Navy alumni capture back-to-back J/70 Corinthian World Championships
By Brian Hradsky
A group of United States Naval Academy sailing alumni proved that championship chemistry can last for decades, capturing the 2026 J/70 Corinthian World Championship in Marseille, France.
Sailing aboard Hedgehog, skipper Alec Cutler, Class of 1988, teamed with Charles Pucciariello ’89, Keith Davids ’90 and Brad Rodi ’93 to win the amateur world championship by 10 points. The victory gave the Navy-heavy crew its second consecutive Corinthian World Championship after also winning the title in 2025.
Navy crew beats international field
The championship brought together 88 teams representing 20 countries for five days of racing on the Mediterranean Sea.
The J/70 is a 24-foot high-performance keelboat normally sailed by a crew of four or five. The Corinthian championship is reserved for amateur competitors, making it one of the premier events in the class for non-professional sailors.
Hedgehog did not begin the competition perfectly.
The Navy alumni crew opened with a 27th-place finish, which eventually became its discard result. From there, the team put together a remarkably consistent series.
Hedgehog followed with finishes of second, first, second, 11th, fourth and third, compiling just 23 net points and separating itself from the international field.
That consistency ultimately produced the 10-point championship margin.
Decades of Navy sailing experience
The connection between the four sailors goes back to their time at the Naval Academy.
All four competed under longtime Navy sailing coach Gary Bodie, developing many of the same techniques and terminology that still help the group communicate aboard Hedgehog decades later. Cutler said that shared background gives the team an advantage because the sailors essentially speak the same sailing language.
Their collegiate résumés are impressive as well.
Collectively, the Hedgehog crew earned 12 All-America honors while competing at Navy. Rodi was twice named College Sailor of the Year.
The group has continued competing at high levels long after graduating from Annapolis, including involvement in Olympic trials and international sailing competitions.
Cutler, Davids and Rodi also remain involved with the Naval Academy through the USNA Fales Committee, which advises the superintendent on sailing-related matters including fleet management, professional development and the Academy’s sailing programs.
Different lineup, same result
Hedgehog also captured the 2025 Corinthian World Championship in Marblehead, Massachusetts.
The championship lineup changed slightly this year. Ryan Cox ’95 sailed with the team in 2025, while Davids joined the championship crew for the 2026 defense.
Despite the lineup change, the result remained the same.
The veteran Navy group successfully defended its title against a deeper international fleet and difficult Mediterranean conditions.
Navy connection extends beyond competition
Perhaps the most notable part of the championship is how long the relationships among the sailors have lasted.
Davids pointed to Hedgehog as an example of the friendships that can develop during a midshipman’s time in Annapolis and endure long after graduation.
That connection has now resulted in consecutive world championships.
It also demonstrates the lasting impact of Navy’s sailing program, which has long been a distinctive part of the Academy’s athletic and professional-development environment.
Next challenge: the Open World Championship
Hedgehog’s international schedule is not finished.
Following the Corinthian championship, the Navy alumni crew planned to travel to Cascais, Portugal, for the J/70 Open World Championships.
Unlike the Corinthian event, the Open World Championship includes the world’s top professional teams, creating an even greater challenge for the veteran Navy crew.
After winning consecutive amateur world titles, however, Hedgehog will enter the event with considerable momentum.
MSB Take
This is one of those Navy stories that deserves more attention than it will probably receive nationally.
Winning one world championship is difficult. Winning it again against 88 teams from 20 nations makes the accomplishment significantly more impressive.
What makes this story especially fitting for the Naval Academy is the continuity behind it.
Cutler, Pucciariello, Davids and Rodi learned to sail together through the Navy program decades ago. They built relationships, learned a common system and carried those lessons with them well beyond Annapolis.
Now they are world champions again.
The fact that the crew includes 12 combined All-America honors and a two-time College Sailor of the Year shows just how much talent Navy sailing produced during that era. But championships this far removed from college competition also require preparation, communication and trust.
Those characteristics fit the Navy athletic culture perfectly.
Hedgehog’s next test against professional crews in Portugal will be considerably tougher, but back-to-back Corinthian world championships have already established this group of Navy alumni as one of the best amateur J/70 crews in the world.
