Unstoppable force

We talk to top UK RS200 and Merlin Rocket sailor, Roger Gilbert

The UK dinghy scene has produced many top sailors over the years, some of whom go onto race professionally while others seem content with simply performing impressively in their chosen class or classes. Roger Gilbert is once such top sailor, who has resisted the draw of professional sailing, but has, over the years, proved himself to be an exceptional sportsmen.

Recently at the RS200 National Championships, Gilbert and his crew Jane Willan, took victory counting straight firsts. This is a particularly impressive set of results, especially in a 136 boat fleet. For Gilbert this represents the third time in a row he has won the 200 Nationals, having taken first place easily in 2007 – again with Willan – and also in 2006 with his sister Katrina. In spite of his impressive series this time round, Gilbert thought the competition was actually closer than the results table shows. “In some ways this year was the best competition we have had. Obviously there were more boats than we have had before, but there was also more strength in the top 20,” he explains. “There was a huge depth of talent and a load of youngsters are now coming in, showing the older hands how it is done.”

Despite modestly claiming this year he was pushed all the way to take the title, Gilbert clearly has RS200 sailing down to a fine art. So what is the secret to his success in the small doublehander? “I think the big thing is downwind pace, particularly in marginal planning where we are very fast and there are lots of gains to be made,” he confides. “If you can get the boat planning that makes all the difference. I sail massive angles as well, so I will make 30 degree angle changes on waves, using weight to turn the boat.”

But Gilbert’s various impressive wins in the RS200 are not just about downwind speed.He is also tactically very astute .. “We are very confident with our boat speed and try to be conservative because of that,” Gilbert explains. “We rarely led around the windward mark, but we were often in the top five. From the results, it looks like we walked away with it, but we won on the final leg of a lot of races. It was pretty shifty, which helped as we could sit in the middle of the course and play the shifts.”

It is not just the RS200 fleet that Gilbert is so dominant in. He also sails a Merlin Rocket, with long term crew James Stewart. At the Endeavour Trophy – an event Gilbert had taken part in on numerous occasions and won once, several years ago - a Merlin Rocket sailor made the mistake of commenting that the Merlin fleet was much tougher than many other and that Gilbert would not be able to dominate in the same way. After two straight National Championships victories in that class, one might imagine whoever made that statement to Gilbert – he diplomatically can’t remember who it was – may well now be eating their words.

Gilbert says he finds winning in any class to be a similar experience. “Essentially the class has a lot of very good people and they all make a few mistakes and we are always trying to minimise mistakes. If you are confident in your boat speed you do not have to push things as much, so you can sail a more conservative race. I think I am quite suited to big fleets as it is all about not making those errors.”

Below: Leading the fleet at the 2006 Endeavour Trophy.


Of course one of the major differences between the RS200 and the Merlin Rocket is that while the 200 is a single manufacturer one design, the Merlin Rocket is not, a very much more technical boat with a variety of different hulls available and rig set-ups used. Being new to the class two years ago, we wondered how Gilbert had overcome this hurdle so quickly, when he bought his first boat. “The class has pretty much gone one design now,” he comments. “Pretty much all the top 30 are Winder hulls based on the Canterbury Tales design. So we bought a Winder boat and we were pretty lucky as it turned out to be very sorted and quick. We probably did not put enough science into our buying process, but it just turned out okay. Having said that, I think they are all good and fast.”

With the Merlin class having much more rig adjustment than the 200 it would be easy to think this was a challenge. Gilbert, though says he does not find the rig adjustment to be much of a problem, though admits he does a lot less adjustment than others. “We have the raking rig and we do rake back, but we do it less and later than most people. Typically we just try and sail down the middle of the settings. It was a bit funny getting into a class that has no base settings because everything is adjustable. I am probably sailing with more rig tension than most because I have little enthusiasm for letting it off in every lull.” Gilbert adds that this attitude is fine on the sea in big championship fleets, but he and Stewart do lack speed on inland venues, due to their lack of adjustment.

That Gilbert considers himself a much better sea sailor than a lake sailor is a surprising point as he grew up sailing – and still occasionally sails – at Frensham Pond, in the heart of Surrey. Sea sailing is actually something Gilbert made an active decision to be better at from a young age. “When I was young I started sailing Cadets and did okay, particularly at inland venues where I cleaned up over a couple of seasons. However, the best I ever did at a big championship was second at the Nationals and in the teens at the Worlds. I decided after Cadet sailing that I wanted to win events which meant sailing on the sea, so that is what I have focused on. I do not think that you can be good at both,” he comments.

After sailing in the Cadet, Gilbert bought an Enterprise mostly because local to him were about 40 boats, providing him with big fleets to train against and a number of big names in the dinghy scene to sail against. Following this he spent very little time sailing through university - in itself an odd decision for a British sailor – before buying a Laser with his student loan over one summer. It was through the course of that year Gilbert thinks he became the sailor he is today. “I bought the boat the summer of the Atlanta Olympic trials were on. I was sailing out of Stokes Bay and we had 30 Laser sailors regularly turning up, including the likes of Ben [Ainslie], [Iain] Percy and Steve Cockerill out every weekend,” he explains. “I think those were really the early days of pro sailing so I learned a lot about training, commitment and how to sail downwind. I did not do very well but learned a lot from Ben, downwind particularly.”

After his time in the Laser, Gilbert went back to the Enterprise where he was third at the World Championships, before moving into the RS400. “I moved into the 400s with a plan to win the nationals in two years,” he explains. “At that point we were doing a lot of two boat tuning with Nick Craig. Clearly that went well as we won the event in our first year in 2000 and then we won the next three years.” Gilbert adds that in those days the RS400 was getting 130 or so boats to their championship, though as he spent more time in the class the standard waned.

After this Gilbert and Stewart decided to buy a 49er for fun, but sailing in the notoriously difficult conditions of Stokes Bay, he admits they never really got to grips with the boat. Gilbert soon realised Stewart was not a good size for a 49er crew and moved on sailing with a couple of others, finally doing his best with Olivier Vidal. Olympic campaigning was never something Gilbert seriously considered though he entertained the thought briefly. “I ended up in the boat for a month at one point. At the end of that the last thing I wanted to do was sail a 49er!” he comments. “I realised then and there I am not a full time sailor. I think most of Olympic sailing is about passion and how much you are prepared to put in. I really could not see how I would break into the top ten and tenth in the World would be third or fourth Brit.”

After three years of dominance in the RS200 and two years in the Merlin Rocket, Gilbert is now preparing to move onto fresh challenges. Firstly he is taking a step back from the 200 for a couple of years, but plans to be back at some point in the future. Secondly he is considering crewing the Merlin Rocket for his regular crew James Stewart – who he co-owns the boat with. Finally and most excitingly, Gilbert is seriously considering a move into the International 14 fleet a making an attempt at the 2010 World Championships in Sydney. “I want to work out if it is a finance race or a boat race. If I could buy an off the shelf boat and do well, I would like to look into that. If not, I am less keen.”

It would be interesting to see Gilbert step back into another genuine international class such as the 14. We hope he goes ahead with his decision to sail the high performance two man boat and will be watching his results carefully.