<strong>Finn</strong> Gold Cup – Rio de Janeiro February <strong>2004</strong> Photos: Marco Antonio Rezende/ COB, John Doerr
Charles Currey and Iain Percy in conversation British <strong>Finn</strong> Medalists 1952 and 2000 by Tim Jeffrey Iain Percy (second right) was one of British sailing’s ‘three tenors’ in Sydney, one of trio of gold medalists in an outstanding Olympics that garnered five medals in all and near misses in two other class. Britain has been a habitual medal winner in sailing but think of great British Olympians from previous times and Rodney Pattisson and Reg White come to mind. Only one other man has won a medal in <strong>Finn</strong> singlehander before Percy and that was Charles Currey (top left, next to Paul Elvström and Rickard Sarby) in Helsinki, a full 52 years ago. Until Ben Ainslie succeeded Percy in the <strong>Finn</strong> and won three successive <strong>Finn</strong> Gold Cups, the class' world championship, Britain’s long association with the <strong>Finn</strong> had produced only two other Gold Cup winners: Vernon Stratton and Chris Law. Stratton was one of those beaten by Currey in the 1952 trials, later to become British team manager and remains a leading light in Bembridge sailing. Law’s great rival in the 1970s was David Howlett (top right), the man who has been the continuous thread running through British <strong>Finn</strong> sailing since then. Pioneering metal masts from David Hunt’s Needlespar Howlett was there. The move to carbon rigs and Mylar sails 10 years ago Howlett was there. The man behind Percy and Ainslie Howlett. The backroom team of British <strong>Finn</strong> sailing is envied around the world. When Ainslie moved across from the Laser to the bigger, heavier singlehander, Polish 1996 gold medalist Mateusz Kusnierewicz expected the younger Briton to both be a threat to the dominance of the class that he and Belgian Sebastien Godefroid enjoyed because of his talent. And because, the Pole, added: “He’s got Sid.” (Howlett’s nickname). Percy had a leading part in this, a tuning partner to Richard Stenhouse in 1996, and bringing along the likes of Andrew Simpson and Charlie Cumbley as his trial jockeys for 2000, a role they are playing for Ainslie now. Such support was absent, anathema even, in the Currey era. To find out just different things were, Yachting World brought the two British <strong>Finn</strong> medalists together. 18 Iain: People talk about eras in sailing: the Kiwis dominated for a while, the Americans, now perhaps the Brits, but for a long time it was the northern Europeans, particularly the Danes and men such as Paul Elvström. Charles: The extraordinary skill of Elvström was that just at the gun he had the knack of getting way on. People would line up at the start, and he was never early, and he'd shoot out of the ruck. Iain: Ben Ainslie’s a bit like that! (Laughter) Charles: Every time... tonk! Elvström was away. There he was. Perfect acceleration. Iain: What about Helsinki In Sydney, we sailed both in the ocean and close to the city in the harbour. It was very changeable. Charles: We were all mixed up amongst the islands. I used to talk to Elvström a lot. The winds and the tides were very complex. I said ‘Paul, I sit and look at the chart and imagine the water as molten lead flowing around the islands.’ I used to sit and look at the water and think ‘what’s the lead going to do today’ Iain: That’s like the flow diagrams we use now. Water’s always got to go somewhere. There were some great Elvström stories weren’t there What about when the tide went out Didn’t he go ashore or something Charles: That was a Gold Cup at Whitstable. No one thought of the obvious solution which was to pick up the mark and take it out to the boats! Iain: So your Games in 1952 was the first the <strong>Finn</strong> was used in Charles: It was designed by Rikard Sarby. We were given the boats and the masts just didn’t bend at all. There were a fir tree! They just stood upright like a Christmas tree. Iain: Really! So they were all completely different. Charles: Elvström spent a long time with a hand draw-knife making his mast so that it would bend. He was quite good at chippy work! Iain: Carbon masts don’t bend much either, but the sails are designed for it. Charles: They bend exactly as you want them to. Iain: I remember we did something like that in ‘96 when we were helping Richard Stenhouse. The difference there was that we had an oven and were cooking carbon on the side. It was a little more efficient where one strip of carbon on the side could make a mast 10% stiffer. Charles: That must have worked pretty well. You could control the amount of change. Iain: And you could sand it too, to get even more precise a control. You could get very, very exact, but the principal is just the same. And you are still trying to make the mast fit the sail. There’s a wonderful photograph on the podium (above), you one side of Elvström and Sarby the other side. Charles: I was the smart chap with his thumbs going down the seams of his trousers. Navy training! Rikard didn’t know how to hold the bouquet of flowers we were presented with. ‘Hold it like a baby!’, I said. ‘But I don't have a baby!’ he replied. Iain: How were your trials Our system is now very complicated though it produces a strong squad. Charles: We had a one week competition in Torbay. Vernon Stratton was there, he was very good. So was his wife, Pepe, in light winds. A lot of evil things went on in the selection. I knew about it. I had the most, beautiful old fashioned <strong>Finn</strong> which was just perfect, but I wasn’t allowed to use it. We couldn’t sail our own boats; the boats were supplied. I knew even before we went racing who had the best boat and who had the worst boat and that was me. I wasn’t worried about it. It only took one tack after the start of the first race for me to sail through the chap who had the best boat. The whole thing was fixed up, but I knew about it. Iain: It says in this newspaper report that you were 5th in the first race and won the second Vernon Stratton, Stuart Jardine, Ian Butlerthey’re all mentioned. Charles: I didn’t want to make it too obvious! It may have been a different then, but there was still all the devilment that goes on today. Iain: I see this was the first time the Germans were at the Games since the War. Did that cause controversy Charles: A little. But there wasn’t much hoohah about it. Iain: And the USSR came for the first ime . Did people think it was cheating combining all those countries! Charles: There was some politiciing of that but I don't think anyone cares any more about that sort of thing. It’s the sport that matters. Iain: I heard that even during the height of the Cold War, sailors would still chat. Russian,
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