ROCKSTARS IN THE MAKING "S
GILLES MARTIN-RAGET / ACEA
ailing isn’t cool.” It’s a misconception that keeps many children on shore and away from sailboats. The typical blue blazer establishment of yacht clubs filled with old people — it’s not something that appeals to a lot of youth. Kids want fast. Kids want cool. Kids want extreme. We’ve seen it with the explosion of extreme sports over the last two decades. If kids are going to drop the video game controller and actually go outside these days, they want
Youth sailing programs are seeing renewed interest and serious growth as America's Cup fever grips Bay Area kids.
LATITUDE / LADONNA
to either learn how to do tricks on their skateboard, pull backflips on their BMX bikes, or get some stylish airtime on a snowboard. We’ve all seen the results of sailing’s “not being cool.” Yacht clubs struggle to stay alive without new blood entering the club. Aging members, lack of sailors that want to go racing (and the accompanying bar tabs afterward) and declining membership numbers are threatening yacht clubs across the country. This misconception that sailing isn’t cool is something that's killing the sport from the inside out, and has been for decades; a fact that correlates directly to the rise in popularity among extreme
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• April, 2013
sports. Sailing, especially at the highest level, has to make a choice: either evolve into something that can gain traction with the ‘Facebook Generation’ or risk losing any and all mainstream popularity. Fortunately, Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts, the two men at the helm of Oracle Team USA and the 34th America’s Cup, have made it a priority from day one to connect with this ‘Facebook Generation’. Out are the archaic 70-ft monohulls that go upwind and downwind at a paltry 10 knots. In are the ultra-sexy winged 72-ft catamarans you’ll see in this summer’s America’s Cup. Constructed entirely of carbon fiber and now riding on foils, the boats are the antithesis of those slow boats of yesteryear that the aging blue-blazer establishment tried so hard to preserve. The new 72s go upwind at 20 knots and downwind at 40 knots. When foiling, they literally fly with both hulls several feet above the water. X-Games, meet the America’s Cup. Bingo! Sailing is cool again. The boats scream across the water and catch air, and the crews have to wear helmets. It’s no secret that the boats were built to appeal to the mainstream, especially young people, and fortunately they do just that. Larry and Russell have been preaching this for a couple of years and, in a move that has been universally praised, they’ve created a direct pathway for youth to transition into sailing these sexy new America’s Cup catamarans. With the creation of the Red Bull Youth As skipper of his own boat, this young sailor had to learn to multitask — sail the boat well while also keeping her afloat.
America’s Cup, some of the best young sailors (aged 18-25) in the world will be facing off in San Francisco Bay on the wing-sailed AC45 catamarans from last year’s America’s Cup World Series. And that’s something that kids are getting excited about. And they are. Interest in youth sailing is on the rise, in the Bay Area and around the nation. The trend of declining numbers and aging sailors is being replaced by rising numbers and fresh, young blood in the sport. Fortunately in San Francisco Bay, there’s a host of great yacht clubs with world-class junior programs that have produced some of the best sailors in the world. From AC legends like Paul Cayard and John Kostecki (see our interviews with them on page 92) to the legends of tomorrow like the AC45 sailors of the American Youth Sailing Force (AYSF), San Francisco’s sailing culture and developmental infrastructure is something that’s proven itself time and again. In addition to the junior programs and the rockstars they create, there are some great public access programs that aim to get anyone and everyone out sailing and enjoying the Bay. Here is a handful of yacht club junior
