Young, fit, strong and enthusiastic.

That is the standard that those keen on representing Bermuda in the next Red Bull Youth America’s Cup will have to live up to, according to Sir Russell Coutts, the America’s Cup legend and Oracle Team USA CEO.

Coutts, who has won the King Edward VII Gold Cup in Bermuda more than any other skipper and never lost a race in the America’s Cup, said that he would be thrilled for the Island’s sailors to compete at this level and take advantage of the “exciting opportunity” on offer.

“We’d love to see a Bermuda team in the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup,” Coutts said. “It should definitely be possible to train up young sailors on the Island and put together a competitive team.

“It’s early days, but if there are enough young kids with the enthusiasm, desire and determination to try out for a Bermudian team, we’ll provide some coaching and access to Oracle Team USA training boats and sailors so they have an opportunity to learn and gain the skills they need.

“I could easily imagine this process wouldn’t be limited to existing sailors. For some of the positions, we would need to identify young, fit, strong athletes. I believe it’s an exciting opportunity.”

It is an exciting opportunity that Glenn Astwood, who represented Bermuda at the 1988 Summer Olympics in the Tornado catamaran, a forerunner of the existing America’s Cup Class wing-sail foiling catamarans, hopes Bermuda’s young sailors will grasp with both hands.

“It’s a great opportunity and I wish I was about 40 years younger,” Astwood said. “This is one of the great benefits of having the America’s Cup in Bermuda. Bermuda’s youth sailors are getting exposed to bigger and better competition.”

Qualifying for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup is scheduled to start next year, with the final regatta taking place in 2017.

The inaugural event, won by Team New Zealand, took place just before the start of the 34th America’s Cup in San Francisco in 2013 and featured ten national teams with sailors aged from 19 to 23.

The Red Bull Youth America’s Cup will see sailors compete in the one-design wing-sail foiling AC45 to also be used in the America’s Cup World Series that gets underway in Portsmouth in July.

Astwood is confident that Bermuda’s youth sailors can rise to the challenge of flying above the water on hydrofoils.

“Everybody has to start somewhere and there’s plenty of time for them to learn,” he said. “We have a lot of young, talented sailors in Bermuda and I think this is just a great opportunity for them.”