Greensleeves

Andy Green gives his views on London Boat Show and Key West

January has come and gone like a header in the right hand corner, but plenty of action abounds - a pilgrimage to London Boat Show offset with the necessity for completing your tax return and for me the bonus of going to Key West for what I hoped would be a bit of Florida sunshine.

I enjoyed the Boat Show. There were plenty of naysayers who liked the old familiarity of Earls Court, it's west London charm, lack of space and unbearable heat but overall the new site is better, has air-conditioning, more space and is much better sailing venue.

Boating Business informs us that attendance was a bit down, in the 200,000 people range for paying visitors however the quality of those visitors was much higher, less tyre kickers and more spenders.

The windsurfing was a big draw, sponsored by Virgin Radio. I would love to see something similar organised for the sailing. With £50,000 prize money there is every likelihood that some of Britain’s best sailors would turn out for whatever form of racing format presented. That would be a real attraction and the RYA are always trying to promote the sex appeal and role model status of our Olympians and stars. Maybe we could get Mike Golding and Ellen McArthur to sail around the edges of the pool for the whole two weeks of the show!

A couple of highlights of the show for me: I loved the way the powerboat stands are so unashamedly glitzy. They sell a lifestyle and they seem to sell it well. It's obviously a different market from sailing boats but I somehow feel that the expensive yachts still sell a little too much refinement and blue blazer. Perhaps that’s what people want to buy into, however the design of the sailing boat stands are not even close to being as impressive as those of the powerboats, Oyster perhaps being the only exception. I visited one of the other luxury yacht stands and was reluctantly offered a cup of tea. I was even having a meeting with one of their owners, I mean, come on!



Fun in the sun

A nice interlude was Key West where I was sailing a Melges 24 doing tactics for a German coffee trader. I was glad of a bit of previous experience there. The first couple of days were frankly cold. It blew 25 knots and was full thermal weather. Key West does have a habit of sneaking a cold front in, and it worth remembering your woollies.

A Melges was the best place to be in 25 knots, as Morgan Reeser, the silver medallist and coach to the Greek gold medallist girls in the 470 said “I feel sorry for anyone in a different fleet!” They are mental boats and a whole lot of fun. I note with interest the Europeans in Torbay in September…

Winners with a very impressive performance in the 60 boat fleet were Phillip Kahn’s Pegasus Racing. On this Bill Hardesty was steering with Kevin Burnham (Gold Athens 470) Freddy Loof (Star and Finn Extraordinarie) and young buck Mark Ivey. They finished ahead of James Spithill - an impressive fleet stuffed full of top competition.

Russell Coutts was there too in the Farr 40 and guess what? He won, again. Morning Glory has never been one of the very best Farr 40s but with Russell on board it is a different matter: they beat Atalanti, Mean Machine and Barking Mad, all past world champions and previous Key West winners. He manages to do it by doing everything on board just a little neater and a little tighter and allowing his skill to be a small but crutial part to the team. It is a lesson for any professional sailor going out on an ‘amateur’ boat - the key is to instill confidence in your team and allow them all to do their jobs better, cadjoling, encouraging and suggesting. This makes for a real team that can deliver under pressure,

While in shorts and T-shirts, sucking on fresh lobster and sipping beer in a bar next to our boat, the Rainbow crew were contemplating what the best regattas in the world are.

The discussion started because Jerry Eplett mentioned that Jimmy Cliff is playing in St Maarten this year. I did the regatta last year and it has a big and recurring sponsor in Heineken (which helps!), the sailing is varied and appeals to all sorts, with a huge charter fleet giving the place a real party atmosphere and it's very well organised.

Key West is very different. The racing is absolutely paramount, it is well organised to a fault with nine races over five days, great competition and usually warm!

When I asked Lou Varney about his best regatta he said Sardinia. I asked which event and he said ‘any one’! One of our other crew plummed for Kings Cup in Phuket but I am not sure that had anything to do with the sailing! Skandia Geelong Week gets very good reports but perhaps is a little small whereas Cowes Week is perhaps a little big? My vote goes to Cork week, which well organised, the right size, with plenty of action for everyone. They just need to keep the top boats and there as a good draw.

Finally I can't keep my eyes off the round the world show. There is a possible big derail for both Ellen and Mike Golding. The latter's three halyard breakages is unfortunate probably more than careless and there is still a small winning window but I think a podium is fantastic. I suspect Mike will be happy but not elated. Ellen on the other hand needs to break the record for all of us: her blinding determination and guts can only be a good reflection on sailing as a whole.