Arran sailor joins British America’s Cup senior team
ISLE OF Arran sailor Neil Hunter, who was skipper on board the Land Rover BAR Academy GC32 competing in the Extreme Sailing Series and Red Bull Youth America’s Cup, has recently been promoted to the British America’s Cup senior sailing team. He joins the team in Bermuda for training ahead of the 35th America’s Cup, which will take place in May/June this year.
The Land Rover BAR Academy head out to Sydney for the finale of the Extreme Sailing Series™ boosted by the news that 21-year- old skipper Neil Hunter will be joining the senior Land Rover BAR team in Bermuda, as they train for the 35th America’s Cup. Hunter got the call up a few weeks ago.
Neil said: ‘A week after the Academy fitness test, Jono Macbeth (Land Rover BAR sailing team manager) asked me to come in and do another fitness test. I was then asked to join Ben Ainslie and the team for a few days of sailing in the Solent. A week after that, Jono called me and offered me a place in the America’s Cup sailing team, which obviously was massive and I’m still stoked about it now, to be honest. Fitness is a huge part of it, and I’ve put a huge amount of work into that, but it’s also just being generally hard working.
Jono Macbeth commented, ‘There was a position available with the team and Neil is the perfect fit. He is hardworking, incredibly fit and willing to learn. We had a vision for this type of promotion to happen within the Land Rover BAR Academy, but none of us expected it to happen this quickly.
‘Neil can be a great asset for the team, not just this time round but also into the future. We plan to make more promotions, to create a new pathway into the America’s Cup. The sailing team are proud of the shirts they wear, the numbers they carry, and they can be proud when guys like Neil step up and make one their own.’