SSLWSP20_F-CRO_Cronin Star Sailors.indd 64 L W

S SPRING 2020 SW 064 P 2 GIANTS AMONG GIANT TINY 0 _ F - C R O _ C r o n i n EVEN THE ROOKIES STAND TALL TALENT—PAST AND PRESENT—WHERE IS AN ASSEMBLAGE OF SAILING’S TOP THE STAR SAILORS LEAGUE FINALS

S t a r

S a i l o r s . i n d d

6 4 BY CAROL CRONIN 22/11/20 10:57 AM / 1 1 / 2 0

1 0 : 5 7

A M SSLWSP20_F-CRO_Cronin Star Sailors.indd 65 L W S P 2 0 _ F - C R O _ C r o n i n

S t a r

S a i l o r s . i n d d

6 5 of several “rookies” invited to compete at the Brazilian standout HenriqueHaddadwas one Star Sailors League FinalintheBahamas. PHOTO: SSL/MARC ROUILLER 22/11/20 10:57 AM / 1 1 / 2 0

1

0 SPRING 2020 SW 065 : 5 7

A M SSLWSP20_F-CRO_Cronin Star Sailors.indd 66 L W

S SPRING 2020 SW 066 P 2 0 _ F AT - C and countrymanHenryBoening.Where Haddadlacks street cred class. For theregatta, thediminutive skipperteamedupwithcrew other invited skippers,aswell asthelegitimategiantsofStar few days, he’sproved himselfplentycapableofcompetingwiththe 10.Admittedly,top sailor, aStar of notmuch he’s over but past the he’s notonly survived thequalifyingraces, buthe’ssoared intothe League Finals,andontheday we meetfor alate-afternooncoff ee, Olympic He’saninvited StarClass. guestattheannualStarSailors attempting tomake anamefor himselfamongtheeliteofonce- scene,design sailing isoneofseveral rookies intheBahamas Snipe World champion,groomed inthe richSouthAmericanone- kind ofjoke.” engaging grin.“I’ve always been small,since I was So,it’sa achild. practically eye toeye. sarcasm, It’sBrazilian hetellsme,withan the parkinglot of theNassauYacht Clubinthe Bahamas, we’re together. Two monthslater, however, aswe walk sideby sideacross I’d always assumedhewas thebigger ofthetwo whenIsaw them usually thesmallerofaSnipeteam,andwithnamelike that, withthenickname“Gigante.” sailor Brazilian Given thecrew is the 2019SnipeWorlds I’dheard inIlhabela,Brazil, alotabout the R O Henrique “Gigante” Haddad,therelatively unknown 32-year-old _ C r o n i n

S t a r

S a i l o r s . i n d d

6 6 PHOTOS: the Bahamasisaninvitational gathering of “Magilla,” ashe’sknown, hastwice fi n- in theStar, Boeningishighly decorated. managedglobal-ranking is which list, goes atthe topofaleague- tosailors to “ create thoseoftomorrow.” That’s ons, orthe“stars,” andalso ofsailing suggest: tocelebrate thechampi- inclusive thanthechoiceofboatmight Itsstatedgoal isfar more Star boats. invitation-only regatta, contestedin the 2019StarWorld Championship. ished secondintheSSLFinals,aswell as boats. “What helped me is that I sailed a lotthisyear,”boats. “Whathelpedmeisthat I sailed hetellsme, pre-Olympic result thispastsummerhasledhimintoracing other he hopestocompeteinthe2020 Tokyo Olympics, adisappointing he says is“like adrug,” onehegenuinely enjoys racing, andwhile Olympicsin the470,fi nishing23rd of26teams. The470isaboat these 2019 newbies were born. Olympic medalsandgold-star emblemswere won before three of veterans have adefi niteadvantage—even thoughsomeoftheir go wrong? Starboatsare notoriously diffi sotheclass culttosail, times drastically diff erent native tongues…whatcouldpossibly crew from a diff erent country. New boat,new teammate,some- pion from Uruguay. Allthree are paired withacompetitive Star a Laser Olympian from Korea; andRicardo Fabini, aSnipecham- rookies are Oskari from Muhonen,aFinnsailor Finland; Jee-minHa, rience. For this2019edition,Haddadisoneofthem.Theother from adeveloping country(orboth),ensuringarange ofexpe- of invited skippershave eitherrecently won amajorevent orhail from50,000 sailors 36classesanddisciplines. Thenext group updated weekly andincludesmore than one-race-wins-it-all shootout. mined thefi nal four,a andafterthat,it’s race day, three knockout races deter- 23 teams are winnowed to10.Onthelast days ofracing onMontaguBay, where their invites. TheLeague are Finals four how thetomorrow guys like Haddadget The StarSailors League’s marque event in one-design championspast andpresent. Haddad is a full-time sailor whorepresentedHaddad is a full-timesailor attheRio Brazil The fi rstpoolofcoveted invitations LeagueThe StarSailors Finalsisan SSL/GILLES SSL /MARC ROUILLER ( MORELLE ( , BELOW) RIGHT ) 22/11/20 10:57 AM / 1 1 / 2 0

1 0 : 5 7

A M SSLWSP20_F-CRO_Cronin Star Sailors.indd 67 L W S P 2 0 _ F - C R O he didn’tthinkthey shouldeven bothertopractice aheadofthe outof the sameyachtBoening, whosails club inRiodeJaneiro, tal ingetting himupto speed intheStar, buteven afterenlisting and Ihave alotofrespect.” brothers, was hesays. fulfilling, “ItmeansIlearnedalotwiththem, Snipe skipper. Beatinghistuningpartners,whohelikens toolder teammate BrunoBethlem,himselfatwo-time world champion Paradeda—the 2001SnipeWorld champion—andhisOlympic 470 legends there too,includingHaddad’sOlympic coach,Alexandre practice, hewon theSnipeWorlds. There were plentyofSnipeclass J/70 Worlds, andthenshortly thereafter, with only afew weeks of a doseofhumility. his brown eyes locked mixingmatter-of-fact onmine,hissmile with in theworld, BrunoPrada. Haddadsays Prada was instrumen Martine inthe49erFX),aswell asthemostsuccessful Starcrew supremely talented Grael family (Torben andLars intheStar, royaltyrich withStarsailing andtraditions. ishometothe Brazil _ C Unlike theotherSSLFinalrookies, Haddadlives ina country In September2019,heandhisteammatesfinished13thatthe r o n i n

S t a r

S a i l o r s . i n d d

6 7 - inside [MontaguBay], where it’sgoing tobeshifty. said Magilla difficulty,” he says, “butBrunotoldmethatthe races would be quite strong.” itis tipsabouttheboat.TheStarfleetinBrazil, ing me some so they helpedmealot—sharingandhelpingtrain, andgiv around theworld. “Many guys enjoyed that Ihadthispossibility, club,” hesays, andtheotherwithBruno.” “onewithMagilla, event was hisfirsttimeinaStarboat.“Ididtwo regattas at my unaware thathe’scrumbledmy misconception thattheBahamian before thechampionship,hetellsme.Hepausestosiphiscoffee, can spendwithme?’ Andhesaid,‘About 20.’” I could becompetitive, sothenIasked him,‘OK,how many days you competitive atmy weight.” telling Boening,“becauseIthoughtitwas tobe almostimpossible event intheBahamas.“Let’s go there andhave fun,” heremembers He reminds methatRiode Janeiro’s 30-boatStarfleetis revered He hadhisfirstcrack at theStarinNovember, only amonth “The 470guys whocome[totheSSL],they have alotof For therecord, he’sroughly 143poundswet. 22/11/20 10:57 AM / - 1 1 / 2 0

1

0 SPRING 2020 SW 067 : 5 7

A M SSLWSP20_F-CRO_Cronin Star Sailors.indd 68 L W

S SPRING 2020 SW 068 P 2 0 _ F - C to advance tothenext round. Thebreeze drops for theone-race finish fifthinthe10-boatquarterfinals. They’re the only newbies skipperand his crewBrazilian winthefirst race oftheday and Haddad talks tohimabitaboutsettingsormastrake, butinthe really good feeling abouttheboat.Heasks me:‘How istherud teammate for muchofthisnew hehas confidence.“Magilla, a competitive andunderstandstheboat.Haddadthencredits his combined. Withoutthatpractice, hesays, hisperformance in was more thantwicewhattheotherthree newbies managed— compared withtheexperience legends, ofStarsailing butit Star world victory. finalists allhave indicatingapreviousgold starsontheirmainsails, total ofnineOlympic medalsand14world championships.Thefour seventh overall. Butthetop-sixteams,collectively, have won a with acceleration offthestartingline,they finishlast—cementing semifinals, thelightestconditionsof week, andafterstruggling to beeasy. ter,” headmits.“Ihopethattomorrow may bebetter…that it’sgoing he andBoeningcanremain inthetop10.“Each day I’mfeeling bet- to feel whentheboatisoverpowered ornotpowered enough.” backstays inourhands.It’snoteasy to keep going fast, butit’seasy how you canfeel thepressure andthentalk aboutit,withrunning school becauseithasahuge main,andthat’strue.Itisunbelievable the pressure, thesettings.Many friendssay thattheStarisbest and withevery otherboattoo.“It’sreally incredible tofeel theboat, eventuallyNassau duringtheLeague Finalswill helphiminthe470— straps somuchtocompensateforlengthen hishiking shorterlegs. struggled tofeel connectedtotheboatupwind becausehehadto to go uphigherandthenquitelower, andsoon.” Initially, healso bow up,theboatdoesn’t go,” hesays, intheStar, while “ithelps to itasabigSnipe.“But[downwind in]aSnipe,whenyou putthe end, Haddadhasthelastword: “IjusttellhimwhatI’mfeeling.” on that.” working der? How is thepressure ontheboat?’SoItellhim,andhe is just Nassau would be“very bad,for sure.” R O What is it like sailing againstWhat isitlike sailing suchalegendary lineup? Haddad Easy? Notachance.Better?Yes. Muchbetter. Theyoung Before qualifyingfor theFinals’finals,Haddadisconfidentthat Nevertheless, heexpects thatmuchofwhatheislearningin The Starisdifferent from any buthe refers otherboathe’ssailed, Boening alsoexplains whateachchange doestotheboat. After three days of racing, however, hesays he’sfeeling really Twenty days ofpractice intheboatisadrop inthebilge _ C r o n i n

S t ” He smiles toindicate thisismore” Hesmiles sarcasm. a r

S NOT POWERED ENOUGH. THE BOAT ISOVERPOWERED OR BUT IT’S EASY TO FEEL WHEN TO KEEP GOINGFAST, AND THAT’S TRUE. IT’S NOT EASY BECAUSE IT HAS A HUGEMAIN, THE STAR IS THE BEST SCHOOL MANY FRIENDSSAY THAT a i l o r s . i n d d

6 8 - absent Starlegend.absent “To here be ofguys, kind withthese for me his gaze wandering across theyacht club’s pool deck. Theother weafter sailing, realize whowe against,” are sailing Haddadsays, different story. “When we have abreakfast together, or gather weight, Icouldn’timagineoneday tobe Inever expected. Becauseofmysure 20 years after, issomethingthatfor fighting withtheseguys intheStarclass So Igrew upwatching them. To be here, just comebackfrom theOlympic Games. Torben andMarcelo, andmy father had Itwassailing: justafterthegold medalof my memoryfrom“This is whenIstarted Grael won histwo Stargold medals. (1996 and2004)asajournalist,when of Torben Grael.” Haddad’sfather covered thetwo Olympic Games it’s really interesting becausemy father isoneofthebestfriends The otherguys—no, Ididn’t.” also Torvar Oh,andFabini, MirskyandIanWilliams. from theSnipe. he shakes hishead.“Only thematch-racing guys: Taylor Canfield, have breakfast withHamishPepper, alsoMateusz andtheothers.” teams have already returned tothehotel. “It’s really interesting to to us? like next just itwas I’msailing, night.” anice that’s guy this but more toknow aboutthecourse,” hesays. is “Idon’tthink,Who he’s onthewater.while “Obviously, where Iask Magilla issomeguy, says hedoesn’t thinkaboutwhoheisracing against—at leastnot than Iamtoday.” ■ feel evenI’m going to more comfortable ing mealot.AndI’msure thattomorrow, boat go fast. Thesedays here are help- make thingsbetterandhow tomake the almost 24hoursthinkingaboutit,how to stretching even widerthanusual.“Ipass ing,” hesays, eyes twinklingandgrin in thecomingyears. “Ireally enjoy sail livethat Haddadwill uptohisnickname something hesays makes mecertain misconceptions abouthisrookie status, inStar.”sailing And then,brown eyes lockingonmeonceagain, henamesan When asked ifheknew many ofthelegends before arrivinghere, stayingAshore, withallthesailors atthesamehotel,it’sa And thoughhe’salready shattered my - 22/11/20 10:57 AM / 1 1 / 2 0

1 0 : 5 7

A M SSLWSP20_F-CRO_Cronin Star Sailors.indd 69 L W S P 2 0 _ F - C R O _ C r o n i n

S t a r

S a i l o r s . i n d d

6 9 seventh of 23teams, even winningonerace. Sailing, was paired withveteran Starcrew Henry Boening, anddespite minimaltime Henrique Haddad, relatively new to Star together intheboat, thepairfinished PHOTOS: SSL/MARC ROUILLER 22/11/20 10:57 AM / 1 1 / 2 0

1

0 SPRING 2020 SW 069 : 5 7

A M