Sailing to success - Words and pictures by Dominic Byers

It's never too late to start sailing, or for that matter to start sailing seriously. However for YJA MDL Young Sailor of the Year and Cadet class world champion, 17 year-old Sam Carter, sailing to success is something that he has learned to do from an early age.

Sam Carter has rounded the first mark of his course to becoming a professional sailor and achieved recognition of his outstanding sailing career to date when he received the YJA MDL Young Sailor of the Year award at the London Boat Show in January. Winning three major championships last season alone, including the Cadet class world championship, Sam is well on his way to becoming the next Ben Ainslie.

Sam clearly has a natural ability that is, without doubt, a worthy trump card. Don't be mistaken, however, in thinking that reaching such levels in an elite sport comes naturally to anyone. Embarking on such a career is a long and hard road to follow, but for those wishing to take this route, it is often difficult to know where to start and which direction to take.

Having parents who've always owned a boat and are keen sailors ensured that Sam was brought up on a healthy diet of mainsheets and gybing. From as early as two years-old, Sam was taking the helm of his parents' Leisure 23 and being towed along in the wooden Oppi'-like tender.

Fun is the key to introducing kids to sailing. Racing is not everyone's cup of tea, and putting pressure on young newcomers to battle around the cans rather than adventure across the lake and 'discover' deserted islands Arthur Ransom style is not necessarily the best introduction. Equally, putting a six year-old in an Oppi' and pointing them at the Cherbourg will result in a very quickly acquired aversion to the water and boats at the best.

Sam discovered this aversion at the age of seven while crewing Cadets. Tony and Anita Carter, Sam's parents, thought that he was at the right age to begin crewing at their local sailing club, and found a helmsman that needed a young, light crew. Helmsmen yelling and shouting at their crew or 'crew-bashing', as Tony fondly put it, coupled with one or two scary capsizes resulted in a very unwilling Sam, who did not look forward to going sailing or enjoy the experience. Tony stressed, 'It is very important to find the right helmsman for a new crew, someone experienced and patient.'

Fortunately the experience did not have a lasting effect, and by the age of ten, Sam had acquired his first boat, an aging Cadet that required some TLC. His choice of class was made easier by the fact that Tony had been a keen Cadet sailor as a boy, owning Cadet No 3. Member of both Levington and Waldringfield sailing clubs, Sam is keen to point out the importance of joining and sailing at the right club, with a large fleet, to get the best from the sport, "The difference between clubs can be huge, Levington, for example, does not take such an active role to get its sailors onto the national circuit, whereas Waldringfield encourages its members to become more competitive."

By the age of 12, Sam began sailing far more seriously, and with the experience gleaned from a couple of year's experience, he had also become more competitive. "Once you've moved up in the fleet at your club level, you have to make the hardest transition to the National circuit. It's a whole different ball-game, you need the support of your parents, both for the extra time and money involved, and having sat next to a boat trailer with a bent axle on the roadside in Germany for nine hours, it's something my father knows all about."

During the season almost every weekend is spent travelling to race meetings around the country, often having to leave home at 0500 on Saturday morning, and not returning home until late on Sunday night, with a week of school ahead. "It is very important to go to as many events as possible and the right events, and it makes it easier to go with friends from your club. I can't stress enough how valuable it is to develop a group of you, both to share expenses and offer support."

The 1996 Cadet national championship was Sam's first major event. For everyone, their first championship holds a special memory, for Sam it is the memory of his closest rival paying-off with sweets another competitor to cover Sam and allow his rival to slip through on the last mark. By the following year, Sam had improved to such an extent that come the nationals, held in Torquay that year, he and his crew managed to achieve second overall in the B fleet. Such an achievement doesn't go unnoticed, and Sam was rewarded with a place on the National Squad. With the benefit of regular coaching from RYA coach, Mike McNamara, Sam worked his way into the British Sailing Team, and although he missed out on a place in the1998 Cadet world's in Holland, he successfully found a place on the trip to Australia and the Cadet world championships hosted in Melbourne in 1999.

Still at the tender age of 15, Sam surprised everyone at Melbourne; scoring a very worthy but not outstanding string of finishes, in the last race, with light and fluky winds, Sam creamed past the world champion to take an unquestionable win and 12th overall.

In the summer of the same year, Sam yet again qualified for the British Team, and was sent to the European champs hosted in Hungary. With a new crew, Sam improved on his result at Melbourne finishing with ninth overall, but he was not happy. Feeling he could have done better, he questioned what was not right or missing, and was not too surprised when his team coach advised him to replace his crew before the next major event.

It goes without saying that the helmsman and crew must operate together symbiotically. Regardless of how good either the helm or crew are individually, if they do not make a good team the boat speed will suffer. So it was not the easiest of tasks to inform his crew, who was also a family friend, that he was being 'deep-sixed'. On the flip side, Sam teamed-up with probably the best crew on the circuit, Robert Graves. Robert had sailed with previous world champs, and together, as many of the older Cadet sailors had progressed to other classes, they made the most experienced boat in the fleet.

Without much practice sailing together beforehand, the duo stormed the inland champs in the beginning of 2000, before just slipping back into second in the indicators. The first event they sailed together abroad was the Flanders Youth Regatta, and as was by now expected, scored another win overall. Still only having sailed together for a few months, the pair were whisked off to Poland for the 2000 world champs. As favourites, they were under a lot of pressure to perform well. The practice race went so well that they found themselves at the finish line many minutes ahead of the fleet. Unsure whether to tempt fate by winning the practice, as the superstition goes, they hovered on the finish line until their coach urged them across! True to form the pair, sailing their bright purple Cadet, Art Attack, didn't just win the world champs in a fleet of 86 boats, but won with two races to spare!

By this stage Sam had realised his time in Cadets was drawing to a close, and decided to make the transition into another Youth Squad dinghy, the 420. His decision to move into 420s instead of, for example, the 29er class, was largely based on the fact that a 420 is not too large a step up in boat terms compared to say the 29er. With that in mind, Sam would not have to go through a steep learning curve to remain competitive, and hopefully in the top end of the fleet. Despite this, he does not intend to stick with 420s for long, before stepping into his first 470 sometime before the end of the year.

The other advantage that comes when you move out of Cadets and into the next age group, is that there is an unwritten rule that the helmsman and crew split the costs of the boat, and expenses for travel and maintenance. As another Cadet helmsman that was moving to a new class, Paul Jones and Sam Carter already knew each other. After some persuasion on Sam's part for Paul to drop the idea of 29ers, and try out 420s, it didn't leave much more to be said before Sam convinced Paul to team up with him.

The pair spent the rest of the summer practising and getting used to their new boat while developing an affinity as a team. Sam had one more major Cadet event towards the end of 2000, the nationals. Getting back into the Cadet with Robert was not the easiest of tasks, particularly with the high expectations that come with being a world champion. After a rocky start, they cruised Art Attack to an easy win and the end of their time together. Sam sold Art Attack, a boat that had notched up more wins than most other Cadets, and made the final transition into 420s.

It is an unfortunate situation that sailing is an expensive sport, and it is easy to overlook the on-going costs which can all too often match the initial costs of buying and equipping a boat that will be competitive on the national circuit. Costs for memberships fees, entry fees, travel, maintenance, insurance, clothing, replacement gear and coaching all have to be accounted for. The RYA goes some way in supporting members of the youth teams financially, but this support does not come close to covering the costs. It therefore comes down to the parents to provide whatever is necessary, both in time, moral support and financial assistance.

Sponsorship is something that is unsurprisingly welcomed by parents with open arms. The extra cash obviously goes some way in relieving the burden, gives greater recognition and is a large step to becoming a professional sailor. Sam has received sponsorship from various companies in the past, and recognises the role it has in turning a young hopeful into tomorrow's champion, not least by helping to fund training that can cost anything up to £500 per day.

As with anything, if you want to do well you must be committed and motivated. Sailing at a competitive level requires a high degree of fitness; Sam has to both eat sensibly and exercise regularly. Members of the Youth Squad are not permitted to drink alcohol at all, and are encouraged to go to bed at a reasonable time making socialising with friends limited, particularly considering most weekends are occupied with either training or racing.

Finding time to relax is as important as training. While working on his sailing career, the onus for Sam is still on studying for his A-levels. Homework and school commitments must take priority, which makes free time come at a premium. Ironically Sam finds the best form of relaxation aboard his parents yacht, that during the summer months the family often take for day trips along the East Coast.

This year sailpower.com is sponsoring Sam and his effort to sweep up the trophies on the 420 national and international circuits. You can follow his progress in Sam's Diary, which Sam updates weekly with the latest news from the 420 circuit.

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