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 | | | You are in: Special Events: 2001: Sailing |
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| |  Monday, 4 June, 2001, 09:35 GMT 10:35 UK Future rosy for British sailing? Britain's sailors won more medals than any other nation British sailing is riding on the crest of a wave of Olympic success and Ellen adulation, but there are still concerns for the sport's future. When Iain Percy secured Britain's third sailing gold medal in Sydney last year he capped an amazing Olympics for the sport of sailing. Long regarded as a richman's hobby, in the past sailing has been the poor man when it came to receiving the kind of financial hand-outs needed for modern-day sporting success. In 1997, the sport was awarded its first lottery grant and it has since received more than �1m a year - financial help which was widely credited with underpinning Britain's Olympic success. In fact, the medals of Ben Ainslie and his team-mates were a result of two decades of grass-roots work by the sport's governing body, the Royal Yachting Association. "The British sailing team's achievements were a result of our youth programme which was begun 20 years ago," said RYA spokesman Nigel Cherrie.
"By the time we recieved our first lottery grant, the likes of Ben and Iain and Shirley were well on the way to Olympic success." The money that has been pumped in since 1997 has in fact gone more towards funding Britain's next generation of Olympic sailing stars. The likes of Nick Rogers, Hugh Styles, who narrowly missed out in Sydney, and Christina Bassadone will be taking up the mantle at Athens on 2004. That is not to say lottery money was not important in the short term. It was invaluable in helping the British sailors through a separate �1.7m pot of cash made available to fund the living and training expenses of the country's Olympic squad. What that meant was that the country's top sailors could give up their jobs and do nothing but sail for a year, in keeping with their rivals from the top sailing nations.
Their clutch of five Olympic medals made this country the most successful sailing nation, ahead of the likes of France, Italy and New Zealand. It also accounted for and 18pc of Britain's total medal haul, a figure second only to athletics (8) and yet achieved with a fraction of the financial support channeled towards track and field. Future lottery money will be linked to past records, so further grants of a similar amount should be forthcoming. Since the Olympics, millionaire Peter Harrison has announced he is to bankroll the first British America's Cup challenge for 14 years. The team is currently taking shape in a secret base on the Isle of Wight. There is some consternation that gold medallist Ainslie will be sailing for the American America's Cup team, and not for Harrison. But it is widely accepted in sailing circles that it will take Harrison's team several attempts to become serious challengers for the biggest prize in world sailing.
Ellen MacArthur is one of the hottest names in world sailing following her heroics in the Vendee Globe round-the-world race. She also raised the profile of sailing. There are still concerns, however, says Robin Knox-Johnston, the British sailing legend whose company Clipper Ventures now runs the Times Clipper race and the Around Alone race. "Our sailors are doing extremely well, but the sport does not get the coverage it deserves in Britain. "That means it is very difficult to get sponsors, and people like Ellen are forced to go over to France." Making megabucks Last month Britain's famous Admiral's Cup was scrapped because of a lack of interest from overseas competitors who were in turn not impressed with the lack of a television deal. Knox-Johnston says that with 7.8m people interested in boating, out of which 3.4m own their own vessel, the British media are ignoring a huge untapped market. Meanwhile, Ellen has opted to spend her forthcoming season in France, because that is where the money is to be made. Frazer Clark, editor of sailing magazine Yachts and Yachting, says her move is understandable. "There are probably more than 100 or so sailors earning the best part of a living in this country but at any one time there will only be places on boats for 30 or 40 of them. "Ellen has identified that more money and more kudos are to be made in the long-distance headline-grabbing races than in the fully-crewed stuff. "That has meant throwing her lot in with the French, who have already taken her to their hearts. It would not surprise me if she doesn't end up living there, earning megabucks." | |
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