Young gun update

Almost 18ft skiff world champion Rob Greenhalgh discusses his plans with The Daily Sail

Rob Greenhalgh has something of the young Lawrie Smith about him. Talented, cocksure, possibly even arrogant he dominates the 18ft skiff circuit in the UK and has undoubtedly a handsome career ahead of him in yacht and dinghy racing.

But God wasn't looking in Greenhalgh's direction at the recent JJ Giltinan Trophy for the 18ft skiffs in Sydney harbour, where his yellow hulled RMW Marine was leading by a comfortable margin.

"We didn't choke, we never had a bad race, but it didn't go our way really," admits Greenhalgh. "The final two races - we could have won with a race to go. We were on our big rig, everyone else was on their small rig."

But circumstances conspired against them in the penultimate race. "We were leading by about a minute and a half going into the last beat - quite a big old lead - when we got caught out by the Manly ferry and got becalmed behind that for a while and lost two boats as a result. That meant we had to race the final day. It was all quite close on points - too close for comfort really. Third and fourth couldn't get to us, so it was just between us and Howie [Hamlin]". Unfortunately the required result didn't come to pass and the talented American Howie Hamlin retained his title.

Greenhalgh had his 49er sailor brother, Peter doing bow with regular Dan Johnson in the middle. "We cut Dan's head open when we were out on our first day's training. It was quite windy and we put the boat down the mine in the middle of a gybe and he was in the middle of the boat gybing the kite and his head hit the jib track and there was blood everywhere." Johnson was taken off by RIB and to hospital where he had 10 stitches. "Me and Peter had to sail the boat in in 25 knots - it was quite full on!" The New Year's Eve celebrations were somewhat dulled as a result. "So we had the next day off and then got back on it," continues Greenhalgh. "In all the photos you'll see Dan wearing a helmet because he'd got the donk."

Greenhalgh says there was some good British participation at the event, but a lot had never experienced the peculiarities of skiff sailing on the magnificent Sydney Harbour. "The problem with sailing in Sydney Harbour is that it's not skiff sailing as we know it. It is not short windward-leewards. It's a bloody big harbour! There's a lot of stuff around. The wing mark can be an island you've got to go around. So it is good for the locals. A lot of the Brits who went out there are probably better than their results reflect, but they just weren't used to the harbour."

Greenhalgh believes the Australian skiff fleet is still the best in the world but the UK is now not far behind. "We have got the same size fleet as them, but generally we're not quite as good as them, but only because they do more sailing. They go out every weekend. If you own an 18 in the UK you're lucky if you go out once a month, especially racing."

So why does he keep winning? "I've been at it for a couple of years, got the best crew, got the best boat, sail sensibly. We've got good boat speed because we've been working at it for a long time. We've tuned up the boat for weeks basically and generally to do too much wrong. It's not rocket science, it's just general sailing really."

The RMW Marine Team (right to left) - Pete Greenhalgh, Dan Johnson and Rob Greenhalgh



Greenhalgh is to return to his International 14 imminently with a new Mk11 Phil Morrison design. "We're going to Japan for the Worlds in that. We'll get the first one out for the Hamble Warming Pans next month sometime." The Warming Pans is on 8-9 March.

The new Morrison boat has a slightly modified daggerboard position and a foredeck on the boat and a few other mods. "I can't say too much about that at the moment, partly because we haven't decided on the final mods yet!" he admits. "The Hamble Warming Pans is normally the first 14 event of the year. We won last year, so it would be quite nice to go back and see if we can do it again."

Aside from his skiff sailing Greenhalgh is a hired gun on board the Irish Mumm 30 Mammy! "I was out sailing at Key West and we're going out to SORC in Miami at the end of February. We were fourth at Key West. The guy [Dairmuid Foley] it's his first regatta steering. I just go on there as a trimmer. Prof [Maurice O'Connel] does mainsheet and I do jib and spinnaker trim. It's good, I just go on as a professional and just do some sailing - it pays the bills."

Of racing in the US, Greenhalgh is scathing. "It is very different to the Tour [Voile] really. It is not on the same level as the Tour and even the American circuit isn't as good as the European circuit in the Mumms yet. Generally the regatta standard in American events is quite bad really."

He would very much to do the Tour again following his experience with his Panther team last year. "I'm still trying to find the money, but it may be a no-go. I'd love to do events like the Admiral's Cup and things like that. But the Tour would be the highlight if that goes ahead. We'd have a very similar team to last year. I'd go on in a skipper role to run it all, find the money but finding sponsors is quite tricky at the moment."

Aside from this, Greenhalgh like a lot of people are hoping that some owners will stump up the money to get a circuit going for the Formula 40-style RMW40 cat. Clearly even sailing an 18ft skiff at top level does not satisfy this young man's thirst for speed.