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My Sailing Inspiration

A passion for sailing often starts so simply. Whether it’s passed from one generation of the family to the next, or by a chance meeting with a sailor who shares their story, many of us can credit someone as our sailing inspiration.

Offshore gave the chance for some fellow sailors to pay tribute to the person who got them into our great sport. If you have a story to share, please get in touch with us at media@cyca.com.au.

Craig Young

My grandfather, Robert Young, was navigator and tactician on Lorita Maria in 1967, when they won the Admiral’s Cup. He was presented with a Rolex watch by the Duke of Edinburgh as a navigator’s prize.

My father, Robin Young, did three Sydney Hobarts at ages 15, 16 and 17. The last race he did was in 1963 on Lolita, with my grandfather as skipper and tactician. They were rolled and ultimately rescued by a submarine.

Fast forward to 1985; I was 17 and was trying to find Lolita. I discovered that she was parked at the CYCA and I managed to contact the owner, Nick Cassim.

I asked if, as a surprise for my Dad’s birthday, we could take him to see Lolita. Nick immediately offered to take my father and family out on the harbour for the day.

The look on my father’s face when Nick appeared out of the hatch and invited him sailing is something I will never forget. It was such a fantastic day; they talked of Lolita, the 1963 race and all things sailing.

My father showed me all he could during the day and I took an immediate liking to the sport. Coming from the Western Suburbs, there was no opportunity to sail locally.

Nick advised that if I went to Middle Harbour Yacht Club, I could sign up as crew and be picked up.

Surely enough, a train and two buses later, I was at MHYC and put my name down. Laurie Green from the Endeavour 24 Dumaresq took me on board and spent an hour teaching me the basics of tacking etc. The next week, it was a Compass 28, then an Adams 10, then an S&S 39.

I jumped from boat to boat, sailing on some yachts as regular crew and others as a fill in. In the 90s, I did some two-up offshore racing, then settled into family life. I would never sail with my dad again as he passed away suddenly in 1986.

Two years ago, a friend and I bought the modified Payne Skiff 38 It Happens and we now enjoy racing that around the harbour.

So I would like to offer a huge shout out to Nick Cassim and all of the skippers who invested time in me to teach me this sport. If not for Nick’s generosity, I would not have had the opportunity to go sailing.

Nick has recently offered to take me out on Lolita again. If my son comes with me, that will be four generations of our family that have enjoyed that beautiful yacht.

Will Sargent

I first got into sailing when my father and I built a small wooden dinghy, called a Firebug, together at our local sailing club.

As I was only 11 at the time, I got to learn a range of new skills relating to boat building. I also gained valuable knowledge about how sailing boats work.

After finishing and launching our Firebug dinghy, I slowly started to realise that sailing, and especially competitive sailing, was my ultimate passion.

During my learn-to-sail journey, and then while getting onto the racing pathway, I have had many people inspire and motivate me.

One of my biggest sailing role models, and someone that has inspired me throughout my sailing career so far, is Tom Slingsby.

Tom won a gold medal at the London Olympics in the same year that I built my Firebug dinghy. Tom is someone who inspired me to become the best sailor that I can be in as many disciplines of sailing as possible.

I believe that this is what makes him stand out from so many other high-level sailors; he is constantly striving to be the best in a range of sailing disciplines.

After joining the CYCA’s Youth Sailing Academy, I got the opportunity to train on the same boat as Tom leading into a CYCA match racing event. This was an awesome opportunity and learning experience for me.

To add to this, I managed to get a race win off Tom in the regatta, sailing with my own team – although he did go on to beat everyone and win the regatta!

While people like Tom have inspired me to strive to become the best sailor that I can be, my other big inspirations are my parents.

They have been massive supporters throughout the highs and lows of my short sailing career. They have always helped me to find a bit of inspiration when I have had a bad day on the race course.

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