By Erin Chambers Smith - San Diego Magazine
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San Diego and its yacht clubs are fertile ground for sailing champions, but rarely do they get the chance to join the big leagues as early as Jake La Dow and Jake Reynolds, two 19-year-old San Diego Yacht Club competitors who were recently selected to sail for the U.S. at the first ever Red Bull Youth America’s Cup in August 2013. The two Jakes made it through rigorous testing on windy, unpredictable (and chilly!) San Francisco Bay to earn the honor of representing their country against teams from all over the world. And get this: The crews of six, all aged 19 to 24, will be handling the actual America’s Cup AC45 catamarans. That’s the nautical equivalent of a junior Go-Kart champion being invited to race in a Formula One Grand Prix. With possible top speeds on the water of 35 knots, La Dow and Reynolds will need to hold on for dear life as they sail into history. We talked to them days after they got the big news.
SDM: The Red Bull Youth America’s Cup (RBYAC) is unprecedented. How did you even hear about it?
Jake La Dow: We learned about the RBYAC at the 2012 Governor’s Cup regatta in Newport Beach [in July], where Oracle Team USA put together a presentation for the sailors.
Jake Reynolds: And then we got in contact with [defending America’s Cup champion] Jimmy Spithill and had a chat with him and the whole thing kind of became a reality. We were selected for a trial and we sailed for two days in San Francisco. A couple of weeks later, Oracle called our team to let us know that we had officially gotten into the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup.
SDM: How long have you been sailing together?
JLD: We have been sailing together since we were seven and eight years old, and have been best friends since. It is definitely an exciting and special opportunity that we have been given.
SDM: Oracle Team USA held a “training session” at which you had to sail the real AC45 America’s Cup boats. What was that like?
JLD: The training session was designed to push the sailors and find the best talent. It was very eye-opening to see the other sailors and the level to which the sport has grown.
JR: The hardest part of the time we were in San Francisco was the fitness test. The boats require so much physical activity so they had to test our strength. Also, because we’d never sailed the boats before, we had to figure out exactly what each person was doing so we didn’t break anything or capsize.
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