Today was a day for the youths -- el día de los jóvenes -- as BMW ORACLE Racing and Marina Real Juan Carlos I welcomed 15 youth sailors between the ages of 14 and 17 from the Real Club Nautico de Valencia to ride aboard the RC 44 yachts as they practiced for the fleet racing portion of the RC 44 Valencia Cup.
The kids were wide-eyed on the water as guest crewmembers, and shoreside they received posters signed by team members Russell Coutts, Jimmy Spithill, Dirk de Ridder, Ross Halcrow and Joey Newton.
Tomorrow the fleet racing portion of the regatta commences, with up to four races planned per day through Sunday. Class rules require the fleet racing helmsmen to be amateurs. In most cases this means the owners drive.
In the case of our two teams, guest helmsmen have been invited. Maxim Logutenko of Russia’s Synergy Team will be aboard BMW ORACLE Racing with Russell Coutts, while Jimmy Spithill welcomes Andres Myralf of Denmark aboard 17.
