Ogletree named China Team skipper for 2013 America's Cup

American Charlie Ogletree has been named skipper to China Team, the official Chinese challenger for the 34th edition of the America's Cup to be held in 2013, it was announced. Ogletree has plenty of experience of multihull sailing, winning Olympic silver in the Tornado class in 2004 and achieving numerous number one rankings worldwide and in the USA. Having been with China Team since the start in the role of tactician, he comes in as replacement for Australian Mitch Booth. Andreas Hagara, who has a long history of working with Ogletree, will take on the role of helmsman. Both will be training in Plymouth as of September 1 with the rest of the sailing team, including a number of Chinese potentials who are under trial and training to become core members of China Team come 2013. Thierry Barot, CEO of China Team, on Thursday said: "What we are aiming to do is to build a real sports team where each member plays a key part, and at the same time, has the flexibility to be capable to move around as we race in different waters and under different weather conditions; this will truly maximise the potential of each member and enable them to add the most value to the team. "With this in mind, today we are announcing the new lineup for Plymouth." Barot said the challenge is to ensure that China Team achieves its goal to be a truly Chinese challenger by 2013, powered by mainly Chinese sailors. "Our challenge throughout the next 18 months will be to place well in the World Series but also train the Chinese sailors: unlike all our competitors, for China Team, our race practices are split in half to enable the training of the Chinese sailors at the same time, but we will have it no other way, and will continue with our ambition on this path. "Our ambition is to build a Chinese team capable of winning the America?s Cup, and that is what we are doing." Booth, twice an Olympic medallist and ten times world champion in the Tornado, Hobie, A class and Formula 18 classes, parted company with the team after they finished ninth and last in a series of regattas for the America's Cup World Series at Cascais, Portugal recently.