Shirley Robertson interview - 1

The trials and tribulations of putting a Yngling campaign on the road to glory

mfs: So you have got a 32-year-old boat, you have bought what you think is the best kit, but it needs three people to sail it. How do you resolve that problem?

SR: That was one of the new and interesting challenges that I wanted to face. I have sailed with a lot of different British girls in the match racing and so I had potential crew in mind. I knew their strengths and weaknesses and they knew mine and so I picked two girls from the match racing team who I thought would be good.

Inga Leask (pictured) has been great and is staying with me. She has done two Olympic campaigns of her own and it is really good that she has bought skills from a dinghy and transferred them to the keelboat. Sam Davies has done most of the winter with us but has now decided to go off and sail with Tracy Edwards on the big cat.

Though I am sad to see Sam go, in the end it was a mutual decision. So right now we are trying to get somebody else who can slot in well. It's not just about sailing. Fitting in as part of the team is also really important. Olympic sailing is a tough business and you need to be committed. I have a couple of people in mind but don’t want to say too much for now.

mfs: How does the Yngling compare physically with the Europe?

SR: You have to be pretty fit. The Yngling really is quite a physical boat. The middle crew will have to be a really fit athlete and incredibly strong. The boat never planes, so we are always trying to push water out of the way. The spinnaker is a real grunt so hiking and being able to pump the kite is really, really tough for the crew. It is a priority for us that we go to the gym every day.

mfs: Can't the helmsman just sit on the side?

SR: Though I’m not exactly surprised it’s a bit disappointing that the helmsman has to hike out too. I thought I had seen the last of my wet suit hiking pants but alas no. They are back in action although sometimes I can make excuses and nip in to adjust something. In a breeze if all three of you are really hiking out well it’s a big advantage.

mfs: Have you worked out how heavy you want each person to be within the overall weight limit?

SR: We think we want somebody heavy in the middle and we want to be lighter at the ends. Because you want someone heavy over the keel and in marginal hiking conditions they always hike first so they are heavy and they are low down. You want your trimmer to see the jib so they have the space forward. But I don’t know for sure. It might turn out that you want your big person at the front. You certainly need a big person on the kite.


Inga Leask (seen here with Severine Rees-Jones) has
already done two Olympic campaigns

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