Navy intercollegiate sailing coach Ian Burman knew Joseph “JC” Hermus was a talented skipper when he recruited him out of Bellport, New York.
Hermus had competed internationally in the Optimist dinghy class and trained for several years with a top-flight regional program.
However, Burman’s excitement about the incoming prospect rose to another level after Hermus took a week off from plebe summer to compete in the Youth Sailing World Championship.
Hermus returned to Annapolis with a gold medal after winning the International 420 class. He and crew Walter Henry beat the runner-up team from Australia by a comfortable margin of 11 points.