Simon is relatively new to the fleet (joining last year with Andy Currell in 4054) but his certainly not new to the club. As you will learn, Simon sailed an AB at the club 20 years ago (as an adult – not a child) and is a key member of both the General Council and Sailing Committee. Simon was John Keates’ first ‘5 minutes’ interviewee and John brought in some tried and tested questions from BBC Radio 4’s “Desert Island Discs” to learn more about him…
John: What one record would you save from the waves?
Simon: Any recording of Handel’s opera Julius Caesar, 3.5 hours of sublime vocal writing and dramatic impact and clever baroque orchestration.
John: You’ve already got the bible, what other book would you choose?
Simon: Ivan Illich’s Tools for Conviviality written in 1974. This Austrian philosopher correctly predicted that we would ruin our world and humanity with consumerism, fast transport and technical innovation way beyond our own understanding. His prescriptions were, of course, unlikely to be acceptable including that no vehicle should travel faster than a bike, everyone should rely on tools that they could wield themselves. However it serves as an escape when I’m feeling grumpy about the climate crisis, traffic jams and highly refined, infinity unaffordable medical technology being promoted for minority gain, when simple cheap option would help far more people
John: In this version of the programme (it’s a nasty one), I’m forcing you to choose between cycling or sailing or to be more precise cycles or boats? – readers take note, the use of the plural is intentional given that this is Simon I’m asking the question of!
Simon: Ouch, I think it would have to be the bicycles, they have allowed me some of my most memorable exploring opportunities and they keep me slim and fit, which allows me to enjoy my actual favourite pastime- which is eating!
John: What first brought you to the pastime of sailing?
Simon: I learnt to sail in Langstone harbour, first with my father in an Enterprise and later in my own Mirror dinghy. We sailed from a tiny club at Eastney which had a timber shed on the shingle, as well as a dangerous winch to bring the boats up the step beach. As a youth, with friends we would think nothing of sailing out of the harbour and over to the Isle of Wight navigating from fort to fort, without even consulting our parents. I avidly read Francis Chichester and Alec Rose’s accounts of sailing around the world and met the latter on his return to Portsmouth in 1968
John: What attracted you to sailing the Flying Fifteen?
Simon: I love Uffa Fox designs, I needed a really good reason for getting out of an XOD, and I hatched a plan with Andy
John: Given your renowned attention to detail what aspect of racing the fifteen have you found the most difficult to master?
Simon: Sailing Upwind in a blow, whilst keeping it flat and having enough drive to get through the chop
John: Which of the boats you’ve sailed has given you the most pleasure?
Simon: It would have to be Stralende, our family Nordic folkboat, which we have had since 2004. The racing success and the family cruising have been a lovely balance, all in the same boat with the same equipment
John: What’s been you’re biggest achievement on the water, and much more importantly, your biggest failure?
Simon: That’s and easier question. Winning successive Round the Island Races with Joshua in the Folkboat and the opposite….being beaten by Andy in the AB parents race in about 2004
John: Please tell us something about your official roles at PYC
Simon: On GC my portfolio is safeguarding, and sailing. On sailing committee I am nominally first deputy for Christina, though she is so accomplished that she rarely requires my help. I am gradually taking over Graham Davies’ Race Officer communications role (Head of ROCOM). Part of that job is coordination of the 4 yearly course book and sailing instruction revision this autumn, to align with the new RRS and take into account new ideas or developments that might have occurred since that last revision.
John: What advice would you give (if you had the chance) to 15year old Simon Flack?
Simon: Be humble. Don’t be a sheep. Accept that challenges will come along and that they will make you more resilient for the future.
John: Thank you, Simon, for your 5 minutes at the bar. You’ve earned a drink and I’ll gladly buy you one!
Simon: Thank you John, for your clever and challenging questions