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Crews That Click Tom and Debbie Carrico’s Air Mail
f you were to arrive at Tom and Debbie Carrico’s mid-March Air Mail crew party, walk past the many full coolers on the porch, elbow your way through the sailors ranging in age from toddlers to grandparents, laughing and happy to see one another, and look beyond the table jam-packed with hors d’oeuvres and sweets, you would see decades of sailing pictures and trophies adorning every inch of ##The Air Mail crew wall space. If you after a picture were to ask the perfect start at the Govenor’s Cup couple’s veteran Regatta. Photo by crew what makes Al Schreitmueller the Air Mail team click, you would note a few recurring themes: a top-notch skipper, a friendly yet competitive crew, a lack of ego, and great preparation. “I’ve sailed with a lot of skippers and Tom is the best. A quiet but effective leader, there is no doubt who is in charge,” says Kip Louttit, crew member for 19 years. “He endears his crews to him by always seeking input and letting crewmembers do their jobs, and he is the absolute opposite of a tillerhog… Dave Granata did the rounding of Hooper’s Light in the dark in the Solomons Race in July; not many skippers would let a crewmember do that. I steered Air Mail in the Down the Bay Race when we topped 15 knots in 37 knots of wind. Tom said Air Mail had never gone that fast before. He knows that a tired helmsperson is an ineffective helmsperson, so he shares, takes a rest on the rail, or takes a nap. This keeps him fresh for when he’s needed, and lets the crew shine.” Steve Grimm, 20-year “jack of all trades” veteran of Air Mail—and earlier, the Carricos’ 34-foot Trepidation—says, Follow us!
“Tom is very low keyed and never has lost his cool (maybe once in 20 years).” Angus Phillips met Tom when he saw his ad for a Soling in the mid1980s. The two ended up as boat partners, and Tom taught him to race, as the two did together on Solings for the next decade. “He was the best teacher I could ever find. Patient, unflappable, and willing to share everything he
knows with everyone who walks down the docks,” notes Phillips. When it comes to the crew, Phillips says, “Ninety percent of the time when you go sailing on someone’s boat, you have to fight your way into a position of responsibility. On Air Mail, a new person may end up working the pit the first time out. People are helpful. They don’t get mad. By the third time out, the guy’s a competent pitman… Tom is quiet and calm, and Debbie, you can hear her laughing a half mile away. It’s a pleasant, happy crew to sail with, like a family picnic. There’s no bad blood. No ego. There never has been.” Grimm notes that “the burning desire to do well and perform our jobs well” unites the crew, even though there is no formal emphasis on winning. Crew members change as some take
time to raise families and new ones join the program; Grimm attributes the ease of the transition to a consistent core crew. “There is no learning curve especially at the beginning of the season. Hop in the boat, and we are off to do the best we can do that day… The crew seems to mesh, and the crew party in March reinforces that,” he says. Louttit adds, “Air Mail crewmembers leave their egos in the car… Tom attracts and selects crewmembers who work together as a team, recognizing that there’s more than one way to go upwind, go down the Bay, round a mark, fly a kite, or trim a sail. Does the crew always agree with everyone else aboard and every decision? No. But I, and others, know when it’s time to keep quiet and when it’s time to speak up.” Highlighting great preparation as another key to success, Louttit adds, “Tom and Debbie are a great team, who always have Air Mail ready to leave the dock. Food, fuel, water, drinks, snacks, tides, currents, weather forecast, charts, electronics, rig, sails, clean bottom, and dock time are always perfect.” “Not everyone goes off watch and lets an 11-year-old take the helm,” says Louttit of Air Mail’s deliveries home with the next generation of racers, his kids, 11 and 13 years old, who have a couple of overnight deliveries up the Bay under their belts. The proud dad says, “The deliveries are as much fun as the racing, which is just another reason that the Air Mail crew clicks.”
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