Unsung heroes and BBC Sport's Personality of the Year

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.

The right class selection for 2012?

What was it Will Carling so famously said about ‘37 old farts’? I’m sorry, but that quote came to mind after the recent ISAF conference and decision on Olympic equipment.

I’m sure there was a lot of good reasoning behind the scenes – there are some great names on the various committees, our sport is well represented in the Olympics, and we have governing bodies that tend to do the sport proud, both worldwide and with the RYA in the UK. But I can’t help feeling the Olympic equipment is stuck in a bit of a time warp, and feel particularly disappointed regarding the selection for the women’s events. Quite simply, for the girls, I don’t really see anything I’d really want to sail. While the men at least have the Finn (which by all accounts is fantastic to sail) and the 49er (an awesome boat which makes me wish I was bigger), to my mind, and for many other female sailors, there isn’t anything really decent among the women’s line-up.

I understand the desire to increase participation – and on that front the Laser has done a fantastic job in increasing the number of nations. But the Olympics are supposed to be the pinnacle of our sport; the athletes the best in the world. Other sports use the very latest hi-tech equipment, so surely the Games should be a shop window for the sport the world over? While I understand the compromise to be made in some areas, this could be offset with other classes at the very top end. Just imagine the impact a foiling class, for example, would have, not just for sailors, but also for non-sailors. I’m certain it would capture people’s imaginations.

There are plenty of possibilities, but for me the essentials should include the Laser and Laser Radial (men’s and women’s singlehanders – for accessibility), 49er (men’s skiff), 29erXX or other (women’s skiff), Foiling class (possibly open), multihull class (possibly mixed), and a men’s and women’s doublehanded dinghy… I have mixed views about the options when it comes to the other classes, so I’ll stop there.

Meanwhile I’ll just have to swallow my disappointment that London 2012 might not have the most spectacular sailing classes it could have done, and hope instead that by 2016 we will see a better mix.

To defend from ahead, or challenge from behind?

While the light winds were producing a high scoring regatta at the Olympic Games in Qingdao, one had to reflect on the contrast with the conditions at Skandia Cowes Week, where the breeze produced plenty of material for this issue’s feature on coping with gear failure! Somehow Cowes always seems to deliver at least a few days of big breeze, but it usually has at least one light day as well. Although I love the excitement of sailing when the wind is up, it has to be said that the best championships are those that encompass a variety of conditions and test crews across the wind range. In this respect Cowes delivered, although one could have done without the amount of rain, which meant regular soakings afloat and ashore.

I enjoyed a real contrast of sailing during the week. sailing on the J/92 ‘Neilson Redeye’ for a couple of days, with a big crew, fun racing in the J-Sprit class, and courses that took us on a tour of the western Solent. There was the extra challenge of a changing crew each day, with most of us not having sailed together before. Despite the rain and odd boat-handling mishap as positions on the boat were juggled, it was a lot of fun! 

Even the long days were to prove another contrast, as I joined Chris Darling and Alastair Shaw on ‘Darling Associates’ in the 90-boat SB3 fleet, where we were back ashore by lunchtime most days. Having won the Primo Cup earlier in the year, it was great to sail together again, and even better that we also had Sian to make us up to a four-man crew – a real advantage with the Solent to navigate as well as sailing the boat. A long, close-tacking beat up the Gurnard shore on Thursday morning will be one of  the highlights of my year. By then we were fourth overall, but had to suffer the pain of dropping to seventh on the final day… it’s always a shame when that happens as it tends to dampen what otherwise would be celebrated as a fantastic result.

How scary then must it be for those of our Olympic sailors going into the meal race in a good position… with a counting result that will be doubled, when the conditions are likely to be all over the place, it will surely be a case of  a lot to lose for the leaders, and an exciting chance to snatch a victory for those scraping into the top 10 with a lot of points to make up and nothing to lose. I’m not sure who I’d rather be…