The mere thought of hydro foiling on the AC45 wing-sailed catamaran has created a big buzz among Bermuda’s youth sailors.

It was announced earlier this month that the second Red Bull Youth America’s Cup will be held in 2017, with qualifying to commence from 2016.

The inaugural Red Bull Youth America’s Cup was held in San Francisco and featured ten teams from eight countries, each with six team members aged 19-23, racing in the same wing-sailed AC45 catamarans that their older counterparts compete in.

The New Zealand Sailing Team with Emirates Team New Zealand won the regatta while Full Metal Jacket Racing, also from New Zealand, finished second and ROFF/Cascais Sailing Team from Portugal in third.

As hosts of the 35th America’s Cup in 2017, the next Red Bull America’s Youth Cup will be held in Bermuda’s waters and intriguing still is the thought of local youngsters sailing in the event.

“I am not privy to any information on this, but anything we can get we should take because certainly for the youth sailors of this Island it is a great opportunity to link themselves with a future in high performance sailing at the very top level,” Paul Doughty, the youth sailing development coach, said. “It gets them acquainted with, not only with the Youth America’s Cup, but also the America’s Cup proper.

“The magnitude of all of this is going to inject into local sailing on a very big scale and the support we will get from these syndicates in the development of our youth sailors will be tremendous.”

Australians Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher, both double Olympic Gold medallists, will return as directors for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup. Their task will include identifying talent, coaching and assisting the young teams and making selections for the final regatta.

The stakes have been raised for the next Red Bull Youth America’s Cup as the young crews will be racing on new foiling versions of the AC45 wing-sailed catamarans, taking flight above the water, just like the America’s Cup crews they hope to join in the future.

Since helping their team to glory in the inaugural Red Bull America’s Cup, New Zealand Sailing Team members Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have joined Emirates Team New Zealand, where they now represent an infusion of young talent into the experienced team.

“This is exactly what we hoped would happen when we first started talking about the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup,” Jimmy Spithill, the Oracle Team USA skipper who played an integral role in bringing the regatta to fruition, said. “There are so many good young sailors out there, who just need to know there is a way forward, a path to get into the America’s Cup.

“There are no guarantees. This is sport, but with the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup, it’s clear that there is a way to break through. Just look at the guys who won last time.”