Bay Area Sailor Helena Scutt, Mechatronics Engineer for American Magic

When it comes to sailors, the Bay Area boasts its share of greats. Among them is Olympic sailor and mechanical engineer, 32-year-old Helena Scutt. Helena is currently in Barcelona, Spain, working with New York Yacht Club’s America’s Cup campaign as American Magic’s mechatronics engineer. (As what?) Here she chatted with Latitude 38 contributor Louis Kruk about some of the twists and turns that brought her to this moment.

By the way, mechatronics engineering is the integration of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, electronic engineering and software engineering (Wikipedia). It also includes robotics, computer science, telecommunications, systems, control, automation and product engineering and maintenance of machinery with electronic and computer control systems, such as aircraft and power generators, to work in the high-tech fields of automated systems and robotics. (Whew!) To this end, Helena Scutt is applying her mechanical engineering degree from Stanford University to negotiate the advanced interface between American Magic’s race crew and their highly technical boat. And let’s not forget, Helena Scutt is also a highly skilled and successful, racing sailor. How did this all evolve?

“My story has been one of always doing what is most interesting to me,” Scutt tells Louis Kruk, “which is a huge privilege.” A privilege that she attributes to her parents while adding that she has always enjoyed being at the forefront of rapid change and growth in sailing.

“For example,” Scutt continues, “the 29er was a relatively new class. I did a little bit of basic sailing and racing, and then very quickly my dad, who always sailed as a hobby, encouraged me to race the 29er.”

“There also were not so many girls crewing in the 29er,” she adds.

Scutt made the most of the 29er class, enjoying racing and winning. When in 2012 the 49erFX was named as the women’s Olympic class High Performance Skiff for the 2016 Rio Olympics, Scutt was one of the most experienced crews in the US, ” … and it was like hey … I love this, maybe I have a shot at the Games.” Scutt teamed up with Paris Henken for Rio. They placed 10th in the 49erFX.

Following Rio, Scutt took up sailing the Nacra, which had now become a foiling class. “I started campaigning in that boat, but ended up calling the campaign off after about a year and a half.” But it was enough to get her hooked on foiling, she tells Kruk. “I then decided to give the Moth a try. There were not very many women in the Moth class either, and it really put the fun back in sailing for me … after the intensity of Olympic campaigns.”

Between Olympic campaigns Scutt managed to complete her graduate engineering degree, and her master’s. A period of time during which she says she was “Olympic-campaigning nomadic all over the place.” Though it seems the nomadic phase isn’t over yet. The woman who was born in England, moved to Kirkland (east side of Seattle), WA, at age 2, and remained until the end of high school, has now spent the past 14 months in Barcelona. Prior to that she lived in Pacific Heights, San Francisco, for five years.

Scutt wasn’t always a sailor; for a time it appeared she could have a career in soccer.

“My dad always wanted me to sail,” she shares with Kruk, “since he thinks it’s such an interesting sport. But I was hooked on soccer. He told me, after I started sailing more, that every time I scored a goal he was like, ‘Damn it, another year of soccer.’ But I kind of burned out on soccer when I was about 15, and he encouraged me to give racing [sailing] a try.”

Thus began the illustrious sailing career of Helena Scutt — engineer and outstanding sailor. Scutt’s next onboard role will be in the Women’s America’s Cup where she will be trimming aboard the AC40. “On each AC40 there are two drivers and two trimmers.”

You can hear more about Helena Scutt and her sailing life on our Good Jibes podcast #29. You can also learn about Scutt’s Olympic sailor husband, Hans Henken, in Good Jibes #76 and Episode #135.