Starting on Monday TeamBDA will ramp up their preparations for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup as they embark on a full-time training schedule for the June event.

Since the announcement of the final team in September team members have participated in a series of intensive training camps. These camps have focused on developing the technique and teamwork needed to race a foiling AC45 against some of the top youth sailors in the world.

Given the intense physical and mental demands of a foiling catamaran, selectors originally sought not just Bermuda’s best young sailors but also its best young athletes. The camps have therefore given the members with little or no sailing experience a chance to put in some time on the water and develop their sailing skills.

A strict and specialised fitness regime has also been implemented to ensure peak physical performance from all members of the team.

With the five months of preparation before the main event, Bermuda can expect to see more and more of the team out on the Great Sound, flying above the water on their training boat, CAT-5.

CAT-5 is a GC32 — which is 32-foot, foiling catamaran, capable of speeds in excess of 30 knots. The team chose the name because the catamaran races with five crew and is “a force to be reckoned with”.

CAT-5 will be the team’s main training platform before they transition onto the foiling AC45s for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup regatta.

As Bermuda’s entry into the event TeamBDA will compete against up to 15 youth teams representing nations from around the world.

The competition was designed to provide a pathway for young sailors into the highest levels of international sailing, including the America’s Cup itself.

Several sailors who took part in the 2013 regatta in San Francisco are now members of the full America’s Cup teams.

This includes Peter Burling who was the winning skipper in San Francisco and is now the helmsman for Emirates Team New Zealand.

Each America’s Cup team has an entry in the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup and Bermuda’s place was guaranteed when Oracle Team USA chose the local team as their representative.

You can follow Team BDA’s progress at www.acbda.bm/team-bda and on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.