FROM THE EXPERTS
CENTER OF EFFORTBY KIMBALL LIVINGSTON
Q You won’t hear the Cowles
twins singing their way to the
finish line of a close race. But if
their last race took something
out of them, you might hear a
tune rising while they recharge.
Or maybe they’re on top of the
world, and they need to let it
rip. Are they the only team that
sings on the racecourse? “Oh
no, but I’m not sure everybody
will admit it.”
Maybe that is Carmen speak-
ing. She’s older and wiser by
2 minutes. Or is it Emma?
When two people are as close
as these two, does it matter?
At 18, the Cowles twins are
a success story, US Sailing’s
2018 Rolex Yachtswomen of
the Year and quickly stepping
up to new challenges in a newclass. The first experience for
Emma and Carmen in their new
ride, an Olympic 470, was prac-
ticing against their former fleet
of International 420s. There
was no point speed testingagainst slower boats, Emma
says, “So we worked on boat-
handling in a boat that loads up
a lot more quickly. That was in
our favor when we finally did our
first race in a 470 fleet, and wehad never crossed another 470,
and we weren’t used to the clo-
sure rates. It went something
like this:
“‘Are we going to cross?’
“Yes, we’ll cross.
“Maybe not.
“Tack, tack, tack!”
The key to the voting for
the Rolex award was the twins’
overwhelming win, seven bul-
lets in nine races at the 2018
World Sailing Youth Worlds in
the i420, their second consec-
utive Youth Worlds win. This
was backed by high finishes in
open i420 regattas: The North
Americans, for example, where
they placed third overall, and
Kiel Week, fourth overall as the
top girls’ team in both events.
Call it the culmination of
stepping into Optis at age
9 when their parents, cruis-
ing members of Larchmont
YC, started them in the junior
program simply to get them
comfortable on the waters of
Long Island Sound, never imag-
ining their latent killer instincts.
When the twins startedOn Stage,
The Cowles Duet
These young Rolex Yachtswomen of the Year
are blazing their own path, lock and stepAfter aging out of the Optimist
class, Carmen and Emma Cowles
transitioned quickly to the top
of the International 420 class
under coach Steve Keen.
PHOTOS SAILING ENERGY/
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