Clean Sailors Youth Racing Team take Silver in 2023 Youth Foiling Gold Cup!

The final day of the 69F Youth Foiling Gold Cup Grand Final 2023, a highly anticipated competition among the best eight Under 25 teams of the 2023 season, proved to be an exciting culmination of a brilliant season.

Hosted by Marina Vela Barcelona and organized by 69F and Club Nàutic Vilassar de Mar, this event showcased the skills and determination of young sailors who demonstrated their talent throughout the season on the state-of-the-art one-design foiling monohulls for crews.

Our trio of CJ Perez, Jann Schupbach, and Lukas Hesse demonstrated exceptional sailing ability, securing the second spot, firmly planting their feet on the podium of this year's circuit. 

The 69F Youth Foiling Gold Cup Grand Final is not just a testament to the sailing abilities of the next generation but also a celebration of their dedication to the sport and another step closer to their professional career in sailing.

We launched the Clean Sailors Youth Racing Team in January 2021, and for a year and half, our sailors have been working hard to achieve a podium place on the 69f Youth Foiling Gold Cup circuit. 

The  Team is composed of three international Champion sailors;  CJ Perez (19), Lukas Hesse (24) and Jan Schüpbach (23). These exceptional young champions compete together in the Persico 69F, at the very highest standard of foiling and as ambassadors for cleaner, healthier seas and a cleaner sailing industry.

The longest serving Clean Sailors Ambassador, Lukas Hesse (22), was named German Champion in 2020, and has a background in 29er and 49er dinghies, more recently having transitioned to WASZP and 69F boats to realise his dream of racing foils. He has most recently been selected for the German Youth Americas Cup team for 2024.

At just 18 years old, CJ Perez won the 2021 US National Championships in the WASZP class, and was selected to join the United States SailGp Team - at 18 years old she has been the youngest sailor ever to join the SailGP league, and the first ever latina. CJ is a keen, professional Moth sailor, alongside the 69f and SailGP circuits. 

And, after Olympic campaigns in the 470 Dinghy, plus national and international podium stands, Jann Schüpbach (22) has sailed in the WASZP European and World Championships. He has recently been selected to join the Alinghi Redbull Youth Americas Cup team for 2024. 

Through our Clean Sailors Youth Racing Team, we are inspiring and encouraging as many fellow youth sailors as possible to become active ambassadors for the protection of our oceans.