Sail1Designer of the Month – Charlie Buckingham and Team America for their Selection to the Oracle Team USA Youth Team
By Airwaves Writer Martha Pitt
Earlier in November, six teams of America’s youth sailors trained and competed in San Francisco for the opportunity to be one of two teams selected to represent the US in the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup to be sailed in September 2013. The teams were selected out of a group of applicants and were all made up of accomplished sailors with a range of backgrounds but all with great expertise. Few, however, had sailed the AC45s before, and so the trails were not only about showing off pre-existing skills but were also about adjusting, listening to limited instruction, and learning how to handle and sail the boats. The trials consisted of just two days of rigorous sailing under the watchful eyes of Oracle team coaches Philippe Presti and Darren Bundock for a once- in-a-lifetime opportunity to train with a world-class team and compete for the US in such a prestigious event. Team America was selected to represent the US while skipper Michael Menninger and the American Youth Sailing Force will represent San Francisco.
No stranger to sailing success, Charlie Buckingham accompanied by his Team America crew set themselves apart from the competition and earned themselves one of the two berths in the event. Buckingham, a 23 year old from Newport Beach, CA, was recruited by teammates Jake LaDow and Nevin Snow who initially assembled the crew. Also on Team America is Jake Reynolds, Graham Landy, John Wallace and Matt Whitehead. Buckingham graduated from Georgetown University in 2011 with multiple sailing honors and championships, including two- time ICSA College Sailor of the Year and four-time All-American; Buckingham is also a member of US Sailing’s Olympic Development Team, competing in the Laser.
Read below as Charlie gives shares a little more about Team America, the tryouts, and what the months leading up to the premiere event in September will hold.
What were the tryouts like? Was this your first time in the boats?
The tryouts were interesting for a number of reasons, the first one being that none of us had really sailed together before and it was everyone’s first time on the boat. Luckily, we all knew each other pretty well and had a general idea of our positions going into it, but beyond that we didn’t really know what to expect. When we stepped on the boat, the Oracle guys aboard pretty much gave us the keys and said, “go for it.” It ended up being much more of a trial and error learning process than we thought it would be. The Oracle guys stepped in and gave us information when they thought it was necessary and we were able to ask them as many questions as we wanted, but they weren’t as involved as we thought they would be on the water. That said, getting used to the boat was a bit daunting at first, but through trial and error coupled with advice from the Oracle guys, we were able to get more comfortable with our roles, communicate more efficiently, and improve our performance.
It must feel pretty amazing to have been chosen – what does it mean to you to be selected and skippering?
Our whole team is so excited and honored to be selected! It means the Oracle guys saw potential in us and now that selection is over, we can concentrate on taking the right steps toward the competition under the guidance of the best team in the business. I am definitely pretty psyched to be at the helm too!
Who else is on your team?
Jake Ladow (San Diego, CA), Jake Reynolds (San Diego, CA), Nevin Snow (San Diego, CA), John Wallace (St. Pete, Florida), Graham Landy (Virginia Beach, VA), and Matt Whitehead (Panama City, FL). I’m lucky to have these guys as my crew because they’re all incredibly incredibly talented sailors that bring a wide range of sailing skill to the boat. They did really well during the trial and adapted to the AC45 quickly in two days, so I’m excited for what the future brings with them.
What do the next few months look like for training?
We’re in the midst of figuring it out since selection was so recent, and there are some things that are still unclear, but we have a general idea of what the future looks like in the short term. We don’t have access to the AC45’s for a bit, so a lot of our training and development will be on an individual level. First and foremost, we saw how physically demanding the boats can be, so we are all going to maintain strict, demanding fitness programs. Beyond that, the Jakes, Graham, Nevin, and John are all a part of college programs so they will continue with college sailing while doing catamaran and high performance sailing when time permits. Matt Whitehead doesn’t compete in college sailing, but is a keen multihull sailor and looks to campaign for Rio 2016 in the Nacra 17, so while he isn’t in school, he’ll be doing a lot of cat sailing. I’m campaigning full time for Rio 2016 in the Laser, so I will be resuming my Laser training while adding more time at the helm of catamarans or other high performance dinghies.
What do you think is going to be the most important part of your training? What will it take to win in September?
I think fitness and boat-handling are key points of focus for our team. If we know we are strong, fit, and have good enough boat-handling to get around the course efficiently in strong winds, we will be able to us our sailing abilities more effectively.
Any other comments about the trials or anything in particular you are looking forward to over the next few months?
I can’t give enough credit to my crew. They did an incredible job over the two days, which had the biggest effect on our performance. I also want to thank the guys at Oracle Team USA, especially Philippe Presti, Darren Bundock, Julien Di Biase, Rome Kirby, Kyle Langford, and Sam Newton for being welcoming hosts and showing us the ropes. Finally, I’m really excited to work with both my teammates and Oracle Team USA toward the RBYAC!
Best of luck to Charlie Buckingham and Team America as they train to compete and represent the US in the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup! More information on Team America, Oracle Team USA, and the America’s Cup can be found at www.americascup.com
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