Red Bull Youth America’s Cup – Pulling back the curtain on the life of three young sailors

The Red Bull Youth America’s Cup is a new event under the umbrella of the America’s Cup Event Authority, to be held in San Francisco during the break between the start of the 2013 America’s Cup Finals and the conclusion of the Louis Vuitton Cup (Sept. 1-4, 2013).

Young teams from around the world will be racing in the same high performance, wing-powered AC45 catamarans that are used in the America’s Cup World Series, during the heart of the 34th America’s Cup racing season. For the first time in the history of the America’s Cup, young, talented sailors have a clear pathway to gain the experience they need to become part of a Cup team and compete on one of the world’s most prestigious sailing competitions.

Among the ten international teams that will be participating, Scuttlebutt has been providing monthly updates from the two North American teams selected to compete. In addition, we have partnered with Kaenon Polarized to highlight the journey for three of the elite young skippers, who are coming from three different backgrounds, on three different paths, all leading to the same goal: to win the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup.

Charlie Buckingham: the Newport Beach, CA native who grew up surfing and sailing. Coming from a family rich in sailing history, he eventually found himself graduated from Georgetown University as one of the most decorated collegiate sailors of all time. Now he’s on a mission to win Olympic Gold in the single‐handed Laser class, and he’ll be making a stop in San Francisco along the way.

“Family influence and accessibility to the ocean drew me to water sports from an early age. Surfing became a creative outlet for me, but sailing fueled my competitive fire.” – Charlie Buckingham.

Pete Burling: Though young, Pete is a seasoned competitor who began chasing greatness from an early age from his home country of New Zealand. His innate sailing skill has propelled his sailing profile and merited him amazing success at a very young age, including Olympic Silver in London.

“After the buzz of returning to NZ with an Olympic medal, it was awesome to get the call up to helm the AC45, which are such physical boats. It is a very steep learning curve. Bring it on…” – Pete Burling.

Will Tiller: A New Zealand native, Will grew up sailing but actively pursued other sports concurrently. When things didn’t pan out in other areas, he realized his true passion is sailing and through hard work and dedication Will has quickly made a name for himself as he secured a victory in the 2012 World Match Racing Circuit.

“When I failed in my pursuit of the youth worlds in the Laser class I had a stint away from the sport as the lure of college rugby took precedence. After figuring out I wasn’t the physical specimen I believed myself to be, it was back to sailing.” – Will Tiller.

Join us as we pull back the curtains on the life of these young men and take a raw look into what it takes to travel the road to become the world’s best.

Launch announcement