Youth America’s Cup success is about hard work, not talent, for Hong Kong-based Maria Cantero
- Hong Kong-based Spaniard selected for Youth America’s Cup team loves learning to manage variables, no matter if they are controllable or not
Maria Cantero has been selected to compete in the Youth America’s Cup in the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club’s (RHKYC’s) Team Agiplast, but for her this where the real hard work begins.
“I was involved in the Spanish national team. I was always training with world champions and Olympians. And that gave me an insight into how hard you have to work,” said the 22-year-old. “It is a crucial factor, you have to understand the dedication, commitment and hardwood is what a team that wants to challenge for the Youth America’s Cup needs. That's what this team aims to embrace.”
The Youth America’s Cup will take place in New Zealand in March 2021. It is the little brother to the America’s Cup, considered the pinnacle of sailing. The RHKYC team is made up of Calum Gregor (21), Cantero, Jackie Truhol (21), Aymeric Gillard (23) and Nicolai Jacobsen (17), most of whom will be between 20 and 25, as required, in March.
“The [senior] America’s Cup is a race that has always been in the mind of every sailor. I always watched it with my dad. But it seemed like a dream that was really far away. It is elite sailing. Only the best sailors in the world take part,” Cantero said.
“I've been so lucky to be here in the right moment at the right time,” she said, having moved to Hong Kong two years ago for a semester as a student and stayed. She now coaches sailing at the RHKYC.
They will be racing a AC9F 9m monohull foiling boat. The foiling, or hydrofoil, dagger board is shaped like a plane wing, which lifts the hull out of the water to reduce drag. Cantero has applicable experience on fast skiffs, like 49ers, but has never sailed a foiling boat or raced seriously with a team of four.
