CALLING THE SHOTS

TERRY HUTCHINSON IS ONE OF THE WORLD'S BEST TACTICIANS, BUT HE'S YET TO ACHIEVE HIS ULTIMATE AMBITION. SEAN MCNEILL FINDS OUT WHAT IT TAKES TO CALL THE SHOTS AT THE TOP

- Sean McNeill

American professional sailor Terry Hutchinson has been called many things in his 40-year career racing sailboats. Brash. Outspoken. A horse’s you-know-what. And they’re among the less incendiary labels – comments typically lodged from competitors who are turned off by Hutchinson’s histrionics on the racecourse or envious of his success as a tactician.

Those who know him best, the owners and sailors he races with, the beneficiaries of his talents, use more complimentary words. Intense. Driven. A softie. Emotional. An amazing talent. A close friend.

Words don’t phase Hutchinson. Say something negative to his face, he’ll likely shrug his shoulders and reply with a more biting comment back about your own character. He’s developed thick skin over the years. If it’s on the more complimentary side, he may return the favour, but still with a dash of bite. He falls on the brutally honest side of commentary, a trait developed through years of working at the back of the boat where a single word can determine a whole campaign’s fate.

“I’ve known Terry a long time, since he was a young guy in Annapolis, maybe around 12 years old,” says Gary Jobson, America’s Cup-winning tactician and mentor to Hutchinson. “Every time you hear about Terry, he’s at or near the front of the fleet. He’s very intense on a sailboat. He focuses hard, winning is really important to him. He doesn’t take any prisoners.”

“Terry is very good at what he does. He’s one of the best tacticians around,” says New Zealander Warwick Fleury, mainsail trimmer on