(New York, NY)- This year’s awards ceremony took place in the iconic Model Room at
the New York Yacht Club in Manhattan to celebrate the sailing
accomplishments of Terry Hutchinson (Annapolis, MD) and Stephanie Roble
(East Troy, WI). Both Terry and Steph have been active J/sailors as
they’ve grown and evolved as champions; Terry having been a J/24 World
Champion and a current J/70 owner in Annapolis, Maryland, and Steph
having sailed J/22s, J/24s, J/80s in the match-race world as well as
sailing on J/70s for the past three years.Family, friends, sailing dignitaries, fellow sailors and members of the media joined the honorees. In an emotional speech, Roble, age 25 and a first-time winner, stressed how important teamwork has been in getting to this point in her life and particularly this past year in securing the 2014 Etchells World Championship (as crew) and the U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship (as skipper) while working her way to the top of the latter discipline’s U.S. rankings. (In the world, she is currently ranked third.)
“I
feel so lucky to be a part of a lot of teams; teamwork is what I’m in
love with right now,” said Roble, whose current goal is to win the
Women’s Match Racing World Championship in July with crew Janel
Zarkowsky and Maggie Shea. “You need your team to be successful; this
award is for all of them. I’m beyond the moon excited right now. This is
such a special award, and to see all the sailors who’ve won this before
and to join this list means so much to me. It’s extremely motivating.”Roble added that it makes her laugh thinking that her first connection to sailing was when she was born. “When my parents first brought me home from the hospital, my dad sailed his MC Scow on our tiny home lake in Lake Beulah with ‘It’s a Girl!’ written on the sail. Little did he know this gesture was indicative of what was to come.”
Hutchinson, who is 46 and won this honor in 2008 as well, pointed out several sailing mentors in the luncheon audience (among them his father, Gary Jobson, Doug DeVos, coach James Lyne, Alex Roepers, and Jim Richardson) who have helped him develop the instinct for doing the right things at the right time. As the current Rolex Farr 40 and TP52 World Champion, Hutchinson said winning the Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Award this second time around was “different because of how it all happened.”
“It
was quite a hard thing emotionally not going all the way through with
the last America’s Cup,” said Hutchinson, who ‘bounced back’ to have an
exceptional 2014 racing season on the water. “In some ways, it’s not how
you get knocked down but how you get back up that’s going to be the
measure. It is a testament to the owners and their faith and trust in
the process that we apply to win races. What they have placed in my
hands and what they have provided me as an opportunity to do on their
behalf is not taken lightly.”Established in 1961 by US Sailing and sponsored by Rolex Watch, U.S.A. since 1980, US Sailing’s Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year awards are considered the sport’s ultimate recognition of an individual’s outstanding on-the-water achievements for the calendar year. The process of determining the recipients starts each September when US Sailing invites its membership to make online nominations. A shortlist of nominees is then reviewed by a panel of noted sailing journalists who discuss the merits of each nominee, and vote to determine the winners. Watch on YouTube the sailing rockstars interview
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