America's Cup: "We don't have to hide"

They may not quite be where some of the other top youth teams are yet. But they have come much further than expected and now have big plans for the Red Bull Youth America's Cup: SVB Team Germany is representing the German colours in the second edition of the Youth America's Cup for sailors aged 18 to 24. Skipper Max Kohlhoff, helmsman Paul Kohlhoff, third brother Johann Kohlhoff (all Kieler Yacht-Club), Finn helmsman Phillip Kasüke (Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee), trimmers Moritz Burmester (Seglervereinigung Itzehoe) and Magnus Simon (Mühlenberger Segel-Club) as well as Freddie Eichhorst (Potsdamer Yacht-Club) make up the seven-strong sailing team. There are six sailors in each team. The experienced Brit Mark Bulkeley will be the coach. The Red Bull Youth America's Cup will be held on high-performance catamarans in the AC45-F class, i.e. the boats on which the America's Cup teams had previously sailed the regattas of their world series for two years.

The directors and prominent sailors such as Cup defender Jimmy Spithill explain the fascination of the Red Bull Youth America's Cup

The trailer, which the team filmed at the end of 2016, offers insights into the team's foiling training

Seven of the twelve qualified youth teams will be mentored in Bermuda directly by the America's Cup teams from their respective countries. The defending champions from Oracle Team USA will be sponsoring two young teams, Next Generation USA and Team BDA from Bermuda. Neither the German team nor the teams from Denmark (Youth Vikings Denmark), Switzerland (Team Tilt), Spain (Spanish Impulse Team) and Austria (Candidate Sailing Team) enjoy this advantage. However, the German team will still be able to sail one of the AC45-F catamarans in training for a week before the Red Bull Youth America's Cup begins on 12 June with the two-day qualifying round for Group B. SVB Team Germany landed in Group A in the draw and will start the two-day Group A qualifying round on 15 June. This is also convenient because the sailing time slot for Group A (7 p.m. to 9 p.m. German time) is earlier than that for Group B (10 p.m. to midnight).

THE QUALIFICATION GROUPS

GROUP A

Artemis Youth Racing (Sweden)

Team France Jeune (France)

Kaijin Team Japan (Japan)

Youth Vikings Denmark (Denmark)

Team Tilt (Switzerland)

SVB Team Germany (Germany)

GROUP B

Team BDA (Bermuda)

NZL Sailing Team (New Zealand)

Land Rover BAR Academy (Great Britain)

Spanish Impulse Team (Spain)

Next Generation USA (America)

Candidate Sailing Team (Austria)

THE SCHEDULE

Group B qualifying round: 12 and 13 June, 10 p.m. to midnight German time each day

Group A qualifying round: 15 and 16 June, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. German time

Top 8 final (best 4 teams from each preliminary round group): 20 and 21 June, 19:00 to 20:30 German time

The goal of SVB Team Germany is clear. Helmsman Paul Kohlhoff says: "We want to reach the final and believe that we can do it. We don't have to hide from anyone. Of course, more money always helps and we could do with an emergency injection, but we have two strong partners in SVB and Flightright and have also received a lot of support from our environment, families, friends and clubs."

After the team's namesake SVB, a mail-order company specialising in yacht and boat accessories, the company Flightright joined the young German team as a second partner. Because Flightright founder Philipp Kadelbach (Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) is passionate about sailing as the offspring of a well-known Berlin sailing family, he decided in favour of getting involved: "When a team as dynamic as the guys from SVB Team Germany win in Bermuda with the Flightright company logo proudly displayed on their chest, it's a huge win for us too and makes us better known. It brings the topic of air passenger rights closer to more people."

Kadelbach particularly welcomes the goal of the team members, who are taking a step towards a professional career by participating in the Red Bull Youth America's Cup and want to use foiling on catamarans to ensure that Germany reconnects as a top sailing nation. Sailing Bundesliga helmsman Kadelbach explains: "The young start-up Flightright sees itself as a pioneer of legal tech and has revolutionised the legal industry. It helps every passenger to get their rights. Just like Flightright, foiling technology revolutionised the sport of sailing. It is a fast and tough extreme sport. Next Generation Team Germany wants to play an active role in this revolution. As everywhere in sport, the issue of funding is an obstacle. Sponsors are important. Flightright wants to support the young athletes in their ambitious sporting goals."

Around 75,000 euros have to be paid for the catamaran charter, registration fees, insurance costs and branding alone. Added to this are the logistical costs, training assignments, coach fees and much more. The sailors themselves do not earn any money from this mission - for them it is an investment in the future. They spent around 25 days training on similar GC32 catamarans and taking part in regattas. "Above all, taking part in the regatta in Oman helped us make progress," explains Kohlhoff, who spent some time in Bermuda at the beginning of the year working with the Swedish team Artemis. SVB Team Germany also had to work hard not to exceed the crew weight limit of 480 kilograms. As this means that each sailor is only allowed an average of 80 kilograms, the two Finn sailors Kasüske and Kohlhoff in particular had to shed a few kilos.

In terms of physical fitness, however, his team is in the top range, says Kohlhoff. Other teams, on the other hand, have more racing experience on the AC45-F catamarans. The aim is to compensate for this as best as possible. The seven intensive training days in the Cup area should also contribute to this. Kohlhoff counts the Swedes, the New Zealanders and the experienced Swiss team Tilt with 49er helmsman Sébastien Schneiter among the top favourites in the battle for victory in the Red Bull Youth America's Cup. Through his contacts in Bermuda, Kohlhoff was able to rent a house for the entire team. It will be the heartbeat chamber of the ambitious German team.

The big Cup guide: In the America's Cup special in YACHT 12/2017 you will find all the information and background to the sailing event of the year. From 24 May at the kiosk or digital here.