Shirley Robertson kicks of Season 3 of the Podcast with American Magic main man Terry Hutchinson...:
Shirley Robertson's Sailing Podcast is here for another Series, and gets underway with this, the first of a two part interview with one of the sport's most decorated skippers. American sailor Terry Hutchinson has been a world champion sixteen times, he's twice been World Sailor of the Year and has competed in five America's Cup campaigns. Most recently he lead the New York Yacht Club's return to the Cup as the skipper and Executive Director of AC36 Challengers American Magic.
Talking in Auckland after the culmination of the Prada Cup Challenger Series, Hutchinson and Robertson spend much of Part 2 discussing American Magic's campaign at AC36, but kick off the podcast here with tales of Terry's early career, during which he shares an admission that as a school boy in 1983, he skipped class to go and watch Dennis Connor, then sitting at 3-3 against "Australia II" ultimately lose the America's Cup...:
"I thought, there's a big race going on and I need to go and watch this so I asked my teacher if I could go to the bathroom, and I just kept walking and walked down to Marmadukes in Eastport and watched Dennis go from winning that race to not winning. After the race was over I walked back into school and low and behold everyone was wondering where I was, my Mom was there wondering 'what did you do!', and I was 'Race 7 of the America's Cup was going on, I had to go and watch it!'"
It was a determination that would see Hutchinson rise through the ranks of the American sailing world, joining Paul Cayard in 2000 as main trimmer on board America One. The pair discuss Terry's early Cup exploits, including joining the 2003 Stars and Stripes campaign with Dennis Connor...:
"I went to his house for dinner, he cooked this incredible chicken curry, and I went to his house and when I walked in, he's got this replica of the America's Cup. To be considered part of his team, was really an unbelievable compliment." Other Cup highlights in this part include sailing against Alinghi for Emirates Team New Zealand in 2007, and then campaigning with Artemis in the build up to San Francisco 2013, during which time Hutchinson sailed on the radical new Extreme Sailing series. Robertson and Hutchinson also discuss the phenomenal success of Quantum Racing, the TP52 sailing series and Terry's relationship with team owner Doug DeVoss.
Inevitably though, much of the chat centres around the 36th America's Cup, and Terry's recent campaign with American Magic. In Part 2 Terry reveals how the team felt about their fellow Challengers heading into the Prada Cup, as they discuss the landscape heading into the start of competition in Auckland. In a pragmatic and candid discussion, Terry then talks Shirley through the race against Luna Rossa on January 17th, as he reveals the impact of the team's capsize on the campaign...:
"In retrospect the thing I regret the most is not chirping up and saying, having the presence of mind to say 'hey, just protect the asset here' because we had a big lead. but the previous leg, we had done the exact same manoeuvre."
It's an honest and revealing discussion that takes place at a difficult time for Hutchinson, clearly disappointed at the end result for a team that he feels had a lot more to give at AC36...:
This edition of the podcast is in 2 parts and is available to listen to via the podcast page of Shirley’s own website, at www.shirleyrobertson.com/podcast or via most popular podcast outlets, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcast and aCast. The podcast is produced and written by Tim Butt - for further enquires, please contact podcast@shirleyrobertson.com