Mustafa Ingham, a Team BDA finalist, is back in training after a trip of a lifetime helping some of the best racing crews in the world.

When the MC32 North American Series was being held in Bermuda, Ingham met the organiser Dave Doucett who said he wanted to get him out to help whenever he could.

“Then I get a call from him asking if I wanted to go to Newport for M32 racing,” Ingham said.

“He paid for my trip, the hotel, the flight. It was amazing.”

Ingham spent a week being part of a shore crew, washing and cleaning the boats and making sure everything was running smoothly.

“It was a fantastic experience. I got to meet some guys from the last Youth America’s Cup who said he would love to come to Bermuda to help us,” Ingham added.

He added: “It was great preparation. I got to see the professional side of racing with high-performance catamarans. I got to meet some key people who all gave me great advice.

“If I don’t make the final team, I know exactly what to do in order to make the shore side of things work extremely smoothly to help the guys.”

Team BDA, Bermuda’s entry into the Youth America’s Cup, have started a rigorous training schedule as they build up to racing in Bermuda’s waters next June.

The Team BDA training schedule is July 16 to 23, August 8 to 19 and September 10 to 17.

Six youth crews will compete in Bermuda through their affiliation with America’s Cup teams — Bermuda’s entry is being sponsored by Oracle Team USA.

Up to ten additional teams will be selected by Youth America’s Cup sport directors Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher before the end of November.

They will then race in a Qualifying Series to determine the top eight who will face off in two days of fleet racing scheduled during the week between the America’s Cup Finals.

Team BDA comprises of 15 young Bermudians who will form the crew, the back-up crew and shore crew.

The team members are Connor Astwood, Edmund Cooper, Peter Dill, Preston Farrow, Na’eem Griffith, Philip Hagen, Kalin Hillier, Mustafa Ingham, Emily Nagel, Daniel Pell, Nicholas Pell, Owen Siese, Dimitri Stevens, Shomari Warner and Cecilia Wollmann.