Raising the Bar at ISAF World Cup

The Youngest NACRA17 Team in North America promises to raise the bar at the ISAF World Cup Series over the next year!

On the heels of Oracle, Team USA’s dramatic 9-8 victory over Emirates Team New Zealand at the Americas Cup Finals in San Francisco last month, the teen sailing team of Katie Flood and David Hein are bringing new excitement and increased exposure to the world of Global Catamaran Racing. Flood and Hein are athletes at the elite level in the sport of sailing, and the team is turning heads because of their performance and their aggressive training schedule ahead of the beginning of the 2014 ISAF World Cup Series throughout the entirety of 2014.  A gruling schedule that takes them around the globe.

The schedule of regattas is:

The athletes are making people rethink the sport of sailing because of their attitudes, their performance but mostly because of their age. This team is comprised of teenage athletes, something that while not unprecedented in the sport of sailing is certainly unusual. These teenagers, ages 17 and 16 are both full-time highschool students maintaining a strict academic schedule along with their full-time training aboard their Olympic Class NACRA 17 in Miami, Florida. The typical athlete in the Olympic sport of sailing is near 40.

Katie and David aren’t letting their age distract them from their goal of winning Olympic Gold in Rio2016, in fact the team is highly motivated to use their age to its advantage. “Even though we are the youngest team competing for the single spot on the US Olympic Team, we have the strength, stamina and raw desire to do whatever it takes to become #1 and win” states the team skipper, Katie Flood; “Our youth gives us the advantage of being able to recover quickly from injuries and that we have more energy and fortitude than our competition that is twice our age.”  The teen sailing team does have their work cut out for them at the ISAF World Cup regattas though.

Sailing an Olympic Campaign requires the complete focus of the athletes but also demands that the individuals raise all of the funds they need to train, travel, compete and maintain competition level equipment.  With boats costing over $30,000, and the requirement for private coaching at the elite level in the sport not being cheap, these teenagers have their hands full when it comes to making sure they can pull it all together to compete and excel against the Worlds top athletes in the ISAF World Cup events next year.

The team has a budget that covers their training, travel, coaching and equipment of $1440 per day.  Do the math and you can see that it is not an easy toll for two high school students to bear.  But these teens are resilient and are focused on the prize. Their approach to fundraising is as plain as their objective. They state their desire to help educate and motivate their peers around the country and the globe that youth is not an excuse to watch the world pass you buy. Along with their active work to seek sponsorships from corporate entities, they travel to yacht clubs and high schools around the country to talk about their Olympic challenge and how their success only proves that their generation can accomplish anything that they are willing to work for.

Katie and David are moving up in this world, and catching the eyes of their Generation on Twitter, Facebook and in person.  They will surely continue to impress the world as they climb the ranks of the ISAF World Cup series in their quest to become #1.

You can help these athletes achieve their goal with a simple one-time or recurring contribution to their efforts. Kindly use the form below to contribute any amount, or simply call David at 216-210-3598 to discuss the ability to make a tax-deductible donation through their sailing foundation affiliation.

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