Mike Budd - madforsailing interview

Lynsey Thomas catches up with Britain's top Melges sailor

Mike Budd and his crew finished fifth in the last Melges World Championships and look like being the best British hope for a win at the Melges 24 Worlds at Forte Lauderdale in November. This weekend Mike is sailing a 1720 up at the Scottish Series. madforsailing caught up with him and found out what his plans are for this season.
How old are you ?

42. Unbelievable really, when you consider my youthful looks

What sort of sailing have you done in the past?

Mostly dinghy sailing until last year. I won the 1978 Topper National Championships, 1980 Laser National Championships. I then went windsurfing for six years with the Sea Panthers. I won the RS400 Nationals in 1996 and 2000, and the Melges Nationals last year. I've given up sailing quite a few times in between, though.

Why was that?

Well, I sometimes just felt that I'd just had enough of it and wanted to go off and do something different - play golf or something. Every time I went back to sailing I kept changing classes to help keep my interest up. Chris Gowers and I were talking about it last weekend. We came to the conclusion that I kept changing classes because inside I was perhaps worried about not doing so well the second time around. Perhaps that's why Ian Barker is going to stop sailing a 49er and going to go Star sailing. On the outside he has a certain degree of confidence and arrogance - the same as all sailors who compete at his level - yet inwardly he is perhaps conscious that he'll have to work twice as hard as he did before and maybe not come up with the goods - I can really relate to that.

Why do you sail a Melges?

I fancied a Melges when they first came out in 1992 - I had a test drive but couldn't afford one. As soon as I could I bought one. I really enjoy team sports and like the idea of sailing with four people as opposed to two - it gives me the opportunity to work with people who have the talent and experience that I'm lacking and make the boat better to sail.

Have you got a crew sorted for your Melges campaign this year?

Because people aren't able to commit to every regatta, we've put together a squad of people to cover quite a few events. The squad are: myself, Chris Gowers, Rob Larke (from Hydes), Mark Greeves, Jeremy Entwistle and Mark Johnson (from Holts). The first four people are the crew who will sail for the Europeans and the World Championships in Fort Lauderdale.

Whose sails will you be using for the events?

Rob Larke is our point of contact with Hydes, and he, Edward Hyde and Kevin Sproul have been involved in helping us to develop a new sail which is really good.

What developments have you made?

We've done a lot of work on the mainsail - it now has more luff round in it to stop it turning inside out when it's windy. The trouble is we have to work a lot harder with it in light airs - it's still paying though.

What's the plan of attack?

We're starting to get out there and practise already. We're in Torquay for the next three weekends and then off to Garda. We were fifth in the last World Championships and we're improving all the time. Our plan is to win the Worlds in Fort Lauderdale.

I can say that I've been sailing long enough now to know what I'm good and not good at. I have really enjoyed being able to piece together a crew that fills in the gaps and creates a great team.

How many boats are turning up to regattas?

In France we had 60 boats and in Torbole we had 30. The Nationals in Guernsey (11-15 June) are not going to get such a good turn out - possibly 20 boats max. The French have decided not to go to the event as it's going to be expensive - that immediately reduces the overall turnout by about 15 boats.


Are you managing to do any other sailing alongside the Melges?

I am currently sailing on a 1720 syndicate boat with the same team as the Melges. We're going to do the 1720 Nationals and the Scottish Series. We've been really lucky as our sponsor Gull is supporting us through both campaigns.

Do you have any thoughts on the state of and future of the Melges 24 class?

I see the future of the Melges at the moment as disappointing. In the 1720 they have a sail rule - which effectively only allows you to buy one new set of sails per year, whereas in the Melges it's an open sail rule. Jamie Lee (Norths) comes down to each regatta with his van trying to flog new sails at each event and with a jib costing £800 a piece it's an expensive game. There's not much difference between a two week old jib and a four week old jib, but if you compare a two week jib to one that's been sailing for a few months there's a huge amount of difference - it immediately reduces the chances of competing on a level playing field. For the Melges it's completely ruined the grass roots product which was virtually non-existent in the first place.

Believe it or not, the Melges and the 1720 are about the same price. When you consider that the Melges is a fantastic boat to sail, you can launch it off of a trailer and they have smaller sails - which should effectively be a little bit cheaper - the Melges scene should be huge. In the 1720 they're expecting 80 boats to compete a Corke Week - it's a real shame that the Melges class is in the state it is, it should be a lot better.