(Perth Amboy, NJ)- Yes, in the cooler than fiction category, an 11 year
old helmsman dominated the field in a Father’s Day Regatta victory down
in New Jersey. Off Perth Amboy, Will Lusty took the helm of BELLE FASTER under brilliant skies and 15 kts of breeze and sailed the family J/30 to an impressive win over a number of top competitors. The young star and front runner for 2012 Rookie of the Year honors drove her true to her name; she was the belle of the ball and faster than everybody else. Proud papa Michael, sister Sophie (age 10) and mom Teri (age withheld on request) served as crew and were instrumental in the overall effort making the victory a family affair. “That was fun!” Lusty beamed at the post race press conference. Race officials suspect at least one anxious moment as anonymous sources reported the young skipper was heard at one point to bark, “Dad, take the tiller. No, wait! I need your weight on the rail!”
Chief Race Officer Chris Shaughnessy took advantage of the east breeze sending the fleet to Keyport One for their upwind mark then back to R2 before heading to Z for a cupola finish; making for a lively jaunt ‘round the bay. “We have it on good authority that young Will helmed the whole way around the course” said Shaughnessy noting the decent breeze had built quite a chop on the 8 nm course. “That was no walk in the park.”
“I, for one am impressed”, said Steve Scanlon, RYC Race Chairman for Life, “the kid beat some of the top competitors out there today. His stock is going through the roof.”
Scanlon noted that RYC has a long history of family dynasties including such notable clans as Myer, Mackevich, Rebovich and Macan. Could this be the start of a run that adds the Lusty moniker to that list?
“The
kid’s got skills, no doubt about it. He showed us all something today.”
said Jim Mackevich, future hall of famer and patriarch of his own
Father’s Day dynasty. Katie Mac, the other half of the For Sail
Father’s Day duo agreed. “I love it! It demonstrates that you don’t
necessarily have to weigh more than 100lbs to drive a race boat!”Jeremy Macan, former child star, sailing prodigy and prodigal son of House Macan echoed Mackevich’s sentiments. “I’ve seen a lot of sailing kids come of age, but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a young dude emerge onto the scene so quickly.”
When asked by this reporter if the youngster’s success might prompt a change in his Wednesday crew alignment owner/father/skipper Michael would only offer, “No Comment”.
Notes from Dad! "We had a blast this weekend. Our club runs a Father’s Day race. Non spin, so we entered as a family with William (11), Sophie (10). Teri (age withheld) and myself. Competition included 2 mast-head J/29s, a Beneteau 10R, a J105 and an S2 9.2.
William took the helm while Teri and I hoisted the sails and didn’t give it up until after the finish. With a beat of just over 4nm to the first mark and winds building from 8 to 12 kts, we were delighted to be have only one boat (a J/29) ahead of us. We were ahead for most of it, and only gave up the lead in the last couple of hundred yards to round second. The other J/29 was pretty close behind.
All of us wing-on-wing, the lead J/29 pulled away somewhat on the major downwind leg, and the other one caught up with us, but William was psyched when we called for (and were given) room at the penultimate mark. Over-powered somewhat on the last beat home in 15kts wind and only 2.5 of us on the rail, the second 29 did pass us. No sign of the others. We knew that we easily had the closest one on corrected time, but only learned at the bar afterwards that both 29s were toast! What a Father’s Day!" For more J/30 Father's Day Race sailing information
