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Image by Nico Martinez.
Terry Hutchinson is one of the world’s most well known professional sailors. His racing CV includes match racing success, multiple one design national and world titles, as well as participation in three top flight America’s Cup campaigns. Last year at the helm of Quantum Racing’s TP52 he dominated the European circuit, winning the Medcup Regatta Series and the class World Championship. Later in the year and also sailing a Quantum boat he took out the hotly contested Melges 24 North American Championship. To round out a memorable year Hutchinson was awarded the prestigious Rolex Yachtsman of the Year award and was been appointed as international spokesman for Quantum Sails.
This year Hutchinson will be defending his TP52 titles as well as sailing as tactician on Jim Richardson’s Farr 40 Barking Mad and also taking a tilt at the Melges 24 World Championship in Annapolis.
We caught up with him to find out more about him and ask how he plans to top last year’s performance.
OR: Terry for you last year was a sensational one by anyone’s standards. Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, TP52 European dominance, Melges 24 NA Champion. What are your thoughts about 2008 now?
TH: The 2008 Rolex award was quite an honour for me. It is a privilege to be considered as a member of that group of people. That said, the year was awesome because so much work and effort went into it from a lot of people other than just me. All the programs - TP52, Farr 40, and Melges 24 each benefited from having great people involved. The Rolex award is really an acknowledgement of all the great team’s that I was so fortunate to have been a part of in 2008.
OR: How is the 2009 season shaping up?
TH: My personal goal for 2009 is to continue to compete in the same manner and at the same level as in 2008. The reality is that it is very difficult to continually win events and frankly 2009 has started not as well as 2008. For one reason or another the first three events of the year have only resulted in only one podium finish. I guess that the beauty of our sport is this continual challenge which means that I have to make sure I continue to push and raise my game along with that of the teams that I race with. My main focus in 2009 will be on the TP 52 Quantum Racing and the Farr 40 Barking Mad where I would hope with both of these teams we have opportunities to do great things. As always success will come down to doing all the little things well.
OR: The TP52 Medcup series kicks off in May in Alicante, Spain. What has changed from the 2008 Quantum Racing campaign?
TH: Not a lot has changed in the boat or the team. We have lost one crewmember to the ETNZ boat but the rest of the team is back. In the afterguard is Morgan Larson (tactician), Mark Mendelblatt (strategist), with Robert Hopkins Jr. and Ian Moore (Navigating). The boat has not gone through any major modifications but more just fixing all the things we never had time to fix last year. Theoretically we have an advantage through the extra time we have had in the boat, but there are some new boats coming out of sheds that will be quite good so I know we will have our work cut out for us this season.
OR: Who do you see as the main contenders for the 2009 Medcup Series?
TH: There will be plenty of competition. ETNZ, Artemis, Matador have all built new boats. On top of that there are the teams returning from last year like Desafio Espanol, Mutua Madrilena, and so on. It is hard to say who will be on the podium but inevitably it will come down to the team that prepares the best and avoids the big ones that will prevail at the end of the season. I think we have a great opportunity onboard Quantum Racing but we will be taking it one race at a time.
OR: When do you believe you add the most value to a campaign – when you are steering or coach/tactician for an owner-driver?
TH: I would say that I can have more influence on the big picture in the role of tactician. It is very difficult to do a good job driving and focus on everything that you need to make the boat go as well as also run the program. Last year as helmsman I relied heavily on the team to do their jobs. But it reiterated the point that to do it properly requires 100% focus.
OR: How do you see your own role on the Quantum Racing TP52 program?
TH: Last season I was the helmsman but I was also in charge of a lot of the logistics and organization. As much as anything I also kept an eye on the big picture to make sure that we were doing the things necessary as a team to be successful. I also took the lead in choosing the sailing team. It was important to have the right blend of people for our team.
OR: You are known as someone who demands the most from those around him on a race boat. Do you regard yourself as easy to sail with or difficult?
TH: I am probably not the right guy to ask. If I had to call it I would say I was ‘moderately difficult’ to sail with.
OR: Looking further ahead, if/when the America’s Cup emerges from the courtroom do you see yourself signing up for one of the syndicates?
TH: The operative words here are ‘if /when’ but yes I certainly hope to be involved in the next America’s Cup. Obviously it would be premature to discuss any details right now but I look forward to answering that question for you at some point in the future.
OR: How is your collaboration with Quantum Sails working out? Have you converted all your owners over to using Quantum?
TH: It is going really well. Quantum has invested a fair amount into their design program. We saw the benefit onboard the TP 52 last year and I know we will see it onboard the Farr 40. We have been refining our shapes on the Farr 40 sails and the Barking Mad program is steadily transferring over to Quantum Sails as quickly as the limitations of sail purchase restrictions allow. We will start using Quantum at Capri Week and will be fully transferred over by the World Championship.
The reality of it is the existing Quantum inventory is very nice and our changes are more specific to Barking Mad. At this point we need every advantage we can get. In Miami last week Nerone had raised the bar and we were quite off the pace with our existing standard North program. I know new sails will make us better but I think a lot of our pace problems were technique driven and so we are focusing very hard on developing sails that suit our sailing style.
OR: You have sailed in a wide range of classes in your time. If you had to choose just one class to sail for the rest of your life, which would it be?
TH: Wow. Tough question as there are so many great classes to choose from. Five years ago I would have chosen a Star boat as that class provides great tactical sailing and is very technical. Right now the class of choice is the Melges 24. It offers great tactical sailing, is challenging and provides an awesome ride downwind in a breeze. So many great classes out there, I am glad I don’t actually have to choose!
This year Hutchinson will be defending his TP52 titles as well as sailing as tactician on Jim Richardson’s Farr 40 Barking Mad and also taking a tilt at the Melges 24 World Championship in Annapolis.
We caught up with him to find out more about him and ask how he plans to top last year’s performance.
OR: Terry for you last year was a sensational one by anyone’s standards. Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, TP52 European dominance, Melges 24 NA Champion. What are your thoughts about 2008 now?
TH: The 2008 Rolex award was quite an honour for me. It is a privilege to be considered as a member of that group of people. That said, the year was awesome because so much work and effort went into it from a lot of people other than just me. All the programs - TP52, Farr 40, and Melges 24 each benefited from having great people involved. The Rolex award is really an acknowledgement of all the great team’s that I was so fortunate to have been a part of in 2008.
OR: How is the 2009 season shaping up?
TH: My personal goal for 2009 is to continue to compete in the same manner and at the same level as in 2008. The reality is that it is very difficult to continually win events and frankly 2009 has started not as well as 2008. For one reason or another the first three events of the year have only resulted in only one podium finish. I guess that the beauty of our sport is this continual challenge which means that I have to make sure I continue to push and raise my game along with that of the teams that I race with. My main focus in 2009 will be on the TP 52 Quantum Racing and the Farr 40 Barking Mad where I would hope with both of these teams we have opportunities to do great things. As always success will come down to doing all the little things well.
OR: The TP52 Medcup series kicks off in May in Alicante, Spain. What has changed from the 2008 Quantum Racing campaign?
TH: Not a lot has changed in the boat or the team. We have lost one crewmember to the ETNZ boat but the rest of the team is back. In the afterguard is Morgan Larson (tactician), Mark Mendelblatt (strategist), with Robert Hopkins Jr. and Ian Moore (Navigating). The boat has not gone through any major modifications but more just fixing all the things we never had time to fix last year. Theoretically we have an advantage through the extra time we have had in the boat, but there are some new boats coming out of sheds that will be quite good so I know we will have our work cut out for us this season.
OR: Who do you see as the main contenders for the 2009 Medcup Series?
TH: There will be plenty of competition. ETNZ, Artemis, Matador have all built new boats. On top of that there are the teams returning from last year like Desafio Espanol, Mutua Madrilena, and so on. It is hard to say who will be on the podium but inevitably it will come down to the team that prepares the best and avoids the big ones that will prevail at the end of the season. I think we have a great opportunity onboard Quantum Racing but we will be taking it one race at a time.
OR: When do you believe you add the most value to a campaign – when you are steering or coach/tactician for an owner-driver?
TH: I would say that I can have more influence on the big picture in the role of tactician. It is very difficult to do a good job driving and focus on everything that you need to make the boat go as well as also run the program. Last year as helmsman I relied heavily on the team to do their jobs. But it reiterated the point that to do it properly requires 100% focus.
OR: How do you see your own role on the Quantum Racing TP52 program?
TH: Last season I was the helmsman but I was also in charge of a lot of the logistics and organization. As much as anything I also kept an eye on the big picture to make sure that we were doing the things necessary as a team to be successful. I also took the lead in choosing the sailing team. It was important to have the right blend of people for our team.
OR: You are known as someone who demands the most from those around him on a race boat. Do you regard yourself as easy to sail with or difficult?
TH: I am probably not the right guy to ask. If I had to call it I would say I was ‘moderately difficult’ to sail with.
OR: Looking further ahead, if/when the America’s Cup emerges from the courtroom do you see yourself signing up for one of the syndicates?
TH: The operative words here are ‘if /when’ but yes I certainly hope to be involved in the next America’s Cup. Obviously it would be premature to discuss any details right now but I look forward to answering that question for you at some point in the future.
OR: How is your collaboration with Quantum Sails working out? Have you converted all your owners over to using Quantum?
TH: It is going really well. Quantum has invested a fair amount into their design program. We saw the benefit onboard the TP 52 last year and I know we will see it onboard the Farr 40. We have been refining our shapes on the Farr 40 sails and the Barking Mad program is steadily transferring over to Quantum Sails as quickly as the limitations of sail purchase restrictions allow. We will start using Quantum at Capri Week and will be fully transferred over by the World Championship.
The reality of it is the existing Quantum inventory is very nice and our changes are more specific to Barking Mad. At this point we need every advantage we can get. In Miami last week Nerone had raised the bar and we were quite off the pace with our existing standard North program. I know new sails will make us better but I think a lot of our pace problems were technique driven and so we are focusing very hard on developing sails that suit our sailing style.
OR: You have sailed in a wide range of classes in your time. If you had to choose just one class to sail for the rest of your life, which would it be?
TH: Wow. Tough question as there are so many great classes to choose from. Five years ago I would have chosen a Star boat as that class provides great tactical sailing and is very technical. Right now the class of choice is the Melges 24. It offers great tactical sailing, is challenging and provides an awesome ride downwind in a breeze. So many great classes out there, I am glad I don’t actually have to choose!
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