Jez Fanstone - a madforsailing profile

London, England.

What’s your date of birth?
1st April 1966.

What age did you start sailing?
Eight years.

What was your first regatta win?
Local junior regatta with Rob Cage near Worthing! Cant remember exactly where but it was when I had some hair.

What’s your biggest championship win?
Soling Match Race Worlds with Stuart Childerley and Tim Powell.

Any other notable regatta wins you’d like to mention?
Round Britain and Ireland Race on 'Sticky Fingers' which I built and co-skippered with Simon Rogers.

Where did you grow up?
I did my first sailing on the sea at Worthing and then the inland waters around London but always spent a lot of time in Lymington where I now live.

What job do you do?
Professional sailor.

If you weren’t doing the job you are, what would you be doing instead?
Being a fly fishing guide in New Zealand would be a pretty neat way of life.

What other sports do you do outside sailing?
Fishing, mountain biking, diving.

Any other hobbies or interests?
It is great to watch movies on the big screen and I read a lot of non-fiction, it is amazing to find out what goes on in real life. Me and some boys from the crew, got a band and we try real hard!..., but it is a lot of fun and a good diversion!

Favourite method of relaxing?
Fly fishing.

Favourite bar or pub?
There are so many good places around the world and they all have their own character and appeal at different times. However at the end of a leg of the Volvo almost anywhere looks good!

What inspired you to take up sailing?
My father taught me in his half of a shared Mirror.

Where was your first sailing club?
Worthing Sailing Club.

Which class did you first race in?
Mirror.

How did you buy your first boat?
By doing the washing up and mowing the lawns.

Have you ever used a coach and who where they?
Jim Saltonstall started me off in the right direction and then John Derbyshire was a great help in my early Finn sailing days.

What professional links do you have to the sport?
Sailing is how I make my living.

What’s your most memorable moment in sailing?
Sailing gives you so many memorable moments in all forms, sailing past my home river at the end of the Whitbread for the right reasons, 75 knots in the Bass Straight for the wrong ones.

What’s your biggest remaining goal in sailing?
To win the Volvo.

How much time do you spend on the water each week?
Three to seven days

Do you have a sponsor, and if so, who?
Our Volvo campaign is backed by News Corporation.

Who are your sailing heroes and why?
Ernest Shackleton and his crew for achieving the near impossible in a ships boat in the Southern Ocean and Paul Elvstrom for taking our sport to new levels and for sailing his Finn with woolly jumpers and plimsolls.

What is the best excuse you’ve ever made for a poor performance in a race?
There are plenty of reasons for cock-ups. One of the best I have heard was getting half way up the beat to find that the spinnakers had been left ashore.

What’s your favourite sailing venue?
Just like pubs and bars each sailing venue around the world has its own character and appeal. The Lymington River on a summer evening is a very relaxing place to be but the Southern Ocean at full tilt is pretty awesome.

What’s the single thing that could most improve the running of championship regattas?
There always seems to be a lot of hanging around and coffee drinking at championships. Either cut the faff or improve the quality of the coffee.

What’s your greatest strength in sailing?
Determination and commitment.

What’s your greatest weakness in sailing?
Trapezing.

What’s the single most important piece of advice you could give to younger sailors?
Give it everything you can to fulfil your goals and enjoy what you do.

Would you rather sail with your friends - or with Russell Coutts?
Sailing should be enjoyable as well as successful so sail with people who you like and respect.

Who’s the best sailor in Britain?
Britain has many great sailors across the whole spectrum of the sport so it is hard to single out anyone.

Who’s the best sailor in the world?
The sport is so diverse that there are many great sailors in all forms, in all arenas. It would be impossible to pick just one.

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