Britain’s youth America’s Cup sailors have coasted to victory with Weymouth’s Chris Taylor at the helm.

The young sailors from the Land Rover BAR Academy have been crowned 2017 Red Bull Youth America’s Cup Champions in Bermuda.

The British team completed 12 races against 12 other nations on Bermuda’s Great Sound to take the title. They finished the event with 50 points, just two points ahead of second placed New Zealand Sailing Team and eight points ahead of Switzerland’s Team Tilt.   

The victory came down to a nail-biting finale, and the final race of the event, but the team show their determination by never giving up to come back from difficult situations on the race course.  

Chris said: “Going into the final race we knew that New Zealand Sailing Team were our main opposition so we just wanted to finish within the top three, which we had been doing throughout the regatta. Coming down the last run we were fourth and we knew that we had to get to at least third to take the trophy home.

"The Germans and Swedes were quite a bit in front of us but you never give up and we knew that anything could happen. At the last mark it did happen as they came together with the Germans out and Swedes incurring a penalty, that was our chance.

"The team did an amazing job along that bottom to get up to top speed which got us the win.

"The points at the end are so close and it just proves how hard you have to fight for the top positions. "As a team we couldn’t be prouder with the win.”

Land Rover BAR Team Principal and Skipper, Ben Ainslie, said: “We could not be prouder of the Land Rover BAR Academy winning the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup. All their hard work, commitment and dedication over the past 18 months has really come together on the water here in Bermuda. Today was incredibly tense, it is a strong fleet, but I have been really impressed by the team’s constant on-board communication, how they kept their cool under pressure and really delivered on the boat handling during the tricky conditions.”  

Land Rover BAR Academy launched in January 2016, to support talented young British sailors, and create a structured pathway into the America’s Cup.