And Now for Something Completely Different

The Red Bull Youth America’s Cup features 10 national teams of sailors between 19 and 24 years of age competing Sept 1-4 on AC45 catamarans. Team Tilt is the Swiss challenger, having spent the winter training on Lake Geneva with the D35 catamaran. Here they offer some insight into the event, and what it takes to compete…

Team Tilt has been training on San Francisco Bay for three weeks alongside their nine rivals for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup. “During the training sessions, we focused on our starts and boat handling and our tactics and strategy have also improved,” said team skipper Lucien Cujean. “We were eight sailors for the practice, but only six will race.”

The Team Tilt coaches, physical trainers, shore crew and support staff have all arrived in San Francisco now to complete the team ahead of the event. “The whole team has worked very hard to make this happen and it is thanks to that effort and the sponsors’ support that we feel ready for the start signal, said Cujean.

Team leader Alex Schneiter gives some insight on their daily routine: “Their days are very full. They wake up at 06:30 every morning and cycle to Pier 30 where the boat is moored and race from 09:30 until 11:00 against the other teams. Their afternoons are dedicated to working on the boat ashore and physical training with their coach Johann Ferré.

“They are living in a fabulous house close to a park and have an excellent cook. The level of the other teams is very high, but everything is going to plan for Team Tilt – we are confident.”
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Racing is scheduled from Sunday to Wednesday at 11:00 local time, with a maximum of two fleet races of 25 minutes per day (eight races in total). The ranking will be established on accumulated points and the final race of the event will count for double points.

The racing will be broadcast live online on ESPN3 in the U.S. (and on YouTube internationally, subject to territorial rights-holder restrictions). Each day’s broadcast will be archived on YouTube after the live broadcast. Click here for additional broadcast details.

Red Bull Youth America’s Cup Teams
(Country – Team Name, Skipper)
Australia – Objective Australia, Jason Waterhouse
France – Next World Energy, Arthur Ponroy
Germany – All in Racing, Erik Heil
New Zealand – NZL Sailing Team with ETNZ, Peter Burling
New Zealand – Full Metal Jacket Racing, William Tiller
Portugal – ROFF/Cascais Sailing Team, Bernardo Freitas
Sweden – Swedish Youth Challenge, Charlie Ekberg
Switzerland – Team Tilt, Lucien Cujean
USA – American Youth Sailing Force, Mike Menninger
USA – USA45 Racing, Charlie Buckingham