Eight Bells for Jerry (JT) Thompson

By Carol Cronin

Snipe Class legend Jerry Thompson passed away quietly at home on December 20, 2014. Well-known around the world, “JT” was the embodiment of “Serious Sailing, Serious Fun.” His goal was to win on the water, and then go ashore and win the party too. 

My strongest memory of Jerry might not seem particularly flattering at first (to either of us), but I’m going to share it anyway because to me, it’s emblematic of his ability to laugh at himself (and others). In the 1990s, my first decade in the class, attending the Midwinter Championship meant piling onto Sherry and Bill Welch’s lovely boat Sails for a pizza party. It was Bill’s not-so-subtle attempt to offset some of the rum consumed by empty-stomached sailors at the grapefruit party on the deck at Clearwater Yacht Club. It was always a boisterous evening, and I’m sure we were well over the legal capacity (for both alcohol and people) on the night I remember; sailors were crammed into every possible corner.

…

JT was holding court in the galley area, telling stories about the “good old days” of the Class. I’d had a few rum-grapefruits myself, and when he started a new story with “I was driving to the 1953 Nationals when I blew a tire on the trailer,” I interrupted him. “Wait, wait!” I looked around at my fellow competitors. “Raise your hand if you were born in 1953.”

As I expected, only one or two hands went up. The rest burst out laughing.

After a pause, JT just continued telling his story, which focused on the trials and tribulations of trailering—something we could all relate to, no matter when we’d been born.

At the time, I was laughing at Jerry, as the older and not-necessarily-wiser class regular. Now that I’m on my way to becoming an older, not-necessarily-wiser class regular myself, I find myself laughing with him about the same moment. JT never stopped doing what he loved, showing us all how to age gracefully in a class where he’d known a lot of triumphs. They say the slide down the hill is harder than the climb up, but JT slid gracefully—thanks in large part to Mandi, who made it possible for him to keep showing up long past the day most of us would’ve stopped making the effort.

JT often teased me for taking the racing too seriously and not showing up for enough of the parties, and he was right—but I know my strengths and weaknesses, and it would’ve been impossible for me to keep up with him, even in his later years. He balanced the sailing and the fun beautifully, though never, ever, “in moderation.”

Sail on, JT. The Snipe world will be a quieter place without you.

Video: Inteview with Jerry Thompson