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Hong Kong to host Youth Foiling World Cup, replacing Youth America’s Cup, with motivated, focused team
- Hong Kong’s team refocuses after cancelled race, working towards home regatta and welcoming best young foilers in the world
- The team is taking part in this weekend’s 45km Around the Island Race as a chance to give back to their club and sponsors
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Hong Kong is set to host the Youth Foiling World Cup. The regatta, taking place in March, will replace the cancelled Youth America’s Cup that was scheduled for March in New Zealand.
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The Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club Team Agiplast had been formed with the Youth America’s Cup in mind and five sailors had been training full time, setting their sights on the podium. But it was cancelled due to coronavirus. When the news broke, the team was competing in Italy.
“Everyone was pretty devastated,” said the team coach Chris Rashley
“Everyone I have worked with is very driven, motivated and have a goal in mind, so I’ve never had to motivate any of them,” Rashley said. “But this was the first time I felt that I needed to take a bit of a lead. For some of our team, it was one of their last major events as a youth. It took a bit of thinking about how we’d put a positive spin on it.”
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The team – Calum Gregor (21), Maria Cantero, Jackie Truhol (21), Aymeric Gillard (23) and Nicolai Jacobsen (17) – went out for a sail that afternoon to forget about the disappointment.
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