riley gibbs profile

PHOTOS COURTESY RILEY GIBSS EXCEPT AS NOTED

Having fully embraced a need for speed and Bill Lee's wellknown expression, "Fast is Fun," one of America's most competitive racers, Riley Gibbs, faces a world that has slowed to a virtual standstill. Yet, this Olympic hopeful and SaiGP Team USA sailor is remarkably capable of seeing opportunity and launching toward it with a vision aimed squarely at the podium. If you aren't familiar with this young man, he's an extraordinary Southern California sailor who has arguably raced his way into the sport's high echelons at the youthful age of 24.

Gibbs got his start early on in life thanks to his enthusiastic parents, who took him out club racing on the family Etchells just two weeks after he was born — a testament to both his and his mother's fortitude. Before the starting gun was fired, they stowed him in the spinnaker bag, making sure he stayed out of harm's way. But it would be years, four to be precise, before he began taking the tiller under a coach's supervision. "My dad asked the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club's junior sailing director, Brad Schaupeter, who's now the coach for UCSB's sailing team, if I could start [the youth program] early," says Gibbs. "Since I had a boat, they let me join in."

Having Schaupeter teaching him about rounding the buoys and such was pretty impressive. It turned out that his early competitors would become future professional teammates. "I started racing Sabots, actually racing against Hans Henken, Peter Kinney and his cousin Chris Barnard — these guys were my idols growing up." It's remarkable to note that Henken, Kinney and Barnard are now Gibbs' teammates in the American SailGP program. Gibbs eventually won his first major regatta at the Junior Sabot Nationals in 2010. Gibbs' far-sighted vision of sailing was instilled in him at around this time as reading about the larger world of sailing took precedence over his other reading assignments. "I remember growing up and going through elementary school, and I'd be reading Seahorse magazine when

I should have been reading Of Mice and Men or something like that," he says, laughing. "I think it's standard human nature — we're really drawn to acceleration," says Gibbs about his interest in sailing fast boats. "I really looked up to Hans growing up sailing

Sabots. When he jumped to 29ers, I decided that was for me." It wasn't long before he was winning medals in that class as well, taking home the silver with helmsman Quinn Wilson at the 2014 ISAF

Youth Worlds in Tavira, Portugal. Just two years later Gibbs and teammate Reeve Dunne competed in the 5O5 North American Championship in Bellingham, WA, and took home the gold. Among those who chased their transom were Howie Hamlin and Mike Martin, among other esteemed 5O5 competitors. The victory must have been sweet, as Gibbs was the youthful prodigy of a 'brain trust' that included Howie Hamlin, Mike Martin, Adam Lowry, Charlie Ogletree and Pease and Jay Glaser, whom Gibbs competed against and with in the 5O5 fleet. "I owe a lot to them because they helped me develop my work ethic and the drive behind it. They've all been there and been through it all, so it's really good to have their experience and expertise." By the next year Gibbs had moved on from the venerable world of the 5O5s and onto the even-faster Nacra 17. He and teammate Louisa Chafee won the 2017 Oakcliff Triple Crown Series in Oyster Bay, NY. Gibbs and Chafee then took a fourth in the 2018 World Cup Series in Marseille, France. The following year, Gibbs teamed up with Anna Weis. They won first place in the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, qualifying them for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. It was a short 10 years between the time that Gibbs had won his first championship in the Sabots to last August when he and Anna won the right to represent Team USA in Tokyo. For Gibbs, it's been a longtime dream. "Right after Anna and I qualified, my brother Sawyer wrote an amazing post on Instagram that brought back memories I hadn't thought about in a long time. It really hit me. Thinking back to when we were kids, Sawyer and I shared a room with bunk beds, and at night before falling asleep he and I would always talk about the Olympics, and what we wanted to do when we were older, and what we wanted to sail, where we wanted to sail to. I have to say between Sawyer and me, we were thinking about the Olympics from a really early age."

Riley, all geared up, appeared very much at ease aboard a Cal 20 with his family in Long Beach in 2001. Gibbs and Anna Weis after the medal ceremony at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, where they won gold medals.

Above: Jumping into the cockpit of the F50 while training on the Bay for SailGP in San Francisco in 2019. Below (l-r): Willie Mcbride, Quinn Wilson and Riley Gibbs, with coach Leandro Spina, won the 29er North Americans in 2014, qualifying for the 2014 Youth Worlds.

Remarkably, while competing worldwide in the mixed Nacra 17 fleet, Gibbs was chosen to crew in the inaugural SailGP season aboard Team USA in 2019. And, although the team struggled to gain traction that season, he'd been invited back this year as wing trimmer. Interviewed initially just prior to the coronavirus pandemic in late February, Gibbs spoke somewhat understatedly about participating in two very competitive programs simultaneously. "My schedule is pretty ambitious this year. To come straight off of qualifying for the Games and then head straight into SailGP to train for our first event of the season, Sydney SailGP, I think says a lot about my work ethic. It's great the teams are allowing me to take these opportunities — from both US Sailing and the US SailGP team side. Some people might think I'm stretched thin, but I'm really thankful for the opportunities I've been given and trying to take full advantage of them."

In a post-coronavirus conversation in early April, it was telling how challenging the handoff between the Nacra 17 world and the SailGP world actually was. Having completed four straight months of Nacra sailing and having both the 2019 and 2020 worlds so close together, Gibbs was getting tired. "I was pretty exhausted. I was trying to get away whenever I could, honestly just to try and rest because I knew everyone on the SailGP team was pretty driven coming off of a pretty terrible end

to season one. Everyone was coming into Sydney very driven and they really wanted to hit the ground running and I was just… I was completely spent. It's just so emotionally and physically draining; the Nacra trials are like nothing else I've ever experienced. Then going straight back into work — I mean, from the last day of the Nacra Worlds to the fi rst day being on the water on the 50 was three days, I think. And, we had to pack up two shipping containers of equipment during that time."

Gibbs returned from Sydney to the US just as the world began to shut down in response to the pandemic, rapidly cur-

tailing travel, sailing and life's many daily routines. Immediate plans to compete in Spain were scrubbed as were many other such events, including the 2020 Olympics.

All of a sudden Gibbs' professional life stopped virtually on a dime. Not having access to a gym, Gibbs still manages to keep up a regular physical training routine. "I've got a couple dumbbells and a couple of bands here and there. I've also got a TRX (suspension trainer) on order. Between that, running and riding my road bike is pretty much all I need for my cardio workout — you know, keeping safe and not really touching too much competitive sailing. US Sailing's teams are reshaping their agendas and training programs. "So, yeah, we're really going to try and prioritize domestic training, and we've got all of our containers with our equipment from around the world coming back to Long Beach. We've got the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, and that's only a few years away. I think it is a blessing in disguise; you know we're jump-starting the training locally and domestically." Ideally, this will keep sailors closer to home, cut down on expensive and time-consuming fl ights overseas, and reduce their carbon footprint. And, by all indications, Gibbs is getting a chance to catch up on some much-needed sleep. — ross tibbits

"I think it's standard human nature — we're really drawn to acceleration."

hopefully." Gibbs, his teammates and his coaches VOODOO VISIONS / HYDROFOIL PRO TOUR check in regularly via video conferencing and telephone conversations to ensure that morale and physical training are maintained during this downtime. There is a lot of YouTube activity too, guaranteeing good study of past racing events. "I'll talk with Taylor Canfi eld (fl ight controller), Rome Kirby (helmsman) and our coach Joe Glanfi eld — we all stay in communication with each other quite often. There's a lot of overlap between the comms used on the Nacra and the 50. It's quite similar sailing in regards to the foiling platforms so you've got to be really clear and concise when you're communicating." If it takes too long to ask a question or direct an action, tactical opportunities could be long gone.

On a side note, while practicing in Sydney, the team developed some new comms for their playbook. When doing a hard left at the top or bottom of the racecourse, they'll use the term "Bernie," and when going hard right — it's a "Trump."

But, all is not lost in the world of

Kite foiling in Botany Bay, New South Wales, Australia, in 2017.

Training with Howard Hamlin/Andy Zinn and sailing with Reeve Dunne ahead of the 2016 5O5 North Americans. Right: Brothers Sawyer and Riley Gibbs sailing Naples Sabots in 2008.