TeamBDA Sailing Hopeful: “I Want To Win!”
On the day registration opened around the world for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup a contender for the Bermuda team declared: “I want to win!”
Mustafa Ingham was speaking this morning alongside the skippers of crews taking part in the opening regatta of the 2016 RC44 Championship Tour in Bermuda from March 2 to March 6.
It is the tenth Tour and will see Bermuda play host to a fleet of eight international teams with 56 world-class sailors from 15 countries.
Left to right is: Danny Pell, Chardo Quinn, Mustafa Ingham, Cameron Appleton [Team Aqua], Ed Baird [Team Nika], Vasco Vascotto [Peninsula Petroleum], Peter Dill, Denzel Simons
Mustafa, who is one of 30 Bermudians vying for a spot in Team BDA, has spent the last two weeks on the shore staff for Team Aqua, turning up for work at 7am and finishing at 9.30pm.
“If I make TeamBDA, I want it to be the best team ever. I want to win. By helping Team Aqua I wanted to get some experience and knowledge,” said Mustafa.
He is one of eight young Bermudians who will spend time sailing with the RC44 crews this weekend during the competition – the others are Peter Dill, Na’eem Griffith, Danny Pell, Greg Maybury, Kobe White, Chardo Quinn and Denzel Simons, who are all trying to get a berth on Team BDA.
A training camp is due to be held later this month and it is expected the final team for the Youth America’s Cup will be announced shortly thereafter.
“While we revel in the spirit of Mustafa’s hunger to win, I think it’s also important to point out that he already represents a very important victory,” said Glenn Jones, a member of the volunteer committee managing Bermuda’s Youth America’s Cup campaign.
“Mustafa and so many of our candidates are getting exposed to sailing careers and competition in a way not accessible before. Our committee believes these legacy victories for our young people are even more important than the victories on the racecourse.”
Meanwhile, registration for the event in June of 2017, on Bermuda’s Great Sound, opened for applications according to a statement posted on the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup website.
The statement said: Six crews will compete through their affiliation with official America’s Cup teams, and up to 10 additional teams will be selected by the event’s sport directors Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher.
“After the selection process, these young sailors will race in the Qualifying Series. As a result of this the top eight teams will then take part in two days of fleet racing, which will be scheduled during the America’s Cup Finals in June 2017.
“All racing will be done on the one-design AC45F foiling catamarans the America’s Cup teams are currently competing with in the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series.”
Oracle Team USA skipper Jimmy Spithill said: “I have no doubt the teams that make it to Bermuda are going to feature some of the best young sailors in the world,” said. “There is now a pathway that leads to the America’s Cup.”
Go Denzel!