"The bad luck has poured rather than rained for us"

Iain Percy describes his horror show Star World Championship

Former Finn Gold medallist turned Skandia Team GBR Star sailor Iain Percy was suffering from might be politely termed ‘mixed emotions’ when we spoke to him in Miami. On the one hand he and crewman Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson had won the day’s race, the fifth at this year’s Star World Championship. On the other he was bracing himself for the worst overall result he has posted at a regatta in living memory. And this in an Olympic year...

So what came right today? “It wasn’t really that,” replied Percy with a grunt of resignation. “It was more the ridiculous things that have gone wrong in the week rather than the things that have gone right today. We’ve only competed in two races for a start and one of them there was a 45deg wind shift just after the start which we didn’t predict and the other one we fought hard in light winds to get back to 8th.

“Yesterday a shroud snapped – I’ve never seen that happen before - when we were going to have a top three. The other race - the whole fleet was over and we got caught behind while bailing out. We were up there in that - we were fourth at the top mark in that.

“I know it is easy to come up with excuses, but it has been one of those weeks where if it is going to happen it is going to happen to us.”

Generally there has been a mix of conditions at the Star Worlds - the first day was light 6-7 knots, the start of today’s race 5-6 but building. “The first day was incredibly light and tricky and you just had to get the first puff which none of the top guys really did,” recalls Percy. “We sailed hard to get that 8th. It has been a bit like that ever since, apart from yesterday which was a ‘hang on and not break anything’ kind of day.”

Unfortunately break something is exactly what happened. In 25 knot winds the starboard upper shroud snapped off on the reach. “I’ve never heard or seen of it before. And it was a new mast too. And they are all standard. It was just a failure in the fitting. We were gybing in fifth. but there was really no one in front of us, so it was a bit annoying.”

Thankfully Percy reacted in time, span the boat round on to the other gybe and managed to save the rig, although now it has a slight bend in it.

Percy and Bart are not alone in having had a difficult week. While they are currently lying 50th in the 104 boat fleet, even after their first place today and with a discard, American Andy Horton is in 41st position, Ireland’s Prof O’Connell in 46th, Bermuda’s Peter Bromby in 59th...

“It has been a bit of an unbelievable week in terms of shifts and it’s been quite random to say the least,” continues Percy. “And it is the Star Worlds also: massive courses, 100 boat fleets and it is all about avoiding disasters.”

However some have managed to maintain consistency despite the conditions and hang on to impressively small scorelines, most notable being present overall leader Mateusz Kusznierewciz and Dominik Zycki who are on just 9 points ahead of former European champion Italian Diego Negri and Luigi Viale on 17 and third placed Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada on 29. In 50th with the most bizarre scoreline which reads – 8th, 105/BFD, 60, 105/DSQ, 1 - Percy and Bart have 174.

Like Kiwis Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams, Percy and Bart were nailed by the black flag in race two. “That was a bit ridiculous to be honest with you. Ourselves and Hamish bailed out at the pin, because the whole fleet was gone, and just bore away. So it must have been at the point we bore away with 20 to go over the line. So if we were over, the whole fleet must have been seven lengths over, which I think they were. The Race Officer said everyone was over, but he decided to let it go because there had been so many general recalls. But it wouldn’t have helped us because we would have been OCS on a general recall.

“The problem was the start before was black flagged and then they postponed it with a second to go rather than doing people. So half the fleet got away with it that time. It is just a bit inconsistent, but it doesn’t really matter. The point is in these big fleet events you have to have breaks and unfortunately the bad luck has poured rather than rained for us. And we’ve made mistakes. Fortunately, in a way, it is not the focus for the year, so you don’t have to get too down about it - although I was pretty depressed when we missed the 40 degree shift off the line.”

In that first race when they finished eighth, Percy says the wind went through 75 degrees over the course of the race. “It was a bit of a farce to be honest. But we didn’t predict it – I don’t know if anyone did, no one claimed to. It came out of a thunder cloud, but it wasn’t what you would expect with where the thunder cloud was. But that’s life. We got it wrong. It has been one of those weeks.”

Into the mix Percy and Bart are sailing a borrowed boat. In the recent Bacardi Cup they were on their Mader, designed by Team Origin’s principle designer Juan Kouyoumdjian, but according to Percy this hasn’t been liking the conditions in Miami. “We weren’t going fast very well upwind but we were very fast downwind with it and sailed a pretty good regatta there. We got the upwinds right rather than going fast and were going quick downwind. Overall in the conditions we have in Miami the Lillias seem a bit better. But we are sending the Mader to China - it is in the mix with a few of the boats that are at our disposal.”

In addition to the Mader they have two of the more conventional Lillias, one in Europe, one in the US, but have lent the latter to the Irish team. As a result, despite having three of their own boats, they are sailing a Lillia borrowed from Iain Murray. However that has not been the issue this week, emphasies Percy. “It has been a bit difficult to get used to, but that is not the problem. We have literally competed in two of the races so far – so we’re not going to do so well at this comedy of errors that is our World Championship.

“It is frustrating. We have done a lot of Star Worlds and we have been on the podium on all but one, so it is a bit of a shame and this was by far the one where we felt more prepared, most ready and going the best in terms of speeds. But we’ve made mistakes and lady luck hasn’t shined on us.”

Post-Worlds Percy and Bart have some ‘gym days’ ahead of them before returning to the UK to finalise more of the gear they will take to Qingdao. “We have to look at some sails and little things because we have to lock off the equipment because we don’t want to be messing with that come the event. We want to be using our standard equipment by that time.”

Their next event after this will be Holland Regatta.

Percy says he is not doing any other sailing at the moment other than the Star. “The only upside of the America’s Cup postponing again and again, it does allow me and Bart to concentrate 100% on the Olympics.” But within the Star fleet, peppered with Cup heroes past and present, he is by no means alone in this respect.