James French.
SAILING
ISLE of Wight sailor James French has been picked to skipper the British entry for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup.
The GBR Youth Challenge team will compete at the selection series in San Francisco between February 18 and 24, using the same AC45 catamarans as the America’s Cup World Series.
They will be competing against 11 other nations for the opportunity to sail in the first Red Bull Youth America’s Cup, again in San Francisco.
Those who make the cut will go into an intensive training programme, with French leading an eight-man crew.
The crew comprises Trystan Seal, Peter Austin, Will Semken, Adam Lees, Adam Piggott, Andrew Sinclair and Tom Forrester Coles, who have competed in a variety of events, from the RC44 world championships, the Extreme Sailing Series and F18 world championships.
As well as competing on the water, the team are also actively fundraising, looking for companies to sponsor them on their quest.
James said they had already received financial backing from Team Concise.
He said: "Team Concise are committed to helping young British sailors, and their main focus has always been offshore racing in Class 40s and its amazing to see the success they have already had there. It’s a real advantage to GBR Youth Challenge to have another young team with a phenomenal race record assist us with our programme."
To find out more about the team, visit www.gbryouthac.com
You can also follow them on Twitter, @GBRYouth and like them on facebook, searching GBRYouthChallenge