Rolex awards, Cup and VOR update—Sailing news from the U.S. and beyond
by David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor on 28 Feb 2015
US Sailing President Tom Hubbell, Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Stephanie Roble, Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Terry Hutchinson and Stewart Wicht, President & CEO of Rolex Watch USA - US Sailing Rolex/Daniel Forster
http://www.regattanews.com
One of the great things about sailing journalism is the opportunity to honor outstanding racecourse achievements and proud sailing careers, and few awards give American sailing writers more cause for celebration than US Sailing’s Rolex Yachtsman & Yachtswoman of the Year Awards. As we reported in January, Terry Hutchinson and Stephanie Roble were the 2014 winners of these prestigious awards, and the two were honored this week in Manhattan at the venerable New York Yacht Club, where their awards (and their shinny new Rolex wristwatches) were presented in front of a crowd that included their families, noted sailors and the media.
'I’m beyond the moon excited right now,' said Roble during her speech. 'This is such a special award, and to see all the sailors who’ve won this before and to join this list means so much to me. It’s extremely motivating.'
Roble then shared a personal backstory that offers serious insight into how important this award is to her, and to her whole family. 'When my parents first brought me home from the hospital, my dad sailed his MC Scow on our tiny home lake in Lake Beulah with ‘It’s a Girl!’ written on the sail,' continued Roble. 'Little did he know this gesture was indicative of what was to come.'
For his part, 'Hutch' was equally emotive, even if he had just jetted back from the Caribbean 600 with Hap Fauth, owner of the mini-maxi 'Bella Mente', for whom Hutchinson serves as tactician (in addition to sailing with several other high-profile campaigns).
'It was quite a hard thing emotionally not going all the way through with the last America’s Cup,' said Hutchinson, who was relived of his duties with Artemis Racing following the tragic capsize of their first AC72 catamaran on San Francisco Bay in April of 2013, but who rebounded to have a fantastic 2014.
'In some ways, it’s not how you get knocked down but how you get back up that’s going to be the measure,' continued Hutch. 'It’s a testament to the owners and their faith and trust in the process that we apply to win races. What they have placed in my hands and what they have provided me as an opportunity to do on their behalf is not taken lightly.'
Get the full report from the awards ceremony, inside this issue.
Speaking of the Auld Mug, word has finally emerged from Emirates Team New Zealand’s base that the team will be participating in the 35th America’s Cup, albeit with some significant changes. As was heavily rumored last week, Dean Barker, the team’s skipper since 2003, is out of the helm position and will be replaced onboard by Glenn Ashby, the team’s talented wingsail trimmer, and 49er World Champion Peter Burling. Additionally, the team has announced a 20-percent cut to its budget (compared to AC34), resulting in significantly lower team salaries and a shift to a single 'surrogate' AC45, rather than the two-boat program that they had previously planned.
'We hope and believe that Peter Burling will be able to move up to deal with the crew and the input and everything else that goes with sailing a big boat,' said Grant Dalton, ETNZ’ CEO. 'In the meantime we are bringing Glenn along, who can already do all of that, as well.'
As for Barker, ETNZ has offered him the role of sailing coach and performance manager, but-as of this writing-Barker has yet to commit.
'We hope he accepts it. It is a very senior role, speed-loop related, and suits a guy who can drive as well as understand the process of design, and who can help mold the shape of the speed, and foils and everything that goes with the complete package,' said Dalton.'
Get the full ETNZ report, inside.
And in offshore news, crews racing in the fully crewed Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) are-as of this writing-just over 100 nautical miles from the finishing line in Auckland, with 'MAPFRE', 'Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing' and 'Dongfeng Race Team' all within a few miles of each other, making this an outright drag race to the finish.
'We’ve had really hard moments, phases of total exhaustion, and moments of real frustration and anger, but onboard there is always someone ready to motivate the others, someone with a positive outlook,' said Charles Caudrelier, Dongfeng Race Team’s skipper.
Get the full VOR report, inside, and stay tuned to the website for more VOR news, as it unfurls.
Also inside, get the latest news from the Caribbean 600, the double-handed Barcelona World Race, and the upcoming High Performance Yacht Design conference, which is set to take place in Auckland, New Zealand, during the VOR stopover.
And finally, treat yourself to a scroll session through Erik Simonson’s great image gallery of Oracle Team USA’s new 'Turbo 45', which is reportedly matching the same polars as the mighty AC72 cats. Enjoy!
May the four winds blow you safely home,
If you want to link to this article then please use this URL: www.sail-world.com/131959