America 3 Starting Crew

Name: BILL KOCH Position: Skipper Age: 51 Hometown: Palm Beach, Fla. Occupation: President Oxbow Corp. On-board-duties: Sometimes steers, sometimes navigates, sometimes call tactics, sometimes leads cheers. He owns the boat. Name: BUDDY MELGES Position: Helmsman Age: 62 Hometown: Lake Geneva, Wis. Occupation: Boat builder On-board-duties: “I’m responsible to maintain the boat at target speeds. I do this by a conscious surveillance of the wind and the waves to position our boat as it relates to the other boat.” Name: DAVE DELLENBAUGH Position: Starting helmsman-tactician Age: 38 Hometown: Easton, Conn. Occupation: Sail marketing On-board-duties: “I make decisions about where to go with the boat. I have a game plan in my mind and try to make the boat follow that plan.” Name: BY BALDRIDGE Position: Navigator Age: 40 Hometown: Seabrook, Tex. Occupation: restaurateur On-board-duties: “I tell ‘em where to go . . . and if they don’t like it, they tell me where to go.” Name: ANDREAS JOSENHANS Position: Mainsail trimmer Age: 41 Hometown: Milford, Conn. Occupation: Sail loft manager On-board-duties: “I trim the sail and coordinate with the other two trimmers to make it a team and relay the information forward for what’s happening in the back . . . try to provide the link between the mechanics of the boat and the brain of the boat. I’m very much responsible for speed.” Name: PETER CRAIG Position: Mastman Age: 36 Hometown: Boston, Mass. Occupation: Real estate broker On-board-duties: “The mastman is one of five members of the foredeck, also the crew boss, coordinating all crew activities in liaison with the afterguard on any maneuver the boat is about to go through.” Name: JOHN (LABBY) SPENCE Position: Sewerman Age: 27 Hometown: Jacksonville, Fla. Occupation: owner, boat rigging company On-board-duties: “When I’m not down below packing sails I’m up helping with maneuvers on the foredeck.” Name: JOSH BELSKY Position: Pitman Age: 25 Hometown: Newport, R.I Occupation: Professional sailor On-board-duties: “I pull the ropes that pull all the sails up and down . . . keep ‘em from getting tangled. And I help Labby in the sewer pack the sails going upwind.” Name: WALLY HENRY Position: Pitman Age: 27 Hometown: Port Jefferson, N.Y. Occupation: Sailor, fitness trainer On-board-duties: “I sort out the confusion of all the halyards and spinnaker pole control lines. I also grind the mainsail going upwind.” Name: JOHN HUFNAGEL Position: Grinder Age: 32 Hometown: West Los Angeles Occupation: General contractor On-board-duties: “I trim all the sails and keep my eyes out for anything that can go wrong or isn’t rigged quite right . . . help everyone else do their jobs.” Name: RICK BRENT Position: Grinder Age: 29 Hometown: East Lyme, Conn. Occupation: Sailor On-board-duties: “I’m a forward grinder and help to hoist and trim the sails and also go forward for spinnaker takedowns. I’ve been called a mutant midget because I weigh about 80 pounds less than most grinders.” Name: LARRY MIALIK Position: Grinder Age: 41 Hometown: Madison, Wis. Occupation: Fast food restaurateur On-board-duties: “I’m a grinder. The life of a grinder is a real grind.” Name: MARTY STEPHAN Position: Grinder Age: 30 Hometown: Topsfield, Mass. Occupation: Football coach On-board-duties: (“I provide the (sail) hoist power . . . but my main job is to keep Stu Argo in line, especially when he’s had too much coffee in the morning.”) Name: STU ARGO Position: Port sail trimmer Age: 30 Hometown: Grosse Point Woods, Mich. Occupation: Professional sailor On-board-duties: “I push rope on the left side of the boat. I trim the front sails. I tell the grinders when to trim and work with the helmsman and the guy on the mainsheet to keep the boat going as fast as it possibly can.” Name: MIKE TOPPA Position: Starboard sail trimmer Age: 36 Hometown: Clearwater, Fla. Occupation: Sail loft manager On-board-duties: “I keep the genoa and the spinnakers in the right trim for the attitude of the boat, based on the wind and the wave conditions and what we’re doing against the other boat.” Name: JERRY KIRBY Position: Bowman Age: 36 Hometown: Newport, R.I. Occupation: Contractor On-board-duties: “I’m in the front of the boat and put the sails up and down. It’s a blast . . . going up the mast, calling the starts. It’s a high-action position.”