will be lining up against 11 other nations in the AC40 to try to reclaim the Youth America’s Cup title first won by New Zealand in 2013 with a crew that included Peter Burling, Blair Tuke and Andy Maloney all of whom are now on the Emirates Team New Zealand AC75.

It has been a long time coming for the youth team, who have been building up to the event spending countless hours on the AC40 simulator and on the AC40 in Auckland and in Barcelona.

“We've done quite a bit of sailing in New Zealand of course and then here in Barcelona as well. I think we've done everything we can to prepare ourselves best for the racing, so it'll be interesting as the other teams have done a lot of training as well. I think we'll be good, but other teams will be too.” explained trimmer Veerle ten Have.

The excitement among all the teams is building according to helmsman Leonard Takahashi, “The atmosphere is growing every day, it's just getting more and more exciting. We are about to start and we have been building up for a year of work now.

We are here to win and like the Cup slogan is ‘there is no second’ so we’re here to take it all out.”

A task that is easier said than done when looking across the fleet of youth teams that will battle it out on the waters off Barcelona. Every race will count in the AC40.

“It's definitely the most fun boat that I’ve ever sailed. It is so fast and also the team atmosphere of having two helmsman and two trimmers is such a cool dynamic boat that I really enjoy.” said helmsman Seb Menzies.

The racing format is split into two groups of six teams. Pool A is the teams associated with the 6 America’s Cup teams, and Pool B is the invited teams.

Each group will sail 8 fleet races, before the top three teams progress into a top 6 teams that will have another 4 fleet races which will determine the top two teams to sail off in a winner take all match race final for the Unicredit Youth America’s Cup Trophy. 

The Unicredit Youth America’s Cup is based out of Barcelona’s newly refurbished Port Olimpic which is the technical base for the fleet of AC40’s and the hub for over 60 of the worlds best youth sailors to launch their America’s Cup careers from.

“We are pretty excited to be here, it's a great vibe.” said ten Have

And especially with the America's Cup going on at the moment, there’s a lot going on, it's awesome to be a part of it.

It's not something like the Olympics that I've dreamed of because I

didn't dream of this because I didn't even know it was a possibility. I think as a female, you don't even realize that you can be part of something like this.

So it's so amazing that I can be here. And I'm actually very grateful that I'm part of it.”

Thoughts echoed by Seb Menzies who has been relishing the opportunity to compete in the Unicredit Youth America’s Cup as well as being part of Emirates Team New Zealand, “The whole team atmosphere here at Emirates Team New Zealand, I think that's been my favourite part. You feel really welcome here and everyone's asking about how it's going, I think it's so cool having us over here focusing on one goal and the team atmosphere is new for all of us. I think we're all loving it.”

The opportunity the Unicredit Youth America’s Cup presents the young kiwi sailors is not lost on the team, explains Leo Takahashi, “To be part of the Unicredit Youth America's Cup is a pretty big stepping stone. And for us, we're all still quite young so hopefully there's another step if we do well into the big team. It’s up to us to now perform and put our name on the top.”

Racing starts on Tuesday 17th September.