Blog

By Tyler Colvin
Sailing is a sport often associated with the privileged, so the rags-to-riches story line seems out of place.  While this may not be a nothing-to-everything story, it is, one of perseverance and dedication to a craft.  This dedication created a unique way of life for Tucker Thompson, who recently signed on as the Official TV and Public Host for the 35^th America’s Cup.
In the summer of 1991, a young Thompson needed a new Sunfish sail.  He got a job at McDonalds, bought a new sail and hitched a ride to Tawas, Michigan.  That summer he won the Junior North American Sunfish Championships.
“Sailing has defined me and has literally given me a life in a way that nothing else ever could,” said Thompson, “…sailing has taken me to St. George’s School in Newport, RI (a sailor’s dream), college at St. Mary’s where I really learned to compete, the professional match racing circuit where I traveled all over the world, a home in Annapolis, MD, a year in New Zealand with the America’s Cup, and now a career covering the Cup on TV.”
At a young age Thompson knew he wanted to host sailing on TV, but the path wasn’t clearly defined. “I have known since I was 14 years old that I wanted to host sailing on TV. What I didn’t know is that we’d have to invent the road to do so because no one was really hiring for that! But sailing has always been my primary focus and my ultimate passion. I knew I wanted to do it professionally, I knew I wanted to travel the world, I knew I wanted to sail on an America’s Cup team, and I knew I couldn’t shift into the media side of the sport until I had the credibility of doing all of that first. I made the shift a few years after sailing in the America’s Cup trials in New Zealand, and it took a few years while I was doing both. By 2003 I had stopped sailing professionally and committed full time to sailing coverage.”
In the year 2000, Thompson founded T2P.TV with Bruce Nairn and began his road to what ended up essentially creating a niche within the sailing media industry.  From Tucker, on the inspiration from T2P, “The idea for T2P really came about because no one else was covering the sport outside of its main global events. We started the company as a marketing vehicle for sailing sponsors and quickly evolved into producing video coverage for those companies. The AC, Olympics, and Volvo were being covered. We focused on everything else. They were broadcast on TV. We were the first to put sailing shows on the Internet.”
Not only was the outlet unique, but the timeline and cost point were as well.  “They took weeks or months to produce a show. We invented a style of production that enabled us to produce a finished show the same day and play them at the tent party as well as worldwide online. They cost hundreds of thousands (of dollars). We cost a fraction of that.”
This idea of live sailing coverage was a new concept at the time and the learning curve was steep.  “We had to teach ourselves literally everything from producing, shooting, editing, and commentating – and we did it LIVE with no mistakes!” Said Thompson. “Also, we had invented a new concept so we basically had to sell an idea to events and organizers who had never seen it.”  The biggest sponsor in sailing, Rolex, was signed on one five-minute cold call.  “I remember when we signed Rolex, the biggest sponsor in sailing, in one five minute cold call to someone we had never met. I told him we would deliver five complete daily shows to play each day in the tent and online and a post event DVD. He said, “If you can deliver all of that for this price you’re hired!” He paid us in full before we even showed up to the event, and we’ve worked for Rolex ever since.”  This was a truly revolutionary concept as evidenced by Rolex’s keen interest.

Since then, Thompson has gone on to cover numerous events including the 2007 America’s Cup as a voice commentator and producer for shows on the Swedish Match Tour, Congressional Cup, J-Class and the Land Rover Amazing Race II to name a few.
Recently officially signed with the 35^th America’s Cup in Bermuda as the TV and Public Host, Thompson loves the speed and the lengths to which the team is going to make sailing accessible.  “The most exciting thing about the new America’s Cup Class is that now anyone can be blown away by their amazing speed and what they are doing on the racecourse. When my 5 yr. old son a few years ago was mesmerized by what he saw on TV I realized they had succeeded in reaching and audience well beyond sailing!”
Thompson quickly found that the exciting rate at which these enormous boats are moving also makes them difficult to cover.  “The biggest challenge covering these boats from my perspective as an announcer is in trying to get across how difficult they are to sail because on TV they are so stable on the foils and it’s tough to understand what the guys are really going through on board.”  He enjoys covering match racing and the America’s Cup brings him back to the roots from which Thompson and Nairn came from before founding the company.
It wasn’t always foiling AC boats in Bermuda for Thompson though, as is the case most of the time, the climb to the top was a long arduous one.  Because the industry is so small, finding a niche can be tough. “…it is very hard to carve out a living in such a small industry. But for those who are willing to put in the effort there are great rewards.” Said Thompson, “To get involved, as in anything else, you should talk to anyone and everyone who has done it, put your hand up for any ride, job, or event that will help you, and be willing to work selflessly and hard at it. Look at sailing as a job, and your job is to make the boat go as fast as possible, achieve the goals of the owner or team, and work as hard as you possibly can whatever the task. If you do all of that you will get noticed, and when the opportunities come – jump on them.” 
From McDonalds to a media suite in Bermuda, Tucker Thompson has certainly made the most of his opportunities.