Team NZ name women's and youth squads for America's Cup

Emirates Team New Zealand have named their Youth and Women's America's Cup crews to compete against 11 other countries in the Youth & Women's regattas in Barcelona next year.

The two crews were announced in a statement this afternoon and feature some of New Zealand's finest, with Olympic gold medallist Jo Aleh and 49er FX world champion Molly Meech part of the women's crew and Tokyo Olympian Leo Takahashi on the youth squad.

Team New Zealand said there were 121 applicants initially looking for selection, indicating not just the fierce competition that took place for spots but how healthy sailing in New Zealand is currently.

Team New Zealand chief operating officer Kevin Shoebridge, who was on the selection panel, said different factors were used to decide the two five-strong crews including sailing experience, ability, leadership, team work as well as the applicant's individual motivations.

"The level of talent across the board from all the shortlisted sailors was phenomenal, which did not make for an easy selection process for the panel," Shoebridge said.

"Individually, they are all at the top of their game, so it is hard to separate them, but our job was to build the best team and AC40 sailing combinations to win both the youth and women's events, and strengthen the foundation of talent for the future, so we are very excited to welcome them all to the team."

The youth team also features a trio of national champions, with wind foiler Veerle ten Have among them.

The 23-year-old said she was "beyond stoked" to be part of the team.

"I think it's a huge step in my sailing career and I'm excited to get to know, and work alongside the team," she said.

"Overall, I'm honoured to be part of this epic journey."

The teams will assemble in February next year for their first training camp where they will test combinations and get their first taste of sailing the AC40 class.

Women: Jo Aleh, Erica Dawson, Gemma Jones, Olivia Mackay, Molly Meech

Youth: Joshua Armit, Oscar Gunn, Veerle ten Have, Seb Menzies, Leo Takahasi