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my second year at university and I was the only guy in the Olympic squads who was sailing part-time. I decided to focus on getting my degree and then had plans to go back and have another go at 2008. I applied for jobs at the same time as my housemates and ended up on the graduate scheme for KPMG, starting in September 2003, and I have worked in the City ever since. So never did have another crack. In reality, I had fallen out of love for the sport. I no longer had the support structure around me e.g. family / coach for different reasons and as soon as I was on lottery funding the pressures really ratcheted up. Coupled with pressure to complete modules, essays and assignments for my degree (my second year counted for 50%), it all got a bit much. I did one event back in the UK in May 2002, which didn’t go to plan and I retired. Sold the boat and didn’t sail again competitively for nearly 2 years – I sailed for the university in the team racing and yachting, enjoyed myself a bit and got a 2:1 in History. What role does Sailing play in your life at the moment? In 2004 I received a call frommy brother, asking if I wanted to helm a 40ft yacht with him in a race. I agreed without realising that it was an offshore race and qualifier for the Rolex Commodores Cup, the top amateur yachting competition held every two years. The race went well, and I was signed up for the rest of the season. In fact, I ended up racing with that crew for 6 years, during which time we won three Farr 45 National Championships and a host of other regattas. I helmed for Ireland in the 2006 and 2008 Commodores Cup, podiumed twice (a second and a third) at the X35 World Championships in 2007 and 2008, and started racing offshore, competing three times in the Fastnet Race with the Dutch Tonnerre team. These days, I ammostly found racing with my dad on a Classic One Design – much more relaxed. I have also competed for the Old Alleynian’s a number of times over the years for the Arrow Trophy against other public schools out of Cowes. We have won it three times over the years and come in the top five a further seven times since 2006 – great kudos to the school for getting a team out each year and for running the event for the last three years. Any regrets? I do not have any regrets. It would have been great to have gone to the Games and had I made different decisions at different times who knows if I would have got there. I declined to crew for Leigh McMillan in the Tornado – he ended up going to the 2004 and 2008 Games and now crews for Ben Ainslie in the America’s Cup. I declined to crew for Chris Draper in the 49er in 2001 – he ended up going to the 2004 Olympics and has had a great career sailing for Softbank Team Japan, Luna Rossa and Team Korea in the America’s Cup. Ultimately I wanted to helmmyself – I had always been a helm in youth sailing and that was that. My life went in a different direction – degree, accountancy exams and now banking. If I look back, at the time there was no money in Sailing so it was a very easy decision. At the top, sailors are making a good living but there is a big gap between the top America’s Cup sailors and those making a living on the Solent. More like Rugby than Football in that regard. I still get to sail competitively, and I like to race against pro sailors – just to see if I still have it.
out of the National Sailing Centre in Portland, Weymouth trying to get up to speed. I was fortunate in that my History tutor was a keen sportsman and was happy to cover for me when I went off to compete in the Olympic Classes regattas – typically the season kicked off in Barcelona at the end of March with a warm-up event before heading to Palma for the opening event of the season in April. As you became more successful what compromises did you find yourself making? Howmuch of your life were giving over to sailing? At school I did not have to compromise too much. I was fortunate in that the Sports Masters were generally very supportive of my Sailing career so if there was a clash with Rugby or Hockey for example, I was able to sail and not necessarily lose my spot in the team the following weekend. I missed out on the odd party and post GCSE / A-Level trips with mates. With the arrival of lottery money for the Sydney 2000 games, most sailors went full time and as per the above, that was probably the compromise I needed to make to give myself a fighting chance. Apart from time on the water what other training did you have to do? I spent time in the gym, mainly on my upper body. I was aerobically fit from running / cycling and my back and legs were strong frommy Laser days, but we benefitted from fitness trainers who identified weaknesses and certainly I could have been stronger, but I wouldn’t say that negatively impacted my performance. What were your greatest achievement? I was the youngest sailor after Ben Ainslie to qualify for the Optimist World Championships in 1994 aged 12. In 2000, I was probably close my peak in terms of speed / tactics in the Laser Radial. I was 8th at the Youth World Championships that year but often think what if I had been able to spend more time sailing and less time studying. The top guys had been sailing at the venue for months. Can you put your finger on one day on the water when everything came together? Mind, body and boat? Honestly, no! I was lucky to have a couple of good training partners in the Optimist class, the Campbell- James brothers. We used to train all through the winter and between us won the 1994, 95, 96, 97 Optimist selection trials, the first big event of the year. No pain, no gain. I remember training in Falmouth between Christmas and New Year in 1994. Baltic. As with a lot of sports, time in the boat is very important. There are many variables in sailing so actually training on the waters where you are going to compete makes a big difference – wind, tide, waves, impact of the land masses etc. If I was to pick one time when I felt very quick in the boat, it was probably 2000 at the Laser Radial World Championships. I only had one warm-up regatta post A-Levels and I arrived a little dishevelled in Belgium frommy Leaver’s Ball the night before – may dad had driven through the night to get me to the start line! But I was quick, felt good in the boat. With a bit more time, I think I could have won the Worlds in Turkey but got 2 A’s and a B in my A-Levels, so it is all a balance. When did you realise that either you were not good enough to make it and or the time / effort / energy / cost was not worth it? Ultimately for me, I realised that I was not going to make the 2004 Olympics after the first two events of the 2002 season. I was mid-way through
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