Econ major selected to sail Transpac next summer

Kit Will ’07

After a week of intense competition in Hawaii, Kit Will ’07 has been selected as one of just 15 young sailors to crew “Morning Light” in next summer’s 44th Transpacific Yacht Race. And there’s an added bonus—the sailors will be the cast of a documentary being produced and distributed by Disney.

“I think most people are turned off at the idea of spending eight to 10 exhausting, sleep-deprived days and nights on an uncomfortable boat constantly flying across waves,” Will said, “but there is nothing else I’d rather do.”

The 15 chosen sailors are the youngest ever to sail what’s known as Transpac, from Los Angeles to Hawaii over 2,225 nautical miles in the longer of the two oldest ocean races in the world.

Risk, effort and danger are the thorns intrinsic in Will’s lifelong passion—sailing—but sailing is in Will’s blood; he’s been at it since the age of 8. His great-grandfather, Thomas McManus, designed Gloucester fishing schooners in the early 20th century, and his nautical talent was certainly passed down through the generations.

As a high school student at Milton Academy, Will’s sailing team won the National Team Racing Championships and the next year he was elected captain. Separate from the CC sailing team, where he plays a key role in the varsity program, he was given a spot on “Carina,” a 48-foot sloop, for the well-known, Newport to Bermuda race which takes about four or five days to complete. This year, in the same race, his boat finished second out of 150 boats.

Will is majoring in economics at CC, but says that he has “always thought about a career as a professional sailor.” Knowing it is an extremely competitive field, Will recognizes that the publicity he would receive and the skills he would gain through this program’s intensive training would offer him a professional boost.

From the time the sailors stepped off the plane in Los Angeles for the selection trials they were filmed. They did not have any professional help during the race.

“I thought I had a pretty good chance, and later I thought I wouldn’t make it,” Will said. “It was a real roller coaster.”

- Erin Lee Burdett ’08