Star Crews

The helms take the fame and glory, but legendary crews get the ultimate respect...

There are moments in sailing where everything comes together. As a helm you call for a gybe-set and it just happens. You extend. That moment when you round the windward mark and the hoist is measured in seconds, you can feel and sense that you’re on a tear. Untouchable. At the leeward mark, you call for a float drop and it all just makes sense. Gybes are a cinch. Exit speeds are high. Downwind you angle up on a wave before the bear-away and as one, the crew anticipate, roll to windward and the boat surges back down the front. Wonderful feelings. Fleeting for most of us Corinthians. End-of-season September stuff in the main, and the reality is that by April it’s back to the drawing board.

The value of a good crew is immeasurable. It’s a difficult dynamic to get right, both in a physical sense and, probably more crucially, a mental sense. Are you both on the same page? Is the info-sharing right? Can you communicate? Are skill-levels aligned? It’s a tricky combo and more often than not in the non-professional scene, it’s a case of luck. I’ve totally lucked-out late season in my Flying 15 and found someone that I want to spend the next three or four years in a boat with. That is rare. But I’ve been looking at the pinnacle, the Star Class, and spent an un-Godly amount of time plotting and charting the winning crews over history at the World Championships, and it’s fascinating.