One job one dream


Mike Toppa is one of the best-known faces in big boat and America’s Cup sailing, whichever corner of the world you inhabit. Yet in an illustrious – but discrete – career which has now spanned more than 40 years he has only really worked for one employer. He talks to Carol Cronin…


I’ve admired Mike Toppa from afar for many years, but it wasn’t until last winter – standing side by side on an ice-slickened dock, thumbs busily trying to propel our DF95 model boats around a tiny race- course in the most protected corner of Newport Harbor – that we actually had a conversation. Such a soft-spoken, glass- half-full kind of guy – even on one particu- larly arctic race day, when his mast just inexplicably… broke. Toppa’s default facial expression is a


smile, and he exudes a comfortable calm; not the usual demeanour at the pointy end of our sport. I was quite curious; how does


40 SEAHORSE


the nicest guy in sailing win three America’s Cups – over three decades, with three dif- ferent job descriptions? How has he kept what he calls ‘only one job’ through 44 years and counting at North Sails, despite an entire industry revolution? And, perhaps most surprising of all: why is he still so completely jazzed about sailboat racing? I don’t usually write down questions


before an interview, but I do Google my profile ‘victims’. For Mike the only item from outside the North Sails umbrella was a nomination to the US National Sailing Hall of Fame. ‘Mike is known for being intensely


talented and competitive,’ the nominator wrote, ‘while at the same time exuding a calming influence, a rare and welcome combination in the world of yacht racing.’ He’s not exactly a self-promoter. And


sticking with the same company over the entire lifespan of the internet eliminates the usual cyberspace landmarks. But when we sit down for a chat on a sunny and crisp October morning amid the hustle and bustle of Newport Shipyard, he’s eager to share his history. All it takes is one question; ‘how did you


get here?’ – which could be taken as quite specific (he’s the only North Sails employee


with an office onsite) or completely open- ended; how did you achieve such success? Instantly that smile ratchets up several watts: ‘Well, that’s a story.’ I settle back in my seat, certain that – as


long as I’ve actually remembered to hit record – learning what makes this guy tick will be almost as much fun as thumb- yachting alongside him.


One tall mast Mike grew up in Newport, but his parents and siblings didn’t sail. A chance sighting from his bike as an 11-year-old deter- mined his fate. Riding down Thames Street, ‘I saw this big tall mast and decided to check it out.’ Down on the dock was ‘this flush-deck,


cool-looking sailboat: Intrepid! So I went back the next day and was hanging around and somebody said, “Hey, why don’t you help us move this whatever…” probably a sail or something. So I ended up being their dock boy for the entire Cup summer.’ He didn’t get to sail on Intrepid but


when the skipper of their trial horse, Constellation, asked Mike if he wanted to go sailing, ‘I said yes!’ Once onboard, a guy instructed him on


PAUL MELLO/OUTSIDE IMAGES


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126