News

17

January 2018

The next generation shines

By winning the Star Sailors League Finals last year, Paul Goodison proved that you don’t have to be a Star sailor to be a star sailor. While this might have been expected of a 40-year-old two time Moth World Champion and Laser Olympic gold medallist, it was reassuring to see the next generation also shining through with another British Olympian, Ben Saxton, managing to claim a race in Nassau.

For 27-year-old Saxton, who comes from Cambridge, home of the famous university, 2017 was an incredible year. Following a disappointing ninth place at Rio 2016, Saxton paired up with his old friend Katie Dabson in May and immediately the new duo showed their potential claiming bronze at the Nacra 17 Europeans before going on to win the World Championship in La Rochelle in September. In addition to this Saxton successfully defended his title at the British dinghy ‘champion of champions event’, the Endeavour Trophy, won the J/70 Nationals and skippered the Itchenor Sailing Club entry to victory in the British Keelboat League, a national competition between sailing clubs.

While his number one goal is to win Nacra 17 gold in Tokyo 2020, sailing continually in a wide variety of boats he sees as being vital to becoming a better sailor. “I have sailed a lot of different boats all of my life,” says Saxton, who transferred to the Olympic catamaran from the 470 doublehander in 2013. “I really think that makes you strong in sailing. That is one of the reasons I think I have taken well to the foiling Nacra and how I have managed to swap across from the 470 to the Nacra.”

Along with the technical expertise of his crew, British former Star World Champion and leading coach Steve Mitchell, this versatility no doubt benefitted Saxton when he stepped into the Star for the first time at the Star Sailors League Finals. “It was completely different, but I loved it - I thrive in the challenge of sailing something new. After the last race when we were sailing in, Steve was saying ‘this is you one week anniversary of a Star!’ That made me smile because it felt like we had come a long way. I definitely had a good coach and crew in Steve and I approached it with the belief that we could do well, but the awareness that we could be lacking in certain areas.”

Going from a Nacra 17 flying catamaran to a Star is the equivalent of stepping from a Ferrari into a classic 1920s Bentley. “The boat handling was one of the hardest things,” recalls Saxton. “Most surprising was how to get the mainsail in at the leeward mark, because there was a lot to pull and manoeuvring the mainsail in gybes, because it was so loaded. Upwind the boat was fantastic to sail, because it was so tweaky and it gave you feedback. After a day or two we were almost up to the pace - upwind we had a lot of speed, but downwind I lacked a bit of technique. That got us excited because we were up with absolute heroes of the sport.”

In the Finals, Saxton and Mitchell mixed deep results with a 1-2, but this was enough to get them into the all-important top 10 and entry into the Quarter Final, but just missing out on the Semis, to leave them eighth overall.

Saxton is a big fan of the event. “I think it is a great concept. A lot of praise should go to Michel Niklaus for running it, setting it up and being a visionary. The first day we got there, I was in the boat park with Paul Cayard on one side and Robert Scheidt on the other. It was then that it dawned on us, the scale of the event and how awesome it is…”

So was it intimidating racing such legends? “It was, but it didn’t affect the way you sail - you just give them a lot of respect and try and beat them, try and learn as much as you can off them and do what you do. Steve was also good at the boat set-up, but that is one of the other ways we got quicker - if someone is quick near you, watch them and see what they are doing so that you can do the same.”

Saxton is well known for racing doublehanders and is reluctant to speak about the SSL without paying tribute to his crew. “Steve and I get on really well and the result was thanks to Steve. Team work was a big part of why we did well. The team and the personality is something I value really highly.”

Goodison and his German crew Frithjof Kleen winning has given him more hope that they could do better. “It was awesome to see Paul win. It really showed how good a racer he is. He definitely managed to transfer some things from the Laser, like downwind steering. He did some training, but only days. A lot of people we were racing had won medals at Star Worlds and the Olympics, which still puts Paul in the ‘novice’ category. His winning was awesome.”

Saxton hopes that he will get invited back to the Star Sailors League Finals in 2018 but recognises that this will depend upon their results in 2018. “If I’m asked, I’d love to go, but I know they get a lot of interest from other people.”

James Boyd

James is best known as the publisher of highly respected website, The Daily Sail. This is the only subscription-based website serving the sailing world, and is well respected as the leading source of authoritative news and comment on the yacht racing scene. Aside from being a successful yachtsman with European and National titles to his name in various types of racing boat, Andy Rice (pictured centre) started his career in yachting journalism in 1992 writing for Seahorse Magazine. SailingIntelligence.com