Paul Brotherton - a madforsailing profile

The man whose passion for sailing only just outweighs his enthusiasm for Manchester United ...

Where were you born?
Oldham, Manchester.

What’s your date of birth?
11th July 1966.

What age did you start sailing?
Sailing at age four and racing at seven.

What was your first regatta win?
It wasn’t a regatta but winning the Blackpool and Fleetwood Eskimo pursuit race at 14 was ace!

What’s your biggest championship win?
1998 49er Europeans.

Any other notable regatta wins you’d like to mention?
Sixth in the Olympics 1992 , third in the 470 Worlds.

Where did you grow up?
Oldham.

What job do you do?
Professional sailor and coach.

If you weren’t doing the job you are, what would you be doing instead?
I served an engineering apprenticeship to stop my mum from nagging, so I suppose I'd be an engineer at Cobden Chadwick Ltd.

What other sports do you do outside sailing?
Football, cycling - anything I can.

Any other hobbies or interests?
The glorious Manchester United and the not-so-glorious England - forget Sven the Scandahooligan, we want Rod Carr for England!

Favourite method of relaxing?
Being in a position where I have nothing to do and nowhere to go, it happened once!

Favourite bar or pub?
Mare and Foal in Oldham or the ex-Wellies in Hamble, which is where I met my wife.

What inspired you to take up sailing?
A boring family holiday in the Lake District when I was three and my Mum saw a boat and decided it was something we could all do together.

Where was your first sailing club?
Fairfield Sailing Club in Stockport.

Which class did you first race in?
Enty.

How did you buy your first boat?
It was a seven year old 470 from Nigel Musto, bought with a bank loan. It was just the hull. I was working on the shop floor at Proctors so I persuaded them to give me a rig. At the first event we did we had no sails, so we borrowed some of Ado Stead's. It was all a bit of a joke really!

Have you ever used a coach?
Yes, lots; Jim Saltonstall, Chris Benedict, Rob Andrews, Sparky, and Jo Richards who's a wizard.

Do you have any professional links to the sport?
Yes.

What’s your most memorable moment in sailing?
The last 30 meters of the last race of the Olympics, watching silver, bronze, fourth and fifth slip away.

What’s your biggest remaining goal in sailing?
The big golden gonk!

How much time do you spend on the water each week?
Currently zero! But when I'm campaigning it's about three to four hours a day, six days a week.

Do you have a sponsor, and if so, who?
Ronstan, Musto and the World Class Performance programme.

Who are your sailing heroes and why?
Robin Boardman, Alan Johnson and Mike Budd - because they all went out of their way to encourage me when I was a kid.

What is the best excuse you’ve ever made for a poor performance in a race?
He only beat me because he went faster in the right direction.

What’s your favourite sailing venue?
I've sailed all over the world and you can't beat Glossop and District in a 20 knot westerly breeze on a sunny day!

What’s the single thing that could most improve the running of championship regattas?
Public executions of race officers who keep you waiting between races for no reason.

What’s your greatest strength in sailing?
Passion and commitment.

What’s your greatest weakness in sailing?
Not always controlling my passion and commitment.

What’s the single most important piece of advice you could give to younger sailors?
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes just make sure you understand the reasons for your mistakes.

Would you rather sail with your friends - or with Russell Coutts?
There is no sailing better than the 49er and Russell is good, but not that good!!!!!!!

Who’s the best sailor in Britain?
Too hard, but I respect Jo Richards and Neal McDonald for their background knowledge and diverse experience.

Who’s the best sailor in the world?
The best guys I have sailed against are Jordi Calafat and Kiko Sanchez, Chris Nicholson and Dan Phillips, and of course John Merricks and Ian Walker.

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