Born again sailing – getting back in after 20 years...

Sailing in South of France in the eighties

I sailed from the age of about 8 through to 14 with my Dad and then again in the mid eighties working for a sailing school in the South of France. Now, 20 odd years later, I'm the classic 'born again' dinghy sailor and am absolutely loving it.

I bought an elderly and slightly beaten up Laser 1 and refurbished it with some elbow grease and TLC. Then I went on the lookout for something new to learn more on. Here's how it all happened...

My mate Mick fancied buying a sailing dinghy. He wanted a sport that he could do in all weathers and that'd compliment the other stuff he loved – paragliding, mountain biking etc. Like me, he'd done the obligatory crewing for Dad bit between about 8 and 16 and then stopped. Mick mentioned getting a boat and before I knew it he had a very tidy, second hand Laser 2000 which rapidly became his pride and joy. In fact he started spending so much time down at Bala in North Wales polishing and tweaking her that Kath thought he'd found another woman!!!

One sail in Mick's 2000 convinced me that this was a really exciting sport and had moved on a lot in the 20 years since last being in a dinghy. A lot of the old favourite designs still abounded – Lasers, Merlin Rockets, 470's, Mirrors and Enterprises but a real performance revolution had come about and even the so called family boats such as Mick's Laser 2000 were capable of fantastic performance with asymmetric spinakers and trapeze options to make the boats absolutely fly downwind.

My 1979 vintage Laser

After sailing with Mick a couple of times I was convinced enough to want to get a boat but as I was skint, a Laser 2000 like his was out of the question for the time being. Plenty of single hand Laser One's were around though but a decent one was still fetching £1,500 – out of my league.

Mick came to the rescue by finding a 1979 boat that still had life in it and just needed a hole in the transom fixing and some TLC. After a week in my garage she looked fantastic and sailed really well despite me not doing!!! After loads of capsizes but a lot of laughs, I decided I was hooked again and the great thing was, I was still doing all the other sport I love. Because we were down at Mick's place near Bala biking, climbing and flying most Sundays anyway, on the mankier weather and higher wind days, we'd get the boats out.

But by May 2007, it was time for something new – bye bye motorbike and hello dinghy...

Liz had now started getting into sailing but as she was probably not going to be a die hard, the boat needed to be single handleable yet perform well with a crew as well. We might end up wanting to race both one or two up, so easy and fun handling was vital too. I lusted after a trapeze and sail size options for maximum performance AND, as we hadn't got heaps of money it needed to be at the cheaper end of the market. Fussy eh?

The only dinghy that ticked all those boxes and sounded like fun was the Laser Vago. After testing one on Rutland Water courtesy of Paul James at Laser, I was won over enough to take a step into even more debt to buy one! The guys at Laser were superb to deal with - I hope we give customers a similar level of friendliness and expertise...

The Laser Vago

After picking the Vago up complete with the two versions of sails to give it the right power for every occasion, I towed her down to Bala Sailing Club in North Wales. Over several Sundays, I've steadily got to grips with this fantastic and massively versatile boat. For those new to performance dinghies or just wanting big fun, the Vago should definitely be high up on their list. For the purist or those only interested in racing, then it's not going to be as ideal a choice – certainly not until a few more appear at clubs and form a fleet. But if you want to sail with a nervous crew or novice one day, then get high speed planing with a mate on the trapeze in 15-20 knots and all three sails the next, then she's perfect. And now I've tried the demanding skill of singlehanding her on the trapeze, I realise there's loads of learning ahead and I'm very unlikely to get bored...

Postscript: Liz and I spent a week's holiday in North Wales staying at Mick and Kath's farmhouse and we took both boats down to Abersoch for 3 days in some really strong conditions. The Vago was in her element in the waves and gusty wind – just glad we'd taken the small sails as well as the XD kit. After some great windsurfing when the wind was too strong for dinghy sailing (safely anyway...), we had some exciting hours including a capsize a couple of miles off shore. The boat came up easily but we were glad we had the security of a good safety knife and a quick release trapeze hook just in case.

In the more gusty conditions we found the Laser 2000 a joy to sail as it's much drier and more stable when things are getting hairy. But for excitement it's got to be the Vago for me – you don't go any faster most of the time but you feel like you're in a performance boat that needs much more pro-action between helm and crew to stay upright, particulary with all three XD sails up!

December 2007: We spent a week at Neilson's sailing centre in Dahab, Egypt, windsurfing, diving and most importantly, dinghy sailing. Neilson's have 3 Laser Vago's at the centre and despite Dahab being a fairly high wind destination for dinghies, we had a ball and Liz made massive progress on the trapeze.

May 2008: Back into the new sailing season and after some serious tweaking of the Vago we are enjoying her even more. It's been breakthrough time for Liz on the trapeze and I have sussed out single handing using the trapeze and gennaker which has been a big learning curve.

Rigging the RS500

Mick changed his boat for an RS500 and found it a lot more exciting than the Laser 2000 but with a lot less forgiveness when things went wrong! I helmed and crewed the 500 and really liked it – not as much versatility as the Vago but faster and more powerful.

Later developments: Disaster struck in early August 2008 when a massive storm hit Abersoch and Vago 802 was totally destroyed along with several other boats stored there that week. Thanks to Noble Marine Insurance and Laser, two months later a replacement was delivered – Vago 1044. We carried on sailing her for a few months but my whistle was whetted for an RS500 like Mick's so after a load of customs and shipping hassle, I managed to sell and freight 1044 to a guy called Kostis in Greece. And that's a story in itself!

The lean lines of the RS500

Now we have RS500 707 and we love her. She's a thoroughbred – fast and responsive. The Vago was good training for a boat like the RS and although they look similar on paper, the RS is in another league performance wise. But the Vago is way more versatile and miles tougher as a first trapeze boat. Bala is the perfect place for a boat like the RS whether racing or just razzing around as the steady but strong South Westerlies power the sails up to full potential. The feeling of reaching at top speed with the bows way out of the water and the crew out on the trapeze with me hanging off the transom is awesome!

My Dad...

I need to tell you all about my fabulous Dad…

First important fact is this; Mum and Dad were married for 53 years and he adored her. No question about it. And the last time I saw him that love was still shining in his eyes.

Dad was brought up in a happy, traditional household with doting parents and relatives who instilled in him a love of normality and order, which later extended to our family life. He always loved having his parents close and devoted lots of time to them all through their lives.

He worked hard at school and progressed in his career with the Post Office as a telecommunication engineer. A two-year interruption to serve in the RAF on radar seemed no hardship and provided experiences for travel and sport albeit in the then volatile country of Cyprus!

His engineering background meant that Dad was precise about everything - almost to the point of obsession! We were in awe of Dad’s carpentry, engineering and building skills. A job was done perfectly or not at all. Unfortunately, in the case of fitting out our bedrooms, this nearly meant not at all!!! Buying a lamp unit with a built in shaving socket seemed over the top for a six year old but made more sense when it finally got installed nine years later!

We found out early how to motivate Dad. Want to go for a walk up a hill Dad? “No ta.” What about a mooch up Bleaklow to see the aircraft wreck? “I’ll get my coat son…!” Basically, if the carrot involved gadgets, technology or aeroplanes he’d go for it! Or cars… the sheer number of cars we had stemming from his early pastime of rallying…

His technical side merged with a creative one in a lifelong interest in photography which even involved developing his own pictures in his understairs darkroom. Ah well Mum, at least you knew where he was… And now, to Liz’s despair, she’s lost me to photography too – a chip off the old block! No darkroom though…

He absolutely loved dinghy sailing, which led to bigger boats and offshore trips to France and the Scottish Islands. We had lots of quality Dad time sailing although at the time we might not have fully appreciated it in the wet and the cold! And I think sailing and the associated camping might have tested Mum’s limits to the maximum.

After running an old AJS motorcycle in his youth he returned to Japanese motorbikes in his forties and took up voluntary work for the Auto Cycle Union to help others ride safely (including me and Ali!). Dad and I rode for many miles together including hammering around Europe although I didn’t share his enthusiasm for constantly cleaning his bike!

He started skiing after visiting me with Ali when I worked in France and somehow coerced Mum to try it too. There followed several holidays culminating in poor old Mum breaking her shoulder and going for a nice helicopter ride!

Dad’s disciplining of Ali and myself was fair, firm and occasionally painful! Messing around and fighting in the car, we got nearly all the way to Dukinfield Baths after an hours journey only for him to turn round in sight of them without a word and drive home. We didn’t pull THAT stunt again! The ‘wait till your father gets home’ speech had real effect, as we knew that meant BIG trouble and should be avoided!

Yet he and Mum gave us massive latitude in the beautiful area we lived in to develop our sense of adventure too. They’d grown up in wartime and were determined that we wouldn’t suffer the same hardships.

Dad was phenomenally supportive of Ali and myself as we went our separate ways in sport and was especially proud of Ali’s athletic achievements, which he sowed the seeds for by taking us running as kids and impressing us with his prowess at long distance swimming. He never questioned the fairly random directions (and boy, were they random at first!) that we took careerwise either (or Ali’s green hair) and like Mum, was only concerned for our happiness.

Dad took a thoughtful but discreet interest in all that we did, inconspicuously supporting us with donated furniture for our first houses and gifting us money if we were in a tight spot. He knew not to give us a golden spoon to spoil our inherited work ethic – just a catch net if we fell hard…

Dad had a genuine desire through his life to help people. I voted for him as a Councillor because I knew he was sincere and would assist anybody in need. His politics were not my politics and although I grew up with them, he never pushed them at home and had respect for other people’s beliefs.

The loving bond he had with his kids was never broken despite a difficult period he endured where both Ali and me turned into stroppy teenagers. His dignified conduct was a major influence on us and taught us the lesson of thought before action and the impact of those actions on others. He was a great friend to both of us and a solid shoulder to lean on when things got tough.

He had a clever sense of humour and was witty and fond of jokes – particularly enjoying the sound of certain words. And he generally took it in good part when we ganged up and laughed at funny mannerisms of his. 

He could be mischievous too. He’d often get in late from the pub or a council meeting with an illicit takeaway meal, which he always shared with me with a wink and the words, “don’t tell your mother!”

Dad gave us a real head start with the holidays we had. From early adults both Ali and I have been confident travelling and working abroad – a direct result of those fantastic family trips to so many amazing places. After Mum and Dad retired, it was great to see them take to even more exotic holidaying and travelling. In fact Dad rang me up once and said in a mock grave voice that he’d spent my inheritance on a trip to China!

To sum up, Dad had time for everyone irrespective of colour or creed. He was a private and quiet man who could occasionally be overawed by more extrovert company. But those who knew him well all saw the generosity of spirit that made him such a faithful public servant and an amazing family man. They may also have seen the sensitivity that existed in his gentle constitution and which meant that some days and situations were hard to face and needed courage to handle.

We love and miss our Dad – rest easy mate…