have to put some work into this… I bought another boat and got a good steady crew and last year did better. ‘We won the North Americans and managed a close second in the worlds; but we felt like we’d left a little bit on the racecourse. So we worked hard this winter and won the Biscayne Bay Series and then the US Nationals. Now we’re getting ready for the worlds in Cowes in September.’
In the meantime, Benjamin had plenty going with Spookie 3, doing the full Caribbean tour and picking up lots of silver along the way. ‘And then we have a full programme on the US east coast plus the 2016 Bermuda Race…’
Steve Benjamin is also current US Yachtsman of the Year. ‘That was quite a surprise,’ he said. It was less of a surprise to the rest of the sailing world, though, he admitted, ‘I have never even been nominated before, and I was one of 12 this year. Heidi said I had a pretty good chance of winning. Really, I didn’t think so, but she just said, well, let’s see what happens...’
Was he feeling pressure because of the title? ‘Actually, Chris Larsen said to me, “Welcome to the curse.” I asked what he meant, and he said, “You are in a chosen club now and we all have the curse. It’s the pressure to continue to perform as a Yachtsman of the Year.” I had to think a couple of times about that.
q SNAPSHOTS Brought to you in association with
Traumatic… lifting the damaged, flooded Imoca 60 Safranout of the water without snapping her in half after the TJV was not easy But… now the Imoca 60 is back afloat again Along with… ‘most’ of her new Imoca 60 rivals Taking things… a little gingerly to start with? Oh yes… indeedy The man… prefers cats. World champ Ian Williams crashed out of the Cong Cup in Long Beach after finishing last in the qualifier at 2-9 Man’s… gotta have a day off A long way… baby, in 1972 the Olympic sailing classes consisted of four keelboats plus two dinghies Bet… you’d forgotten that All you… progress deniers More sail… more power, and then Francis Joyon and Idecwill challenge for the Jules Verne again this winter Getting there… the foiled and flying MOD 70 Gitanarecently ambled across the bay outside Lorient at an average speed of 42kt Roll up… roll up Yours… for US$500, an official America’s Cup sweatshirt A gillet… $1,400 The people’s… Cup Or… there’s the Youth AC With… a non-refundable entry fee of US$40,000 Plus… plus, plus Way too long… after a ridiculous 10-year absence 2006 Class40 Route du Rhum winner Phil Sharp will race the Transat Oh man… bloopers are back At least… under ORR where they can now be rated again! En route… the first production Waszp foilers soon to be delivered Yours for… US$10,000 apiece As promised… by Amac, for half the price of a Mach 2 foiler And… less than a sixth the price of a new Int14 (seriously... ed) We… thought we’d add in passing Splash… that well-known Japanese yachtsman Winston Macfarlane joins the growing list of AC swimmers after falling off Softbank Japanin Bermuda Back to business… after a testing worlds in Argentina (third) six-time 470 world champion Mat Belcher took the Princess Sofia Trophy in Palma with Will Ryan And… then the Men’s (sic) European 470 title Get shopping… at
RaceboatsOnly.com Plus… the daily news fix at
scuttlebutteurope.com So thank you… ladies and gentlemen
NEX - NEX STR Furlers
More victories ahead in 2016
profurl.com SEAHORSE 11
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