Rob, President of Parkstone Yacht Club, and a stalwart of the flying fifteen sailing regularly on GBR 3345.

I caught up with Rob recently, and here is what he had to say...

Bob: I know you have sailed a number of different boats Mono and Multi hulled over the years, do you have preference for either?
Rob: I think there are attractions of both, multihulls offer extraordinary speed potential and 'cheap thrills', whereas you have to work harder for similar a experience in a monohull.
 
Bob: What brought you to the Fifteen fleet?
Rob: To be honest it was the idea of sailing a boat that looks so lovely on the water. FFs offer dinghy sailing without the hassle of capsizing and enable racing to be held in a wider range of wind conditions than other dinghy classes. It is also a bit less sensitive to crew weight, an important consideration for me!
 
Bob: Tell me about your sailing history.
Rob: Apart from initial endeavours in miscellaneous sailing dinghies and a brief time being shouted at whilst sailing a Cadet very incompetently, most of my early years were spent haring around the Solent on a Mk3 Shearwater catamaran. They were great boats and, apart from capsizing a couple of times, provided me with a wealth of good times including a week's camping around the Isle of Wight and mainland shores.
I crewed on various boats competing in RORC/JOG races and was the last crew member to join in the 1981 Fastnet about 10 hours before the start!
Since joining Parkstone I have sailed a range of boats including a J24 and competed in in several offshore races during the 90s, culminating in the 1995 Fastnet on Ruthless. A great experience.
David Pipe and I raced J24 'Jeepers' for many years and enjoyed some seriously close racing. We never troubled the top end of the fleet at national level but had our moments in club racing.
 
Bob: What has been your best sailing experience to date?
Rob: Bob, I can't really answer that, I have been lucky to have sailed on a wide range of boats from a 100 year old schooner to high speed multihulls. I look fondly back at the early days exploring the creeks around Lymington river as a child totally unsupervised and our family couldn't spell 'life jacket'!
I don't think I've had a best sailing experience, every time we go out to race in Poole Harbour I am reminded how lucky I am  to be able to enjoy this beautiful harbour from the best vantage point of a sailing boat.
 
Bob: What has been your worst sailing experience to date?
Rob: I'm not sure there is one, but rolling around the bottom of a FF in fickle winds comes close!
 
Bob: What is the best boat you have sailed?
Rob: From a technical point of view I think has to be Richard Roscoe's 'Triohe'. His attention to detail was astonishing, especially when you consider that he built it virtually single handed. I was priveledged to be the first person to see her when he brought her down to Poole YC and he gave me a guided tour. Then to do the ROI race in under four and a half hours on this 32'6” boat was amazing, after having slept on board the night before too.
 
Bob: Upwind or Downwind?
Rob: On the few occasions we have been first to the windward mark – Upwind!
Since following your example of going out in heavier weather, the reward is the exhilaration and marginal control of downwind sailing, there's nothing better than just avoiding a broach!
 
Bob: Symmetrical or Asymmetrical?
Rob: I've had very little experience of Asymmetrical sailing and enjoy the boathandling challenge posed by a symmetrical spinnaker, although I don't always get it right!
 
Bob: Light or strong winds?
Rob: Sailing needs wind. Lights airs are like alchohol free beer!
 
Bob: Your favourite music genre?
Rob: I never really left the 60s and 70s.
 
Bob: Chinese or Indian.
Rob: Definitely Indian, sometimes only a curry will do!
 
Bob: And finally Beer or Lager ?
Rob: What's Lager?