TARGETED PERFORMERS

Defending their title at the 420 Youth Worlds in July, Freddie Parkin and Asher Beck were on a roll-until they weren't.

- KIMBALL LIVINGSTON

"AFTER our crash at the worlds, Freddie got bandaged up, 13 stitches, and we were able to sail the rest of the day and hold our lead," Asher Beck relates now. "All in all, not too bad a day, except for Freddie's stitches and using our drop." He got that out with a straight face.

Even with a driver who couldn't bend one knee, the pair went on to win two more races and, finishing seventh, become the only boat with three firsts at the 420 Youth Worlds of 2023. Looking back at the 12-race series sailed out of the Spanish port of Alicante, Parkin says: "We finished up well, but there was an eighth that turned out to be a black flag. We had to eat 45 points." There went the podium. And the rest is philosophy because, as Parkin's mom observed, "You can't win them all."

No, and a near miss takes nothing away from a story worth telling, a story that began a year ago off a beach in the Netherlands. Call it a roll or call it a ride, but Parkin and Beck did not see it coming. They entered the final race of 2022 with a solid hold on second and no reasonable hope for first. Their consistently good finishes included nothing in the top three, while the 2021 bronze medalists from Israel, Roi Levy and Ariel Gal, wore the yellow bibs and carried a comfy cushion. For the final race, Parkin and Beck ignored the leaders.

Beck says: "There were only two boats remotely close to us, challenging for second, so managing them was important. Winning the race was not important, but it turned out to be a pretty easy win. Crossing the finish line, we had no idea what had just happened." What had just happened?