Introducing the American Youth Sailing Force
Introducing the American Youth Sailing Force
Selected by Oracle Team USA to represent San Francisco in the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup, the seven members of the American Youth Sailing Force are still pinching themselves that they’re potentially on the road to an America’s Cup career. For the first time there’s a path for youth sailors 24 and under to sailing’s pinnacle event, and this west coast-based team is ready with huge amounts of energy and passion. Team members are Ian Andrewes, 23, David Liebenberg, 21, Michael Menninger, 23, Tommy Pastalka, 22, Matt Pistay, 22, Mikey Radziejowski, 21 and Evan Sjostedt, 19.
How did you get to the American Youth Sailing Force?
Evan: We saw the press release that announced the Youth America’s Cup. Ian was really excited about doing it, and we came up with the idea to start this team. I was excited about the same goal and thought we could go pretty far with this. We met with Tommy, and he joined us pretty early on and a few other local guys--Mikey and David--and it’s grown from there.
Left to right: Evan, Tommy, Ian, David, Mikey. Photo: Erik Simonson
You guys didn’t know each other going into this?
Ian: I knew David when we were younger, and then Evan and I met sailing skiffs in Seattle. It was calling a lot of people to see who would work out well for the team. We wanted keen, dedicated people to take the next step forward, which for us was organizing a team that gathered in San Francisco this past summer. We met in Richmond, sailed a lot, and did a lot of teamwork stuff. That was a really strong experience for us and helped us all come together, not just on the water but off the water--hanging out to see how we each felt about working as a team together.
What was the intrigue with the America’s Cup?
Ian: I’ve always been into it, even as a kid. It’s the pinnacle of sailing, and that’s the case for guys like us. That’s the reason we’re in the position we’re in--because we’re really dedicated to the sport.
Evan: For me, getting up at 3 a.m. to watch the America’s Cup in Australia with my Dad--it was one of those things I was really into.
What’s your combined racing experience?
Evan: Our strength is that we have such a broad range of experience between all of us. Most of us started in skiffs: 14s, 18s, Moths, and 49ers. That’s a big part of it because those boats translate pretty well to the cats. At the same time, a lot of us are sailing Melges 24s and 32s, doing TP52 stuff, and a bunch of offshore sailing.
Is there any Olympic experience on your team?
Ian: Speaking for the group, we‘ve gone in a different direction with our sailing than the Olympic route. For some, that’s the only way that you can take sailing to the next level. Everyone on our team has gone the professional route, as far as getting on bigger boats, team programs, etc.
Tommy: That’s how special this opportunity is as far as having an alternate route besides the Olympics. It brings out a lot of the talent that may not otherwise be found in the United States.
Why do you think you won the selection series?
Evan: Compared to every other team out there, we had the most sailing together on the most relevant boats, like the skiffs and some bigger cats. That was a huge step for our team to have had that time sailing together. We had also spent a lot of time watching as much AC45 video footage as we could. When we hopped on the boat, we knew where the lines ran, we knew where to sit for different positions. We didn’t feel completely lost - that was a big thing.
Ian: When we got the call from Oracle about the selection, they let us know that we had made a presence there and how strong we were as a group and worked together to accomplish fairly normal tasks.
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