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Forty-six-year-old Jo Richards is one of the most unassuming, modest
sailors of our time. His cool, quiet approach has been a major contributing
factor to his success on and off the water. As well as winning a
Bronze medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in an FD, he's won numerous
dinghy class championship and has been the man responsible for designing
some of the world's fastest mutihulls. His recent win at the 1720
nationals was followed by a third at the Europeans in Cork. Before
he scooted off to Gurnard Dinghy Week, Sue Pelling tracked him down
for a chat about his life-long love of sailing and his future sailing
plans...
There are not many sailors who can step into a new class, tweak
the rig and win most of the races at the class national championship.
Jo Richards, however, is one of those talented sailors who seems
to be able to do just that. Even after a mediocre start at the European
championship at Cork Week, he managed to sniggle his way up the
highly competitive fleet and finish third overall. While winning
major events is a big part of his life, it is the tip of the iceberg
as far as Jo's success is concerned. He's designed some of the country's
most interesting boats from the mini 12 metre keelboat - the Illusion
- to the 40ft flying machine that's just won the Bol'd'or race on
the Swiss lakes.
So how did it all begin? Jo started sailing when he was just 18
days old aboard his parents 18ft cruiser on the River Avon. Such
an early initiation paid off handsomely because at the age of six
he was crewing Enterprises at the local Avon SC before rapidly progressing
to become an ace crew for local superstars.
How important were your early river-sailing days?
It was a great apprenticeship - possibly the most important part
of my sailing career. For me there was no better way of learning
about the tides, wind and how to roll tack my National Twelve.
When did you get your first boat?
I desperately wanted to buy a boat so I saved up every penny.
Instead of spending my money on the bus fare to school, I'd walk,
and If I was offered an icecream, I'd have the money instead. When
I was 15 I eventually had enough to buy an old Starfish design National
Twelve for £80. I hacked 35lbs of weight off it, did reasonably
well with it for 18 months and then sold it for £140!
When did you design your first National
Twelve?
Because a new boat was about £600 and I didn't have enough money,
I designed and built one during the six-week period I was supposed
to be revising for my A Levels. It was a PTO design, which in retrospect
was jolly advanced at the time. It was quick and we won a few open
meetings with it.
And did you pass your exams?
Fortunately yes, which allowed me to go off to Nottingham University.
Did you get involved with team racing there?
Yes, very much so. I raced for BUSA (British Universities Sailing
Association) and went on the American tour with the likes of Jon
Redding and Richard Cambrook and we were quite successful.
How did the National Twelve sailing progress?
During the time I was at university I built two or three more
National Twelves including a boat called a Subversion?. Sailing
with Bill Short we won the first race of Burton Week at Falmouth
in 1976. However, Bill was ill on the Day of Burton Cup, so I picked
up a girl from the beach who weighed about six-and-three-quarter
stone. We led for the first three-and-a-half laps, we were leading
round the bottom mark and covered a group of six boats up the last
beat. John Royce went right and beat us by half a second, which
was slightly frustrating. It was at that point that I decided the
boat wasn't quick enough downhill, so I built Bouncer, which was
jolly quick. Sailing Bouncer at the following championship there
was an occasion when we were 35th round the first mark, third at
the gybe mark, capsized, righted the boat and were leading at the
bottom mark. We could sail straight through people to leeward on
a reach. Hence we won the championship reasonably easy that time.
I think we won the Burton Cup by 14 minutes.
What happened to that boat?
Caroline Martin had it but they changed the rig completely and
went really slow. The following year they altered it back to the
way I had it and, with her husband Nick, won the championship the
year after at Plymouth.
And from the Twelve?
In 1978 I went straight to the Flying Dutchman. I still hadn't
got any money, so I built a boat and sails. However, the boat was
a dog, so I got hold of a Mader, which we were pretty competitive
with, and Hugh Myers and I won the Olympic selection series in 1979.
However, that was the time the Olympics were canned in 1980 so we
didn't go.
Did that make you more determined to go to the Games next time?
Yes, in 1980 I trained with Pete Allam and did a lot of two-boat
tuning with Rodney Pattison. We won the trials with a race to spare,
the pre-Olympics in 1983, and then went to the Games in 1984 in
Los Angeles.
I understand it took a long time for you
to get over your result at the Games.
Yes, as far as I'm concerned, we bombed out. Although we managed
to win the Bronze medal I was very disappointed for about a year
afterwards. I eventually came to terms with the fact that a Bronze
was better than nothing at all.
Why was it so bad?
We were very quick in 11-12 knots of breeze up to about 22 knots
on a normal LA day but the weather was very light and we basically
weren't prepared - we didn't have the right sails for the conditions.
What was your financial situation like
during your Olympic campaign?
Bad. We were promised a lot of money from the Sport Aid Foundation
but it was never forthcoming. I ended up completely broke and had
to give up dinghy sailing and pay off my £14,000 debts.
So this was your natural progression to big-boat racing?
Yes, I ended up racing big boats, which was better on my finances.
Actually I had been doing a certain amount of yacht racing before,
having won every race in the One Ton Cup in 1981 with an Irish boat
called Justine. I'd also been sailing big boats for a while with
Bruce Banks when I was 15 or 16. So fortunately I wasn't completely
new to the game.
How did you get involved with multihulls?
Because I was involved with Stephen Fein and his boats, and had
a successful year in 1986 winning Sardinia Cup with the One-Tonner
that Ed Dubois and myself designed, we decided to sell it and design
and build Full Pelt, a Formula 40 trimaran. We were reasonably successful
with her and learnt a lot about multihulls. Consequently, during
the first winter, I replaced the bottom of the main hull with a
different shape, put a three or four metres taller rig on her, did
away with a centreboard out of the main hull, and replaced it with
asymmetric foils and floats and a sort of canyard on the front of
the main hull. It was seriously quick and we won most of the Formula
40 meetings in 1989.
Was this at the same time as your involvement
with Blue Arrow?
Yes. As well as Formula 40 sailing I was driving Blue Arrow for
Peter De Savery. It was a very busy time.
Tell me about the Formula 30.
Because the Formula 40 was a nightmare to transport all round
Europe we built a Formula 30 which looked like it would be the way
to go in middle Europe. Unfortunately we were so much quicker than
the rest of the fleet, they wouldn't come out and play any more
and I think we effectively killed off the fleet.
I understand she wasn't unlike Pete Goss'
Team Philips.
Yes, with the same shape underneath as on top - essentially a
wave-piercing hull. We did however spend our life wishing the bow
was a different shape and a lot higher!
And you use the same structural engineers
at Pete Goss?
Yes. You can imagine the questions that were asked at the time
when Pete's boat broke! I was in the midst of building a new Geneva
boat. I suspect the design allowables they chose for that boat were
actually less than we chose for a Lake Geneva catamaran - to make
the concept work it had to be light and I think they may have pushed
it too far. If it was going to break anywhere, it was going to go
there.
Tell me about your new design which just
won the Bol'd'or?
I built a 40ft boat called Khamsin four or five years ago in Lake
Geneva, which was a development of a 30-footer catamaran at a time
when trimarans were dominating on the lakes. However, for a number
of reasons, the boat was not a great success. Last autumn I was
approached by Ernesto Bertarelli to build a development of the original
40 footer. I built her in partnership with Swiss naval architect
Sebastian Schmidt, she was launched at the end of May and went on
to win the Bol'd'or at the end of June by about 25 minutes.
How many crew?
Despite the fact that it has a similar sail area to an America's
Cup boat, we only sail with a crew of five.
What's the prospect of designing and building
more of the same?
There is interest in more boats plus I do have one or two more
silly ideas up my sleeve.
One of your earlier ideas, was designing
the one-man mini keelboat, the Illusion. Was this project a success?
Yes, because it effectively funded my Olympic campaign. There
were about 120 built in this country. In America they built about
1,500, and they were also produced in South Africa and New Zealand.
In fact although they are not being built in large numbers now,
they are still actively raced on the south coast. Some winter weekends
there are 30 Illusions on the race course.
You designed the Dart 6000 and the Laser
Pico dinghy but tell me about your latest dinghy design, the Vortex?
Since its launch at the London Boat Show it seems to be taking
off. In fact, Laser tell me they are bumping the production up to
10 a week and they are hoping to get 50 or 60 at the nationals at
Rutland during the first week of September.
And will you be there?
Possibly if I'm not in Sardinia sailing a Swan or on Lake Garda.
And now to the class of the moment, the
1720. What made you decide to go for this particular sportsboat?
As much as we really enjoyed sailing the most recent Full Pelt
- the 36ft water-ballasted flyer - we always got completely hammered
under general handicap. And because we weren't really heavy enough
for the Etchells we decided to give the 1720 a go. We bought the
boat in March and we really enjoy sailing it. It has righting moment,
goes well upwind in a breeze, and has enough sail area to still
be reasonable in the light airs.
You've just finished Cork Week. What are
your sailing plans for the rest of the season?
I'm not doing anything too seriously, maybe a couple of races
during Gurnard Dinghy Week. I'm then off to Sydney with Shirley
Robertson to help with a bit of technical stuff on her Europe before
the start of the Olympic Games.
How do you rate the Europe as an Olympic
class?
I love it. I think it's a great boat and I quite enjoy sailing
it as well.
What about the other present Olympic classes?
As a former FD sailor I have no objection to throwing it out of
the Games. But I can't quite see the logic of replacing it with
the Laser. The 49er, which I think is a great boat, should have
been the FD's replacement. Also, from a personal point of view,
I think the technique of the Finn and Laser is too similar.
What about the 470?
I've noticed recently that it's starting to look a bit dated. Also
to be fast in that class, you need to have a helmsman weighing no
more than nine stone, which I feel is a disadvantage.
What are your views on the Star?
Because the Star is an extraordinary technical boat and is very
strong politically I think it would be quite difficult to take away
the Olympic status again.
What made you decide to step on the Olympic
coaching ladder?
I have noticed that modern-day dinghy sailors coming up through
what I call manufacturers' classes, haven't got the background of
technical experience. Before the advent of these classes, sailors
messed around in their National Twelves, Merlins and International
Fourteens learning about the technical side, about how things worked
on their boats. Sadly because there is very little to do on these
new one-designs, I find there are less and less people with that
sort of experience. Interestingly, people like myself and David
Howlett are suddenly finding ourselves back in demand. I find that
I can contribute quite quickly at a certain level in Olympic campaigns,
effectively shoving them in the right direction. I spent quite a
lot of time with Paul Brotherton and Mo Gray before the Olympic
trials and now I'm helping out Shirley Robertson with her Europe
during the run-up to the Games.
Good luck with the rest of the season and
we look forward finding out about your next project whether it be
a dinghy or a new super-fast Swiss lake multihull...
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