Sailors from the Land Rover BAR Academy were crowned the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup Champions in Bermuda where they were representing Great Britain. The jib trimmer for the winning team was Sam Batten who grew up in Lymington and has been sailing since the age of eight when he first started training at the Salterns Sailing Club.
Kay, his mum was delighted by her son’s win and said that they were very thrilled with the win and that the team had worked quite hard in the last 18 months and the win was just reward for all their efforts. At the end of the two-day event, the team representing Great Britain emerged victorious thanks to their consistency which enabled them to come out on top despite the excellent sailing by the New Zealand team on the second day. She also added that the flags will be flying by the time her son arrived at home.
Red Bull Youth America’s Cup
Before clinching the trophy, the team from Great Britain had to complete a total of 12 races against 12 other countries. Apart from the six races in the final, there were also six races in the qualifying round and in the end, the team won the cup with 50 points which put them only 2 ahead of New Zealand who were in second place with 48 points and 8 points ahead of Switzerland in third position. It was a nail biting ending to the competition that saw the team emerge victorious at the final race of the event. It was the determination that the team showed that enable them to bounce back despite running into several difficulties during the race. The Red Bull Youth America’s Cup is a competition for 18 to 24-year-olds and Roman Hagara, the events director stated that the competitors were the stars of the future and the ones who’ll take the sport to the next level.
Land Rover BAR Academy
The academy was launched in January 2016 by Land Rover BAR with the intention of supporting talented, upcoming British sailors and giving them a path to the America’s Cup. Led by their captain Rob Bunce, the team representing Great Britain consists of some of the best sailors in the country between the ages of 19 and 24 including local boy Sam Batten who is the jib trimmer.