Please select your home edition
Edition
Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca 2025

US Sailing Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman awards and the Caribbean 600

by David Schmidt 26 Feb 2019 08:00 PST February 26, 2019
Jud Smith, Carmen and Emma Cowles Selected US Sailing's 2018 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswomen of the Year © US Sailing

Outside of achieving America's Cup, Olympics, The Ocean Race (nee, the Volvo Ocean Race) or World Championship glory, winning a coveted US Sailing Rolex Yachtsman or Yachtswoman of the Year award is one of the highest honors that an American sailor can earn, and last week news broke that three deserving sailors won this prize (and its accompanying Rolex timepieces) for their standout performances in 2018.

On the men's side, Jud Smith from Gloucester, Massachusetts, was named the 2018 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, while identical twin sisters Carmen and Emma Cowles, hailing from Larchmont, New York, were collectively named the 2018 Rolex Yachtswomen of the Year. Smith and the sisters Cowles will be recognized at a luncheon in their honor, which will be held at the St. Francis Yacht Club, in San Francisco, California, on Thursday, February 28.

For anyone who follows high-level One Design racing, Jud Smith's name is a familiar one, especially in recent years in the J/70 class, where he was crowned 2018 World Champion (he also called tactics for Peter Duncan, who won the J/70 Worlds in 2017 and who won the Rolex Yachtsman of the Year last year for this effort). Interestingly, Smith, now 62, is now the oldest recipient to have won this this prestigious award.

"I do consider my age as my biggest challenge," said Smith in an official US Sailing press release. "However, I just have to work on my fitness and health much more than in years' past. Instead of worrying if I'm good enough to be competitive, I worry if I am fit enough to be competitive. I now spend much more time in the gym since that's my limiting factor. Mentally, the game is less daunting than when I was younger."

Perhaps the mental aspects of the game also get easier when the entire fleet is staring at your transom. "To be competitive at the top level requires sailing with the best young sailors in the world," continued Smith. "There a lot of 25 to 50-year-old talented sailors that make it possible for my generation to continue to compete. It's a pleasure to be able to race with such a talented and committed group of young sailors. If it wasn't for them, we'd be playing shuffleboard."

Meanwhile, anyone who follows U.S. Olympic sailing knows that the last decade has not been kind for the U.S.-flagged teams. Fortunately, we have some promising green shoots emerging on the scene compliments of Project Pipeline, including twin sisters Carmen and Emma Cowles (18), who earned a gold medal in the Girls' International 420 event at the 2018 Youth Sailing World Championships, which were hosted by the Corpus Christi Yacht Club.

"There were several key aspects that enabled our success including sticking to our routine, having a solid support system, and training partners," said Carmen Cowles in an official US Sailing press release. "We built a plan for our training designed to peak at the time of the event, so we incorporated weekend training, training camps, and practice regattas."

Like many high-caliber athletes, the Cowles sisters have created a pre-racing process that allows them to mentally prepare for the day's challenges, such as claiming gold in a top international fleet. "In an event where stress is inevitable, sticking to our routine is essential," said Emma Cowles.

"We wake up early, check the forecasts, allow ourselves enough time to thoroughly check over our boat, listen to music in the boat park before launching, and even stick to our on-the-water fuel of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Glacier Freeze Gatorade," continues Emma. "With this, we can concentrate solely on the sailing and competition without being distracted by the differences in the venue. Our approach is that it just becomes another day on the water, or just another regatta."

Sail-World extends our respect and congratulations to these fast and deserving sailors, and we certainly look forward to seeing them ascend the top steps of future regatta podiums.

Speaking of podiums, last week marked the 11th edition of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's Caribbean 600 (February 18-22, 2019), which saw brilliant performances from sailors aboard vessels with one, two and three hulls.

On the monohull side, David and Peter Askew's Volvo Open 70 Wizard, which was skippered by Charlie Enright and crewed by several former Volvo Ocean Race alumni, won IRC overall, while John Gallagher and crew aboard the Gunboat 62 Chim Chim took the top multihull prize. En route to these awards, however, were several dazzling performances, including that of Greg Slyngstad's Fujin crew in the multihull fleet, and Giovanni Soldini's Maserati and Jason Carroll's Argo amongst the 70-foot trimarans.

"This is the first time we have done this race and to win it overall is beyond our wildest possible dreams," said David Askew in an official Caribbean 600 release. "It's a race we have followed and we have always wanted to be in Antigua, but we wanted to have the right boat to do the really prestigious ocean races; the races we dreamed about when we were younger. We really didn't have any expectations, but we prepared ourselves to perform as best as we could. I am in shock, I really can't believe it."

And while Chim Chim might have collected racecourse hardware at the awards ceremony, it was the two 70-foot trimarans that commanded the dock talk ahead of the race, especially after Carroll and company capsized Argo during the Antigua 360 warm-up race just days before the start of the Caribbean 600, prompting the 70-footers to electively accept a slightly postponed start to allow Argo to participate.

"It was amazing that this race even happened," said Soldini in an official Caribbean 600 press release. Impressively, Soldini and company not only collected line honors, but they also established a new multihull record for this now-classic bluewater contest. "It was the first time in history that a multihull so big came back from a capsize like that - incredible. I was very happy to agree to delay that start, to race against one of the best teams in the world."

"We had a wonderful race, very windy, very fast, with very good maneuvers from both teams," continued Soldini. "We had some technical problems at Guadeloupe, we could not use our solent for five hours and we had a small problem with one rudder, but it was a great fight."

"After Guadeloupe we could see Argo all the time and they were getting bigger and bigger with our problems, but we had a good lead and we kept calm and solved the problem," he continued. "From Redonda to the finish we used classic match racing, trying to keep ourselves between Argo and the finish."

May the four winds blow you safely home.

David Schmidt
Editor Sail-World USA

Related Articles

Hyde Sails Flying Fifteen Video Tuning Guide
Ben McGrane explains how to get the most out of your B1 mainsail with B1 or 2H jibs Hyde Sails release new detailed video guide for tuning the Flying 15 for use with the B1 mainsail with B1 or 2H jibs. Posted on 22 May
Gladwell's Line: - May 22 - A big month
Kiwi's loss is Italy's gain - our thoughts on the hosting debacle. Kiwi's loss is Italy's gain - our thoughts on the hosting debacle. Paul Whiting's tribute - 45yrs on. Surprise winner of biggest ever two-handed nationals. Chalkie Bland remembered. Posted on 22 May
Puget Sound sailing, Etchells, J/70s, Cup news
Seeking Goldilocks conditions on Puget Sound, Etchells NAs, J/70 U.S. Nationals, AC38 news As the saying goes, 'you don't know unless you go'. While I've mostly heard this phrase applied to climbing, skiing, and mountaineering, four late-winter and springtime races on Puget Sound this year exemplified the fact that this line. Posted on 20 May
The appeal of offshore
Is there still appeal? Have we made it too onerous? Why would someone take it up now? I had been pondering. Yes. Marquee events have no issue attracting entrants. Middle Sea, Transpac, Cape to Rio, Fastnet, and Hobart all spring to mind instantly, but what of the ‘lesser' races? Lots of boats in pens (slips) a lot of the time Posted on 18 May
Banger Racing, Back Racing and No Racing
Racing on the cheap, a return to racing for young Aussies, and ILCA struggles We start with racing on the cheap at the Colander Cup, then focus on a return to racing for the Aussies at the Youth Worlds, moving on to a complete lack of racing at the ILCA Worlds, and then looking at how SailGP should be back out on the water. Posted on 14 May
Exposure Marine Fastnet Race Kit Video Review
A set of 3 torches specifically designed for offshore racing crews It's a huge year for offshore sailing, and arguably the biggest event of the summer is the Rolex Fastnet Race. Within an hour of entries opening the Royal Ocean Racing Club had received a record 435 yacht registrations. Posted on 14 May
Touching base with Francesca Clapcich
Francesca Clapcich on her 2028-2029 Vendee Globe campaign In late March, Italian-American sailor Francesca “Frankie” Clapcich announced that her Team Francesca Clapcich Powered by 11th Hour Racing will campaign for the 2028-2029 edition of the Vendee Globe race. Posted on 13 May
How Seldén Carbon Masts are made
I took a look around the Seldén Mast factory with Richard Thoroughgood to find out more I took a look around the Seldén Mast factory with Richard Thoroughgood from Seldén to find out a bit more about how the carbon tow reels become the masts that we use when out sailing. Posted on 12 May
SAY it with intent! SAY it in carbon…
You know, you might also have to SAY it in epoxy. You know, you might also have to SAY it in epoxy. Get all that, and you are certainly someone who needs to know about SAY Carbon Yachts. It's all about efficiency, acceleration, pace, and the amount of horsepower required to get there. Posted on 8 May
Night sailing, Transat Paprec, Congressional Cup
Night sailing, encountering light airs in the Transat Paprec, Congressional Cup We bundled up as the last of the rays sunlight dipped below the Olympic Mountains and night quietly fell on Puget Sound. We'd been racing for about twelve hours in the Seattle Yacht Club's Protection Island Race (April 26), and we were getting tired. Posted on 6 May
Armstrong 728x90 - Wing FG Board Range - BOTTOMHyde Sails 2024 - One DesignMySail 2025