Paris Henken glances over her shoulder and takes in a Waszp going through its paces on Alamitos Bay in a wispy midmorning breeze. It’s a warm and sunny Mother’s Day, and the Alamitos Bay YC is already abuzz with the brunch crowd taking seats and sailors rigging in the boatyard. Henken and her sailing partner, Helena Scutt—both of whom are ABYC members and new residents in Long Beach, California—have walked to the club from their homes nearby. They’re now full-time residents of the sailing venue of the 2028 Olympics. They’re both clearly relaxed and excited to be where they are in life right now—teammates again in the 49erFX.
“I grew up in San Diego sailing Sabots, and I’m looking behind me here at ABYC, where I learned to race from age 10, then as a youth sailor, I’d come here every year in the 29er for the CISA Racing Clinic,” says Henken, 29. “I have been familiar with this area for a very long time.”
For Henken, the time between those foundational clinics and returning to her childhood sailing ground has included completing a college degree at the College of Charleston, where she sailed three Olympic campaigns all in the 49erFX—placing 10th with Scutt in Rio in 2016 when she was just 19, and two with Anna Tunnicliffe (Tokyo and Paris), losing both times in the Trials to Maggie Shea and Stephanie Roble.
Scutt’s path to the Olympic scene was different, but by no means less spectacular. Learning to sail at the age of 15, Scutt immersed herself in the sport, competing in her first Olympic Games at age 22. She completed a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford, became a Moth Class world champion, and had the distinction of being the only woman on the New York YC’s American Magic design team for the 37th America’s Cup.
Los Angeles Calling
With LA2028 on the horizon, unfinished Olympic business was all-consuming for Henken. The FX had been in the back of her mind since the 2024 Trials. She came up empty-handed after some crew scouting with the assistance of America One Racing (A1R), and then recalled an out-of-the-blue conversation with Scutt. On that call, Scutt had nonchalantly mentioned that she’d been thinking about FX sailing again.
“I thought Helena was calling me to catch up, because she’s my sister-in-law and we hadn’t seen each other in so long, then all of a sudden she brings up FX sailing, and I was like, ‘Whoa!’” Henken says with a laugh.
Realizing she had a lifetime to follow her engineering career, Scutt jumped on the opportunity to capitalize on more than a decade of exceptional sailing experiences. And competing on her home turf for a medal was an opportunity not to be missed.
“There’s nothing like the FX for me,” says Scutt, 32. “I love doublehanded sailing, working with somebody else, and the FX rewards being in sync in a way that I haven’t found in another boat. It’s fast and I like trapezing, but for me it’s about teamwork.”
Within days of teaming up, the pair headed to Palma for the first regatta of this year’s new Sailing Grand Slam Series. At the Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca (Spain), they had a terrific first regatta together, finishing eighth in a 46-strong fleet. “We’ve never had such a short lead-up, so we weren’t sure how it was going to go in Palma,” Henken says, “but it was all about getting racing experience with the competition.”
A few weeks later, the duo were in Hyeres, France. Rather than teams splitting into gold and silver fleets, this regatta was one fleet of 38 boats. Having never sailed an FX regatta with that many boats on the line, which the pair found competitive and challenging, Henken and Scutt secured second overall after 15 exhausting races.
“It was a marathon,” Henken says. “That was five days of three races per day with a medal race. We just kept solidifying what we knew how to do well in our control, and anything else we couldn’t control was about adapting. We could have won the regatta right at the end if I had called a better layline at the finish. Nonetheless, we surprised ourselves, and it’s exciting to know that we are competitive at the beginning of this journey.”
The competition is hard to pick right now, Scutt acknowledges. “It’s not lost on us that a lot of teams took a break after the Games, but we’re excited to already be beating teams who have just done the Games.”
Combined efforts over multiple campaigns places Henken and Scutt in an enviable position; both agree it is different doing a quad at age 30 versus 20. They have four years to work on this next quad, which is two more they’ve had in each of their previous campaigns. Not having to start over with a new crew is a big deal.
“With Helena, we are exponentially more steps forward than I would have been with anyone else because I know her and she knows the boat,” Henken says. “It takes so much time to be really good at this boat; the past 10 years of my life have catered toward Olympic sailing, and now I have all the tools and skill to make anything happen.”
Scutt agrees: “When I know what I want, I move pretty quickly, and this is why we jumped into a pretty competitive calendar right off the bat. I’m really excited that I bring a lot of skills that I wouldn’t have otherwise had if I had kept sailing the boat (after Rio), as far as technical aspects and being in faster boats than skiffs, and even the management experience is helpful.”
Together the Quad Squad
Scutt and Henken feel fortunate to be two of nine athletes selected to be part of the elite America 1 Racing Team for this next quad, with its emphasis on performance planning around elements such as scheduling, training, fitness and logistics.
“They know us very well as people and athletes,” Scutt says. “Our funding is not contingent upon our performance; they are not worried about results because they believe in our abilities, so we can focus on being professional athletes. Their help takes the weight of fundraising off our shoulders.”
Not forgetting that the Henken-Scutt union now includes a bronze medalist in the family, the pair are more motivated than ever to set their sights high for 2028. They’ve quickly adapted to the systems and processes that brought Hans Henken and teammate Ian Barrows their medals in Marseille. With a prior commitment for Palma, coach Willie McBride joined the pair very recently, so Henken coached his wife and sister for that regatta.
“It was really cool,” Scutt says with a broad smile. “Hans knows the boats inside and out, just as Paris knows the FX, so we benefitted from their combined knowledge. He really emphasizes the process and the mindset, and he’s coming at it from the athlete’s perspective, not necessarily that of a coach. He can also be super-honest with both of us; there is no beating around the bush.”
The Henken-Scutt duo are off to an enviable start; next up, the pair will race the 2025 European Championship in Thessaloniki, Greece, in June, followed by the fifth and final regatta of the Sailing Grand Slam Series, the Long Beach Olympic Classes Regatta, in July. The 49erFX World Championship in Cagliari, Italy, in October, will be one final check of the year’s progress.
“We’ve already had great success, and we can’t guarantee an end result,” Henken says, “but we can guarantee that we will try to do everything we can to be successful in 2028.”
