(Key West, Florida)- Some of the world's greatest sailors were competing in the J/70 class at Quantum Key West Race Week 2015. Most of them got beaten by a 12-year-old— Gannon
managed to post scores of a 1-2-3 during the 11 race series!Gannon has gone from racing Optimist dinghies to skippering an entry in the largest class at one of the greatest regattas in North America. And the kid is doing pretty well, steering PIED PIPER to a fifth place overall finish in the talent-laden, 54-boat class.
"I almost fell off the spectator boat!” Robin Troutman said of seeing her son's boat heading to the finish line with the lead pack. "I couldn't believe he was doing that well on the first day."
Troutman, a resident of Gloucester, Virginia, is believed to be the youngest skipper in the 28-year history of Key West Race Week. Previously, that honor belonged to Samuel "Shark" Kahn, who was 14 when he skippered a Melges 24 entry here.
Gannon's fascination with boats began with building models of all sorts of different vessels. Upon hearing about that hobby, the family dentist urged the youngster to give sailing a try. A summer sailing camp at Ware River Yacht Club got him hooked and led to full-time instruction at Fishing Bay Yacht Club.
Gannon started sailing Optis at age eight and four years later is a mid-fleet finisher at most major regattas, his mother said. More important than the results are the passion he has developed for the sport.
"The kid just loves to sail! He wants to be out on that water more than anything," Robin said.
In an effort to encourage and nurture that enthusiasm, Dan Troutman purchased a J/70 so he could sail alongside his son. Victor Diaz de Leon, who met the family while working as a junior instructor at Tred Avon Yacht Club, joined the crew for some regattas last summer and is the one that suggested competing in Key West.
So a planned family vacation to Aruba was scrapped in favor of giving Gannon an opportunity to compete at the highest level of the sport. Such top-notch professionals as Tim Healy, Vasco Vascotto, Eric Doyle, Tony Rey and Dave Ullman are racing in J/70 class at Quantum Key West 2015.
"We decided to let Gannon do this because we knew it would be a lot of fun and he would get great coaching, great experience," Robin said.
Diaz de Leon is calling tactics while Tomas Dietrich, the Optimist coach at Fishing Bay Yacht Club, is trimming the headsails. After finishing a respectable 27th in Race 1, the team put it all together in taking third in Race 2 on Monday.
"It felt good to get a result like that. I hope to get up there again," Gannon said.
Gannon has raced his Optimist in big fleets, but that is quite different from negotiating a J/70 class with 54 entries. "Getting off the line is the hard part. It can be hard to find a lane," he said.
"Gannon is doing great. He is listening well and picking things up very fast," Diaz de Leon said.
Dietrich said the experience of racing for a week in a big, competitive fleet at Key West is invaluable and will benefit Gannon down the road.
"The more you sail the better you get. Gannon is seeing and learning things down here that are all new to him," Dietrich said. "There's no doubt this will build his confidence."
One of the perks of coming to Key West is that a youngster such as Gannon gets an opportunity to meet some of the big stars of the sport. Gannon was a very interested spectator at Sunday evening's Panel Discussion that was presented by title sponsor Quantum Sail Design Group and afterward got to meet such world-renowned professionals as Terry Hutchinson, Jonathan McKee and Ed Baird. Vascotto is tactician aboard the J/70 Flojito y Cooperando, which is berthed just a few slips down from Pied Piper at Conch Harbor.
"Vasco has been very nice to Gannon and has stopped by almost every morning to say hello and offer words of encouragement," Dan said.
Terry
Hutchinson, Chief of Business Development for Quantum Sails, J/24 World
Champion, J/70 owner in Annapolis, MD and 3x Rolex Yachtsman of the
Year had this to say about Gannnon:“One competitor stood out in my mind and in a very small way made me smile as you could see a bright future. Twelve-year-old Gannon Troutman finished fifth in the highly competitive J/70 fleet, and as Vasco Vascotto and I chatted with him and parents, swapping half truths about yelling at each other for the last 20 years, we were all laughing. It was just awesome to see and it was also great to see the support that Gannon’s parents put around him to allow it to happen. Having had great parents that supported my addiction, but did not push me, it was great to see! Gannon and his peers are the future of our sport!”
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