Adrian Stead - a madforsailing profile

Top boat at the 1999 Admiral's Cup on Barlo Plastics was pretty nice, but we didn’t get the Admiral's Cup itself.
The Tour Voile 2000 was pretty awesome as well, because it was such a good team effort both sailing and onshore.

Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Poole, sailing Cadets and then 420s at Parkstone Yacht Club. I then went to Southampton University for four years (in the late-80s). Then I trained as a Chartered Accountant in Poole before going to help run a Cheese Business in London.

What job do you do?
Since 1995 I have been a professional sailor and project manager (with the occasional accountancy bits).

If you weren’t doing the job you are, what would you be doing instead?
Trying to use my management background to run something that would give me as much free time as possible.

What other sports do you do outside sailing?
General fitness, mountain biking, windsurfing, snowboarding.

Any other hobbies or interests?
Just relaxing, getting to see around the places that I compete in worldwide, and walking.

Favourite method of relaxing?
Chilling out with a nice bottle on wine on the deck at home (weather permitting).

Favourite bar or pub?
The Square and Compass down near Worth Matravers, because it's so small and there is a great walk along the cliffs there.

What inspired you to take up sailing?
My dad (George) was a boatbuilder in Poole, so it was in the blood I suppose.

Where was your first sailing club?
Parkstone Yacht Club (and still is).

Which class did you first race in?
Cadets at Parkstone Yacht Club, crewing for someone at school.

How did you buy your first boat?
My parents got me an Optimist, and then my Dad built me a Mirror followed by a composite Cadet.

Have you ever used a coach and who were they?
Rod Carr coached myself and Pete Allam in the Flying Dutchman in 1991-2 and helped us make great strides in very little time. Jim Saltonstall and Bill Edgerton have been pretty awesome though, from the Youths right through to the Soling in the 1996 Olympics.

What professional links do you have to the sport?
Apart from working in it - I have been doing some coaching over the past few years with Andy Beadsworth's Soling, and more recently some Mumm 30 stuff out in Santa Cruz, California.

What’s your most memorable moment in sailing?
The last race of the Flying Dutchman trials in 1992 was pretty awesome, with about 30 covering tacks up the last beat in 25 knots of breeze; I suppose 449 miles in 24 hours was pretty cool though, on Silk Cut in the Whitbread.

What’s your biggest remaining goal in sailing?
Be part of a realistic British America's Cup Challenge that can win - plus win the Admiral's Cup.

How much time do you spend on the water each week?
It varies really. When I am at home maybe once or twice a week. If it’s a regatta or training, then every day as required.

Do you have a sponsor, and if so, who?
Barlo Plastics have been great to us over the past few years. In conjunction with Peter Morton as owner, they have allowed us to compete at the 1999 Admiral's Cup (top scoring boat) and the Tour Voile 2000 (winner). Henri Lloyd also make sure that I have the best clothing and look half respectable onshore.

Who are your sailing heroes and why?
Paul Cayard is well admired, mainly because of his professionalism with sponsors and trying to make our sport a mainstream one around the world. Helmar Pedersen (1964 FD Gold Medallist) helped me when I was young and his attitude to the sport was just so right.

What is the best excuse you’ve ever made for a poor performance in a race?
Adjusting the depth offset on a keelboat and forgetting the minus sign - we hit the bottom with the depth sounder reading four meters!

What’s your favourite sailing venue?
San Francisco Bay is one of the best, in September time with a sea breeze building from five knots up to 30 on a good day; a bit of current and sunshine. Either that or anywhere that’s downwind and windy in any responsive boat such as a Mumm 30 or a Volvo 60.

What’s the single thing that could most improve the running of championship regattas?
I do like the racing in the USA and with the UK race officers, such as Jamie Wilkinson, who keep the competitors informed as to what they are thinking; e.g. why they are postponed, what they think the wind will do etc. It shows the competitors the lengths that they are going to for a good regatta.

What’s your greatest strength in sailing?
I think I am good at seeing what we need to do on all fronts to win a race/regatta.

What’s your greatest weakness in sailing?
Sometimes I am over-critical of myself and people around me in trying to win.

What’s the single most important piece of advice you could give to younger sailors?
Helmar Pedersen told me once that if you can't go up to a race winner and wish him congratulations, then you should give up the sport. Make sure you never lose sight of this.

Would you rather sail with your friends - or with Russell Coutts?
Difficult this as we have had a great bunch of people to sail with over the past two years including Tim Powell, Gerry Mitchell, Jules Salter and Stuart Childerley. Sailing with Coutts and co would undoubtedly be a learning experience because of the depth of knowledge they have as a team.

Who’s the best sailor in Britain?
Sailing is a wide-ranging sport, so to classify someone as the best overall is tricky. Ben Ainslie and Iain Percy are well up there, but Ian Walker still comes across as the man who has proved himself across the sport from 470s to the Admiral's Cup.

Who’s the best sailor in the world?
I think the above answer is pretty close, along with the former Team New Zealand gang.

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