Alec Cutler and his Hedgehog crew came from behind to capture a maiden Melges 32 title on the final day of the Quantum Key West 2014 regatta in Florida yesterday.

The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club skipper edged Dalton DeVos and Delta on a countback after the two teams remained tied after discarding their worst score.

Helly Hansen Inga from Sweden, helmed by Richard Goransson, finished third in the seven-boat Melges 32 fleet.

Cutler held it together when it mattered most, nailing a clean start off the line and making steady gains at both ends of the racetrack en route to victory in the final race of the ten-race series contested for in 20-plus knot breezes.

The crew of Hedgehog underlined their dominance by leading the fleet over all five legs of the final race before crossing the finish to chalk up a fourth win of the series.

Cutler trailed overnight leader DeVos by a point going into the final race and with no margin for error proved equal to the task at hand.

“It was good that we knew what we needed to do and did it,” Cutler told The Royal Gazette. “Today was the equivalent of having a two-minute drill in football and it was really satisfying for us to execute that drill. It was pretty much flawlessly and there is nothing I would have done differently today.”

Cutler made the perfect start after crossing at the favoured end of the line, while DeVos had to restart after going over early farther down the line.

“It was all about winning the race and we knew the boat end was favoured, so we were just focused on winning the boat end and we did what we set out to do and just put the hammer down and went fast,” Cutler said.

After making several tacks on the favoured left side of the racetrack to cover the chasing pack on the first beat, Cutler rounded the windward marker with a comfortable lead and managed to keep clean air on his sails the rest of the way.

“We had a 45-second lead on that first mark and from there we just played it safe,” he said. “Upwind, we focused on doing seven knots and downwind we just sailed as fast as we could and tried to minimise the gybes because you can lose the whole race on a gybe.”

With his title hopes hanging by a thread going into the final race, Cutler admitted that the pressure was on for he and his crew to come through in the clutch.

“Normally I have a Red Bull before every start, but there was enough pressure that I did not have my Red Bull today,” he said. “We have been in this position so many times and we used it to get motivated, so I didn’t need a Red Bull before the start.”

Cutler praised his crew for holding their end of the bargain. “The team works really well together and it is a crew full of people who really focus on doing their job well,” he said. “We have people who really try hard to do a wonderful job at what they do and I think that is a big key.”

Delta finished second followed by Helly Hansen Inga from Sweden in third.

Also flying Bermuda’s banner in Florida was Chuck Millican who placed 37th in the 60-boat J-70 class aboard Elusive.