Matthew Barton - a madforsailing profile

Leeds.

What's your date of birth?
13th December 1968.

What age did you start sailing?
26.

What was your first regatta win?
Ryton Enterprise Open, 1997.

What's your biggest championship win?
East Lothian Enterprise Open 1998.

Any other notable regatta wins you'd like to mention?
If only, I won a club handicap race at Northampton in the summer.

Where did you grow up?
Leeds.

What job do you do?
I work for Mobil Oil as a service contracts manager.

If you weren't doing the job you are, what would you be doing instead?
Would like to be a meteorologist, although I wouldn't mind being a professional surfer.

What other sports do you do outside sailing?
Mountain biking. Used to play a lot of rugby until I bust my knee and got into boats.

Any other hobbies or interests?
Eating and drinking and going to the gym, a tough balancing act.

Favourite method of relaxing?
Sailing or cycling if the weather's nice, sleeping if it's not.

What inspired you to take up sailing?
I got the chance to sail the Atlantic on Heath Insured (one of the BT Challenge yachts) in 1994 having not sailed before. From there I moved to Newcastle six months later and took up dinghy sailing at Tynemouth in Enterprises.

Where was your first sailing club?
Tynemouth.

Which class did you first race in?
Enterprise, then straight in to the RS600 when I moved south with work.
Steep learning curve!

How did you buy your first boat?
I sold my Westfield sports car, went on holiday with my brother for a week then bought my first
Enterprise, sail number 19015.

Have you ever used a coach?
Once or twice in class training sessions. Watching videos of yourself is very enlightening,
usually embarrassing.

Do you have any professional links to the sport?
None, but don't think I'd want any either, it's my hobby.

What's your biggest remaining goal in sailing?
To race International 14s.

How much time do you spend on the water each week?
3 - 6 hours, depends on open meetings etc.

Do you have a sponsor, and if so, who?
Not yet, although open to offers.

Who are your sailing heroes and why?
Don't really have any, the great thing with sailing is that you can get to race against Olympians and other people who would be at 'hero' level in other sports.

What's your greatest strength in sailing?
Staying chilled when the wind is light.

What's your greatest weakness in sailing?
Losing concentration when it's howling, and the plot defects from Brookside pop into your head for no reason - just as you're approaching the gybe mark.

What's the single most important piece of advice you could give to younger sailors?
Stay calm, and the boat goes faster. Never shout at the crew, mine once attacked me with the jib stick and it doesn't make the boat go faster.

Would you rather sail with your friends - or with Russell Coutts?
Mates every time, although would be great to sail with Coutts to see what he does differently.

Who's the best sailor in Britain?
Jim Hunt. Would be interesting to see how the UK's top dinghy guys get on against people at Olympic level.

Who's the best sailor in the world?
You could make a good argument for Ian Percy.


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