Buoyed by a successful participation in the first round of the Bacardi Winter Series, the 69F fleet now tools up to welcome the future of sailing in the Youth Foiling Gold Cup (February 4-10).
The 69F fleet has successfully completed its first regatta on American waters in Miami this week. But it was still the European teams that lead the way with Swiss Team Tilt taking the honours after three days of racing, followed by Danish team Racing Yachts and the experienced Italian team Fly Marga. Given that Schneiter is a two-time Olympian in the 49er and his crew (Stuart Bithell and Jason Saunders) are also double Olympians, it was not a shock to see them at the front of the fleet.
‘Team Tilt’ helm Sébastien Schneiter, was delighted with their win, saying, “This was the first regatta for us in the 69F and super happy to come away with the win. It was quite a fight with our Danish mates. It was really interesting, learning every day how to sail these boats better and better, but a perfect venue for that here in Miami.”
Following in the wake of such legends are the new fresh faces of future Olympians as the Persico 69F fleet now prepares to welcome the first regatta in the Youth Foiling Gold Cup circuit reserved for under 25 sailors.
Nine teams have signed up, representing seven countries and most of the fleet is new to the class. The crews will face a steep learning curve as they get to grips with the foiling platform, especially as they will face strong competition from the Real Team France (previously Team France) who finished on the overall podium last year.
“We were on the podium last year and now our ambition is clearly to stand on the top step. We have a lot of respect for the talented teams we’ll be racing against so it’s up to Lou and myself to transfer the lessons from last year so we can race for the win,” Charles Dorange, Real Team France, said.
In contrast to the experienced French Team, the new Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron team has been stuck in New Zealand, behind COVID-19 travel restrictions and haven’t left the country for more than two years. Sailing in Auckland harbour without access to international competition meant that the team had to get creative in their training to prepare for the YFGC circuit.
“We changed the foiling boats we do have, the Flying Phantoms, to better approximate the setup of the Persico 69Fs from what we’ve seen on the videos. We’ve been watching the raw videos from the teams last year and learning what we can,” Niall Malone, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, said.
Racing starts on February 5 and the forecast for Miami shows that the week of warm ups, knockouts and finals will play out in wildly different wind conditions so the team that fights their way to the top of the podium will have to master the local conditions, the flying Persico 69F and the stiff competition. Let the games begin.
Teams for Youth Foiling Gold Cup Act 1:
– Royal New Zealand Yachting Squadron (NZL) – Royal Irish Yacht Club
– Katana Sailing Team (SUI) – Société Nautique de Genève
– Sail America (USA) – James Island Yacht Club
– Youth Foiling Team (FRA) – La Rochelle Nautique
– Clean Sailors Youth Racing Team (GER) – Thunersee Yachtclub
– Team Argentina (ARG) – Yacht Club Argentino
– Helvetia by Normandy Elite Team (FRA) – Club de Voile Saint-Aubine-Elbeuf
– Team Thailand (THA) – TBC
– Team StFYC (USA) – Saint Francis Yacht Club
