‘IF NOT NOW……BUT WHEN?
As I head into the twilight years of my life, as a passionate sailor and fanatical snow skier, I like to continually dare myself, with a bucket list of dreams and adventures, with a rationalisation to myself of….
‘If not now, but when?’
My view is that you have to chase your dreams, because they surely will not chase you…. and that’s how my aspiration to compete in an OTB World Championship in Europe began….
However, I have to be honest, I was a little intimidated finally getting on a Qatar flight, heading to France, to compete in the 2025 RS Aero World Championships in Quiberon. For a person that has lived in the Alpine areas of the World for most of my life, and didn’t start sailing until the ripe old age of forty-four, the question and doubt in my conscience mid-flight was….
‘Should I really be here?’
Not knowing what to expect, I also asked myself …… was sixteen years’ experience of sailing, at a seasonal yacht club on the Southern Peninsula, in a small coastal town called Blairgowrie, enough to match it, albeit as a development experience, on the World stage, in a single-handed dinghy against the best of the best? … amidst past and current World Champions, against current National Champions from countries like Germany, France, Great Britain, USA, Canada and a host of other great sailing nations?
In hindsight, I have three people to thank in my 16 years preparation for the Worlds in Quiberon.
(SP far left AUS 4730 –establishing clear lanes of pressure was a priority after rounding the bottom mark in heavy traffic)
(Drone footage – SP AUS 4730 tacking to round the top mark inner course to head onto a reach to the outer loop – tides were running quickly at times making calculated overlays essential)
Firstly, my beautiful wife Janne, for hiding the biscuit tin these last 6 months, secondly my sailing mentor and great friend Richard Robertson, who convinced me a long time ago, that I could learn to sail competitively and pack three sailing seasons into every BYS sailing calendar, by simply sailing multiple times per week after work and on weekends; and thirdly, Andrew Graham!
Yes, it would be Mr G that inspired me many years ago, when he offered me some worldly advice about my visions to rise up in the rankings in the Sabre fleet. With a wry smile he said, ‘Simon, I think you are confusing ambition with ability’; which immediately lit a fire in me to prove him wrong, and become more skilled and competitive amidst my peers!
However, watching one hundred and seventy RS Aeros put to sea in France, not far from the English Channel, was a sight that I must confess, was a little bit overwhelming. And having just been sent my Senior Citizen’s card in the mail, the question still lingered ….
‘Have you bitten off more than you can chew at sixty years of age Simon?’ ….. Am I about to get ‘flogged’ as Chis Batty aptly would say!
But ironically, once the tiller extension went in my hand, and the main in the other, and I put to sea, my lost youth returned and the fire that Mr G had lit, began to burn brightly.
I had done the work, I had trained hard, having just spent 20 straight days ripping up Falls Creek on skis as preparation, and an associated 30 kilometres per day inside on the Wahoo Kicker with my road bike; I had sailed heaps leading into the event into the twilight hours off Blairgowrie during Autumn, and I was more ready, than I had ever been for a yacht race!
(SP AUS 4730 – jostling for buoy room at the bottom mark in a light breeze to come out clean and high)
Sitting just above the start line of my first race, as the class flag was raised, (five minutes left in the sequence), my mind oddly reflected on all the afternoons/nights spent alone in a Sabre, a RS 100 and the RS Aero, over many years sailing by myself and many times with Richie midweek, often until the sun was setting over Point Nepean, ….. which I think gave me the self-belief and confidence to say edgily to myself,
‘Get in there Simon, treat it like just another club race!’ ……
and as the Code ‘U’ Flag was raised at four minutes to go, I bared off into the talented wolf pack starting to position around the line, and my focus and self-talk became purely on process and not outcome… ‘Find a hole Simon, favoured end and defend it, pull the trigger into a clear lane/ and then maintain it, hike hard and send it!’ But more of that later….
Australia (AUS) was well represented, with the third largest number of competitors, as country attending the event; with 18 sailors supported by the RS Aero Association (AUS) with Salty Dingo as the team sponsor.
(Director of Salty Dingo Craig Greenhill seen above as only ‘Salty’ can do; ‘hanging loose’ below the drone on the reach to the outer trapezoid course)
Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron had three sailors in the mix, Immediate Past Commodore Martin Kudnig, Andrew (Doc) Little and of course myself.
And I love the Doc and Marty RS Aero story! Both these guys, long time Sabre sailors, purchased brand new Aeros at BYS, based somewhat on passing conversations and articles written by me in Southern Sails; where I testified that the RS Aero was simply the ‘ant’s pants’ in modern day one design dinghy sailing …….‘that she simply went like a Maserati!’
Both Doc and Marty have never looked back since purchasing their new RS Aeros with renewed invigoration in their sailing. Doc, personally has taken his Aero sailing internationally to another level; travelling in the last 12 months to the USA, Lake Garda in Italy and now the region of Brittany in France. Whilst Marty’s sailing has simply grown out of sight with his renewed single handed sailing enthusiasm, and the RS Aero’s training, development and travel opportunities.
Marty, had a tenth (10) in the very first race of the Worlds; top three to the first mark in the Aero against some of the best sailors in the World! Memorable stuff!
Doc’s a talented sailor on any given day and had a 17th in his best race. Doc unbelievably is competing at a World level at 67 years of age; ‘kudos’ to him helming what is essentially a Laser or Sabre on steroids, with high tech carbon elements and a sleek design that makes the Aero go like a rocket ship in a big breeze on a broad reach. Doc is an awesome endorsement for everything the Aero has to offer, and now leads the Aero revolution in Australia, as the newly appointed President of the RS Aero Association (AUS) Incorporated.
(Marty 4721 and Doc 4722 taking it to the fleet on the first work)
I’ve always been big on branding as a marketing tool, and with our team all unified in AUS race vests, AUS baseball caps and AUS regatta tops, (with thanks to Salty Dingo and Sara at OXYGN8) our presence in the boat park, on the water and in the bar was momentous. It would prove as the week rolled on to be a significant tool in networking and introducing of Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron to the RS Aero World Community, as the next host of the Salty Dingo RS Aero World Championships in 2027.
(Team AUS – Images courtesy of Salty Dingo)
As an AUS team, we cycled everywhere on hired local bikes, sampled French delicacies and local wines, trained together leading into the event, and set up the tight knit Australian Camp in the boat park amidst beautiful deciduous European trees.
And it wasn’t simply about yacht racing; we explored and experienced the culture of this genuine and beautiful French seaside township. Whilst the locals didn’t speak much English, we were up to the task with our translator Monsieur Kudnig, who to my surprise speaks four different languages, and sometimes confusingly, all at the same time!! (French, Swedish, German and English!)
We took in the amazing local architecture, cosy winding cobblestone laneways and historic countryside. And whilst we didn’t beat the British on the water, it was another story in the boat park, where AUS convincing beat GBR in the RS Aero Ashes cricket series!
The village of St Piere Quiberon and their hospitality provided us all too many freshly baked croissants and madeleines served by beautifully presented and elegantly dressed French waitresses. Doc’s diagnosis was that a bit of ‘Ooh la la’ never hurt anyone!
So, where was I? …… in that first race of the World Championships with four (4) minutes to go under a Code ‘U’ flag?
It was boat end favoured start, but rather than engage in high-risk traffic, by fighting for position at the start boat, I claimed my spot conservatively, albeit nervously, one third down the line; with about a minute and a half to go. Tide did me a favour in the holding pattern, keeping water flowing over the foils, and then within seconds of the sound of the gun, I pulled the trigger, and with an internal ‘yeeha’, I had crossed another major item off my life bucket list!……. I was competing in an RS Aero World Championship in Europe.
(SP AUS 4730 working the left on a beat to the top mark)
Clean air in generous transit lanes, measured tacks and trusting pre-established compass settings trying to pick the shifts, had me finish that first race in 18th position with a ‘smile on my face’; and the realisation that my sailing had indeed evolved, and that I had earned the right to be here amidst some great sailors.
Overall, the regatta of thirteen races over five days was a surreal and an amazing developmental adventure. I was never there for the chocolates, amidst the World’s best RS Aero fleet, but I was there to be competitive, and I believe I achieved that goal!
In this environment, if you didn’t get off the start line with pace you were toasted, and one mistake would cost you five to ten boat places in an instant. And good old mother nature could deal you the cruellest blows, with a wind shift that made the right pay off, when you were doing fantastically on the left; but I guess that’s yacht racing.
My best result was a 14th placed finish, and in the overall regatta results I came a creditworthy 25th place in the Aero 7 rig. Marty and Doc had a fantastic regatta and finished 36th and 37th respectively in the Aero 6 Rig, and they simply had a ball competing with the elite sailors in their flight.
The World is coming to Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron in 2027, and based on the feedback from our marketing and networking, we now know it is going to be a ‘huge event’, that will showcase our newly built beautiful multimillion dollar club house facility and marina; bringing World Class sailors to our World Class sailing conditions.
Doc Little and I with a dedicated team of passionate Aero sailors have worked industriously and successfully to develop an RS Aero fleet at BYS, and we now have twenty-three (23) RS Aero club members, enjoying an exciting and genuine high tech one design dinghy, with a great culture on the grass. And we predict it will be 35 – 40 RS Aeros in our fleet, by the time the World Championships arrive on our shores.
We have also combined to bring you the RS Aero Victorian State Championships 2025, the upcoming Salty Dingo RS Aero Australian Championships 2026, and the Salty Dingo RS Aero World Championships 2027, with an aim to entice best sailors on the planet to Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron and our amazing afternoon Seabreeze.
The World Championships in France was a life changing experience for Doc, Marty and myself, and perhaps it’s time in your sailing journey to ask yourself the same question that I ask myself from time to time? ……………….’If not now, but when?’
We hope that you consider taking this fantastic opportunity to sail in the Salty Dingo RS Aero World Championships in 2027 ……in our own backyard?
Rhett Gowans and his team at Sailing Raceboats in Cheltenham have a limited number of new RS Aeros arriving in Australia in September, and they are already being snapped up in anticipation of the fantastic adventures to come in Australia over the next 18 months.
We did amazing things proudly representing BYS and AUS in Europe…..
Cheers Pluimy AUS 4730 heading home from the Worlds in France….
Written by: Simon Pluim (4th August 2025)
