Two teams have been selected by US Sailing to compete in the first ever Double Handed World Offshore Championship to be held September 24-October 1 in Lorient, France. The two nominated teams are Erica Lush/ Tim Kent and Barbara (Basia) Karpinska/ Vladimir (Kuli) Kulinichenko
Team Lush-Kent
Erica Lush and Tim Kent have both accumulated offshore experience in their careers as sailors with a focus on shorthanded sailing.
Lush began racing double handed in 2020 as an effort to improve her all-around skills and challenge herself at a higher level and was immediately hooked. She sees single and double handed racing as the ultimate pathway to reaching her highest potential in this sport. Lush has amassed over 85,000 nautical miles offshore, including racing (crewed) in two of the four legs of the 2023-24 Ocean Globe Race with the winning all-female crew.
She has spent her career learning technical skills alongside sailing strategy, including working for a year with IMOCA teams.
Kent began racing solo in 1997 in the inaugural Chicago-to-Mackinac solo race. He won the race in 1999 and entered the solo Around Alone Race in 2002 with an Open 50 and placed second in Class 2. Kent also has a proven commitment to bringing more women in to this sport at a high level.
As his two daughters were growing up, he made sure to provide leadership opportunities for them from a young age. As a continued promise to his daughters, from the start of his Class40 program, Kent has had a woman as his co-skipper on every double handed race to ensure that he can provide more opportunities for women to excel in our sport.
Lush and Kent raced together in the inaugural shorthanded Bermuda to Newport return race in 2022. Missing their largest spinnaker, which Kent and his daughter had detonated in the Newport to Bermuda Race, the duo still beat the next boat in their class by over five hours.
As far as the pair’s training goes, they are racing together in the 2024 Newport to Bermuda Race in the double handed division. The team’s training plan is expected to be dynamic, as they are not always in the same place, with Lush spending most of her summer racing in Europe and Kent predominantly in the States. The pair envisions a comprehensive physical training plan, as well as prioritizing time on the water in similar boats together as much as possible.
Lush will be racing in France this July in the Tour Voile and also will be working as a preparatrice for another female skipper, aiding in navigation and shorthanded maneuvering in the same region the World Championships are set to take place in.
Team Karpinska-Kulinichenko
Barbara (Basia) Karpinska and Vladimir (Kuli) Kulinichenko are both active sailboat racers both in and outside of the double handed community. Their experience spans ocean and offshore racing, fleet and team racing, as well as fully crewed and double handed.
Karpinska’s ocean racing resume transcends borders, as she has completed all major ocean and offshore races in the western hemisphere, and has been a key figure in promoting the offshore double handed discipline since the movement began in 2019.
Kulinichenko is a nautical engineer and accomplished professional sailor, having completed three Volvo Ocean Races.
They both recently completed the Block Island Race in May, with Kulinichenko finishing first in class on his fully crewed J/121 and Karpinska and her partner, Todd Aven, finishing second in DH PHRF on a J/99 as the only double handed mixed team in the entire regatta.
Since then, Kulinichenko has been racing in Saint Tropez and Karpinska has been active in Newport’s IC37 circuit. She will be racing in New York Yacht Club’s 2024 Annual Regatta on a Sunfast 3300 Avalon, which is a similar class to what will be raced in Lorient at the Worlds, as well as competing for NYYC on the Sonar team race squad for a variety of women’s and coed events. Kulinichenko intends to race in the 2024 Newport to Bermuda Ocean Race on his J/121.
With hopes to coordinate practice in France in the same boat the Worlds will be raced in, the pair is in talks with a French Jeanneau charter company that would include a French coach that is familiar with the waters of the upcoming racecourse, as well. They are also actively looking for a Sunfast 3000 on the East Coast to race in for the double handed Ida Lewis to the Vineyard Race as preparation for the Worlds.
Kulinichenko and Karpinska are looking to partner with industry professionals to further enhance their training in both Florida and Massachusetts, where they are each based, respectively. Athletic trainers, a skilled sports dietician, knowledgeable sports psychologist, a physical therapist, and a massage therapist are all on their wish list so they are able to push harder and recuperate faster.
“Distance races embody sailing in its purest form, and since 2019, I have been actively involved in pioneering Mixed Offshore Doublehanded sailing as a new Olympic discipline,” shared Karpinska. “It is a privilege and an honor to represent a country on the international stage.
“Having spent half my life in the USA, I am deeply moved to be selected for this responsibility as an immigrant. Coming from Poland, a nation renowned for its strong and resilient women, I cherish the opportunity to advance gender equity in our sport. I am thrilled about the inaugural event in France, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
The Championship
The 2024 Double Handed World Offshore Championships is expected to feature 20 mixed teams and racing will follow an elimination series format, with the top five advancing to the final race. The preliminary series includes two overnight races, and a third race that will be over 48 hours in duration.
The fleet will race in the identical Sun Fast 30 One Design, one of the first production model sailboats built from recyclable resin, which highlights the latest developments in sustainable boat building and an overall trend in the industry.
The event will be organized by Lorient Grand Large, Yacht Club de France, and the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) and hosted at Lorient Grand Large with equipment supplied by Cap Regatta and support from Groupe Carboman and the French Sailing Federation (FFVoile). The FFVoile has appointed Christophe Gaumont as Race Director.
Source: scuttlebutt – https://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2024/06/14/us-teams-for-2024-double-handed-world-offshore-championship/
