Building the Red Bull Youth Sailing Pyramid

Hans-Peter Steinacher

If it is youthful, exciting, and perhaps a bit extreme, chances are the energy drink Red Bull is involved. Double gold medalist Hans-Peter Steinacher is working with Red Bull to support the development of young sailors, and along with his Olympic teammate Roman Hagara, has launched a circuit of international sailing events. Scuttlebutt editor Craig Leweck spoke with Hans-Peter about their program…

Where did Red Bull’s youth sailing initiative begin?
The 2013 Youth America’s Cup in San Francisco was the beginning. We started our youth program there, using the AC45s and focused on the age group between 19 and 25. We were super nervous for 2013 because to put young people on boats like this, which is what the America’s Cup teams had been learning on, it’s not an easy job.

For the youth event, it had to be safe but it had to be challenging too. We were really surprised how quick the young people were learning. It’s unbelievable. They learned to sail these boats in five, six days. By the time the racing started we had given them more than enough training time to excel in San Francisco.

What was the next step for Red Bull after 2013?
We wanted to keep it going, but with the Youth America’s Cup we don’t have the boats and weren’t independent. It is very important for the youth to have something which is going on every year, so we launched the Red Bull Foiling Generation for age16 to 20 years. They are sailing the Flying Phantoms, which is a foiling, double-trapeze, 18-foot catamaran. It’s a really challenging boat which will prepare this age group for the 2017 Youth America’s Cup.

Red Bull is providing quite a pathway for young people.
Our pyramid is now completed. We have, on the bottom, the Red Bull Foiling Generation for 16 to 20 year olds, and then the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup for 19 to 25 years olds. After that they have more options. The really good ones have been picked up by the America’s Cup teams or by the Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team which is sailing the Extreme Sailing Series. This pyramid gives them a pathway through to the top of sailing.

So the first step is to sign up for the Red Bull Foiling Generation?
The only thing needed is to be in this age group, 16 to 20. That’s all you need for an application. And then, for each country we have a national team which reviews the application to see who is good enough. For those that get approved, we give them the opportunity to come to us for training stages, and then we go straight into the national qualifier.

And the national qualifiers lead to the final championship?
Correct. We are visiting eight countries in 2016, with the final national qualifier being held in the USA. Applications are open now until July 15. The qualifier is October 12-16 at the Sail Newport Sailing Center in Newport, RI, and the winner advances to World Final on October 18-23. Entry details here: foilinggeneration.redbull.com

What does the applicant need to be successful?
Our sport is very diverse and our applicants reflect that. Successful sailors tend to be successful in whatever they sail, but these are high performance boats so people need to be ready for that. It will help them if they do some training in a double-trapeze catamaran and learn some of the main rules on how to sail a catamaran. That’s more than enough. We will teach them about foiling.

What about getting used to the speed? Maybe they should do some downhill skiing or find a steep hill for their bike.
The youth don’t seem to be too worried about the speed, but it does take them some adjusting to deal with the apparent wind when they come to our boat. They have no idea what a sailing boat can do with the apparent wind so far forward. It’s like ice-boating. When you lift up on the foils and the apparent wind is building, then you can do nearly any angle and this is something completely new for them. But, with the speed, they are not so scared.

Would you suggest they spend time watching video?
Definitely. This is the new generation, and they learn everything online. They can learn a lot about how to sail these boats on YouTube.

And if they want to apply for the Youth America’s Cup in 2017, how do they do that?
Up to sixteen teams will be selected, with each of the six competitors in the 35th America’s Cup to submit a Youth Team representing the country of their challenging yacht club. The only exception is the defender, whose team will be representing the country of Bermuda. There’ll only be one entry per country, so prospective youth teams from countries not represented can submit an entry for consideration. Details here: noticeboard.acracemgt.com/home/red-bull-youth-ac

2013 Red Bull Youth America’s Cup in San Francisco, USA.