David ‘Freddie’ Carr has re-signed with British Challenger, INEOS Britannia, for his sixth America’s Cup Campaign, and third consecutive Campaign with the British Challenger.
“After New Zealand, I felt I had a huge amount of unfinished business. To be able to come back as a cyclor and challenge again for Britain means everything to me”
Freddie grew up on the Isle of Wight, completely immersed in the sport of sailing as his father, Rod Carr OBE, was a coach at the National Sailing Centre at the time. Freddie was never ‘pushed’ into sailing, but instead was just one of the five sports he participated in and enjoyed, growing up.
Freddie clearly remembers seeing, now Team Principal and Skipper, Ben Ainslie take home silver at the 1992 Atlanta Olympic Games. It was that moment that Freddie realised, “that’s what I want to do.”
In 2000, Freddie headed South to Auckland and won the Youth Match Racing World Championships. While in Auckland, Freddie got his first glimpse of the America’s Cup. “I will never forget how grand it was, the match between New Zealand and Prada [Challenge]. It was, and still is, the top of the sporting world. It became something that I have wanted to win more than anything in the world.”
Fast forward three years, and Freddie got himself an internship with GBR Challenge in Cowes for the summer, and subsequently spent all of his next two and a half years of university breaks training with the team in Auckland. The learnings that Carr was grounded in from that experience got him invited to join the Swedish Victory Challenge for the 2007 America’s Cup in Valencia. Freddie secured a position as the main grinder on the racing crew for that 32nd America’s Cup.
Since 2007, Freddie has been part of four more America’s Cup Campaigns: Team Origin (AC33), Luna Rossa (AC34), Ben Ainslie Racing (AC35), INEOS TEAM UK (AC36). With 19 years of experience, Freddie has witnessed just how much the America’s Cup world has evolved. “Over the past decade, grinders have been growing more aerobically athletic, moving towards continuous power output with the arms.” When the Protocol came out for the 37th America’s Cup announcing that power output could now come from the legs, however, it stopped Freddie in his tracks.
“For the first time ever, my America’s Cup journey was in flux. I didn’t see what my next stop was, I couldn’t see a clear journey. I had to make a conscious decision that for the next four months I had to train as a cyclist to see if my scores could add value to the team, as well as continue to add value as a sailor.”
To be re-joining the British Challenger as a cyclor for his sixth America’s Cup, it's the team he gets to work with that keeps bringing Freddie back to the team. “The thing that I love the most about the Cup is working with this group of people: the teammates, the culture, the people, the common goal. Everything just flows.”
Speaking about Freddie re-joining the team, Ben Ainslie added:
“Freddie is a hugely passionate sailor who is all about winning the America’s Cup for Britain. He has a huge amount of experience, as now one of our more senior sailors on the team. His athletic natural capability combined with his work ethic and determination, he is a huge part of the engine room on the AC75, and the whole team.”
More so than ever, Freddie feels, “completely humbled and very proud” to be joining INEOS Britannia as another opportunity to fulfill a dream he has had since he was 18 years old, to win the America’s Cup.
Image: © C GREGORY