The US Etchells Youth Team gives young sailors an opportunity to develop their skills and compete in the Etchells class. James Golden serves as team captain, bringing experience across international dinghy and keelboat racing. The program began in 2017, when the Etchells fleet in Cowes invited a US youth team to race for the Gertrude Cup. The American team became the first winner of the Olin Stephens Trophy, presented to the leading Etchells youth team. The British team won the trophy at the 2018 North American Championships, continuing the exchange between the two programs. By its third season in 2019, the US program had selected 32 sailors from applications across the country and secured five competitive boats. Its plans that year included a return to Cowes and the Etchells World Championship in Corpus Christi, Texas. That early program established a way for young sailors to build teamwork and gain experience in an international one-design class. If anyone can reboot this program, it is James Golden, who grew up sailing in Annapolis, Maryland, and is now based in San Diego. He skippered Galatea at the 2026 Etchells World Championship. In the same season, he skippered Sagara to the J/70 North American Championship, sailed aboard Odd Racing to win the J/70 U.S. National Championship, and called tactics aboard Looper, the Melges 24 Corinthian World Champion.