Sail Team BCN has secured their spot in the semi finals of the Youth America’s Cup after finishing the final day of the qualifying round with a victory and a second-place finish in the last two races of their group.

The local team delivered a spectacular performance, effectively overcoming the technical difficulties their boat had shown since the first day of competition, and demonstrating notable maturity to perform at the highest level in crucial moments.

Martín Wizner, starboard helmsman of Sail Team BCN, summed up the team’s great feelings: “The best thing is being able to enjoy sailing the boat for one more day because it’s an amazing boat. Now we’re eager to face the big teams and see what the top level is like in this kind of sailing. We’re really excited to have them close by, compete, and compare ourselves to them.”

Meanwhile, Jaime Framis, starboard trimmer, acknowledged the team’s excitement about the upcoming semi finals: “It was a good day, but from the beginning, our goal was to be among the top three to make it to the semi finals and compare ourselves with the big teams, who we know are far ahead of us because of the access they’ve had to information and the hours they’ve spent on the water. Obviously, we’re competitive and we always want to win, but being realistic, I think we’ve done a good job so far, and from tomorrow on, whatever comes is welcome, and we need to enjoy it to the fullest.

Following today’s great result, Sail Team BCN has finished the qualifying phase in second place in Pool B, behind Sweden and ahead of Australia. These three invited teams will face Luna Rossa, American Magic and Athena Pathway (Ineos Britannia) in the semi-finals, which have been the three qualified teams from Pool A (affiliates of the big America’s Cup challenges).

The format of the semi-finals determines four fleet races between these six qualified teams, all of which are scheduled to be contested tomorrow Tuesday. At the end of these four races, the top two qualified teams will face each other in the grand final of the youth America’s Cup, which will be held on Thursday if the wind permits in a single match race.

Pool B:

1. Swedish Challenge (SWE) 62

2. Sail Team BCN (ESP) 45

3. Team Australia (AUS) 43

4. Concord Pacific (CAN) 31

5. Jajo – Dutch Team (NED)  28

6. Team Germany (GER) 14