Uphill struggle

The Daily Sail catches up with Maiden II crewman and Yngling campaigner Sharon Ferris

When it comes to multi-talented yachtswomen in our sport, there are few with credentials as impressively diverse as Kiwi Sharon Ferris.

Tracy Edwards stalwart, Ferris was on board Royal & SunAlliance and spent last season setting the world ablaze on board Maiden 2. She was also on board Amer Sport Too in the Volvo Ocean Race and now has her teeth firmly into her third Olympic campaign - this time in the Yngling.

To say the campaign was an uphill struggle would be an understatement. Running a Yngling campaign from New Zealand is a highly expensive business.

"When the decision was changed that is was going to become fleet racing [and not match racing] and it was going to be the Yngling, from our position in New Zealand, it was almost a case of ‘no way, can't do it - it’s going to be impossible’," says Ferris. "Because match racing you can train anywhere in the world. You can be in your home town. You can train against guys or girls. The difference between a match racing team and a fleet racing team in a Yngling is about NZ$300,000."

She is equally critical about the choice of the Yngling. "The Yngling they bought in because they thought it was a fair boat, but I don’t understand how can you consider a boat being fair when it was designed 35 years ago? They've been sailing them in some countries for 35 years and in others they haven’t ever heard of the thing [New Zealand being one].

"And there are many countries like New Zealand around. I’ve had countries from Asia ring me asking me to be a training partner for them because they wanted to get into the women’s keelboat. They found out it was a Yngling and found out it was fleet racing and they said ‘no way, our girls simply can't do that.” Had it been match racing they would have done it.

"And for women’s sailing it was a nightmare. It has killed a lot of competitive women’s sailing in New Zealand and a lot of other countries around the world. The girls just can't get the budgets together and the time to be able to travel all the time to be competitive. And no one is interested in doing this type of Olympic campaign and not being competitive."

A further mockery will be made of the choice of boat if keelboats are banned for China in 2008. "That makes bringing the Yngling in as a keelboat even more of a stupid decision because these boats, that are costing us NZ$60,000, are going to be worthless again after the regatta is over. AND you have to buy a new boat after 2002. At least with the Star the class is so well developed and managed that there is a resale value for your boat."

Aside from these issues, the problems for Ferris and her team of Martha Parker and Jo White were compounded last year when their brand new Børresens-built Yngling, which they had just finished the Worlds and which they had just completed six solid weeks of tuning and development, was stolen en route to the pre-Olympic test event in Athens. To date it has still not been recovered.

"It was either coincidently stolen or someone didn’t want us to have it," says Ferris. "We did very well in that boat straight off. It was a very quick boat. The biggest problem with us right now is that we not only have to replace that boat but we have to find one as quick."

Because the boat was under insured Ferris believes she lost around NZ$30,000 through the theft, but this was not all. "In the meanwhile we had to replace the boat. We couldn't get a new boat before the 1 April, so we ended up having to use the insurance money to get a used secondhand boat from Australia, to train in over the eight months of the summer in New Zealand." With six registered builders around the world, of which two are the prefered choice and a high demand for boat, the prices of new Ynglings has skyrocketed.

Over the summer in New Zealand Ferris and Parker were earning money commentating on the America's Cup, while Jo White had a full time job as an engineer. They have been busy fund raising including a mega yacht safari and holding a special America's Cup ball where musicians from AC showed their talents.

Right to left: Sharon Ferris, Jo White and Martha Parker



To date their results have been mixed at the Worlds in Switzerland last year they finished 19th having to count a race in which Ferris fell out of the boat! They came 10th at the pre-OIympics in a chartered boat and this year 'a shocker' at the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta. "We’re well over the borrowed boat scenario now!" admits Ferris.

Ferris is due to rock into town any moment in order to take part in Barcelona Week, with a tour that will take in the Princess Sofia Trophy in Palma, the pre-Olympics in Athens, and the normal rounds of Olympic class regattas. For her slot in the New Zealand team she will be contending with Alesha Thorpe. Unfortunately the two teams were only able to train against each other for three weeks over the summer. "Our boat arrived too late and she'd sent her boat to Europe. So it was a really hard case," admits Ferris.

The two important events will be Kieler Woche and the Worlds in Cadiz. If she comes higher than fifth while Thorpe is outside of the top 10, then Ferris and her team will be going to Athens. If it is more of a close run thing, the decision will not be made on who will be going under after the Worlds in Sydney in January 2004.

While in Europe their coach will be charismatic Spaniard Guillermo Altadill recently returned from Ellen MacArthur's abridged attempt on the Jules Verne Trophy. "He was really good for the rig set-up. He helped us in Europe last year. He was coaching us for the first few regattas. He makes us laugh and have fun. Then the sailing comes easily."

Aside from the Olympics there are a million and one things Ferris could and would like to do. She says she really likes the Swedish Match Tour but harks back with huge disappointment to women's matchracing not being chosen as an Olympic discipline. "Women's keel boat match racing was just starting to get good."

This year she hopes to take part in the Swedish Match Cup in Marstrand and is looking into doing the Gold Cup in Bermuda, but that will depend upon her team's schedule and the budget.

Her biggest joy - after getting a mighty sponsor for her Yngling campaign - would be if Tracy Edwards got the money to continue the Maiden II program. "I really hope she [Tracy] does have some luck and she can get some money because it was an awesome team we had and it was very successful." She says that she would sail on board again if it fitting in around the Olympic sailing, which judging from her intense schedule looks unlikely.