Who are the greats?
Last September I joined the crew of the Royal Western Yacht Club at the British Keelboat League finals. The league’s brand of short-course fleet racing involves multiple starts per day, each race no more than 15 minutes, on one-design boats that a bunch of dinghy sailor friends could handle. It’s relatively affordable and there is no long-term commitment. There is no racing sailor on earth who wouldn’t enjoy this. It’s some of the most exhilarating racing I’ve done. For the young dinghy sailor, it is a chance to represent your club, perhaps under the guidance of a more experienced member, and get a taste of bigger boats. The organisation of the league is effectively ‘owned’ by the participating clubs – the more clubs that get involved, the better. It is a…