I wonder if sailing will ever manage to
have one of its stars fully recognised in the BBC’s Sports Personality of the
Year. Ellen came the closest when she finished runner-up, but despite his
awesome achievements Ben Ainslie couldn’t even make it into the top three. It’s
easy to see why; when cycling star Chris Hoy could boast of multiple Olympic
medals from Beijing, Ben ‘only’ came back with one.
The fact that sailing is a
sport where there is only the possibility of getting one medal at each Games
leads one to wonder how many more times Ben needs to win gold to get full
recognition? Maybe 2016?
Of all the awards, it was the unsung hero
award that touched me most; 70-year-old veteran boxing coach and fundraiser Ben
Geyser was lost for words… but did you know that sailing had its own representative
in the shortlist? Bowmoor Sailing Club president Don Cannon won the BBC West
award - a founder member of Bowmoor SC in the mid-1970s, he has worked
tirelessly for the past 30 years to ensure club users have continued to enjoy
access to first-class facilities. Aged 75, he continues to play an active role
on the committee and sails whenever he can. Having just been to my own sailing
club AGM — which included something I’ve not come across before; a prizegiving
to recognise some of the contributions made by club members behind the scenes —
I was reminded how reliant we are as a sport on the support of volunteers. Huge
numbers of people give their time and expertise to run our massive network of
clubs and classes across the country… they make the sport what it is, and
deserve every bit of recognition they get.
Part of the secret of full recognition
comes through television coverage, and that's where our sport often loses out.
However, sailing’s television coverage of the Beijing Olympic Games was recognised
as 'The Best Sports Coverage by the Host Broadcaster' at the International
Olympic Committee's ‘Olympic Golden Rings’ ceremony recently. I’m not quite
sure how they figured that one out, but Ben’s commentary on the final Star race
has to be one of my top moments of 2008.
As this is my first post of 2009, that
leads me to recall a few of my other highs… winning the Primo Cup in the SB3;
interviewing the Olympic team at the Dinghy Show; racing my 200 at the RS
anniversary regatta; the second race on day two of the RS Eurocup in Lake Garda
- a serious game of snakes and ladders, we were in tune with the shifts and
somehow ended the day lying second overall; coming back from Cowes in a rib on
an utterly still, black night; tight racing in the 400 during Chichester
Harbour Federation Week; sailing on Alex Thomson’s Open 60 ‘Hugo Boss’; jumping
back in an Europe dinghy again for the first time in years and last, but not
least, the fantastic feedback we received from the first monthly issue of
Yachts & Yachting.
Talking of unsung heroes, there is a huge
team behind the magazine and each issue is a credit to them, and to all the magazine's readers. If you're one of them, thank you for all your support.
