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14th April 2016« All News Items

Ask The Doctor - Ultimate Star 2

For the second in our Ultimate Stars series, picking the brains of a wide variety of experienced sailors, we sought the advice of a Consultant Podiatrist. 

 

Simon Costain is not only a highly respected clinician (He was one of the founding fathers of podiatric sports medicine in the UK and was the Podiatrist to the Great Britain Team at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992), but he’s also a very experienced sailor too. 

 

Simon won 1st place in the 2009 Round the Island Race in the Laser SB3 class, has crossed the Atlantic twice and has owned and sailed everything from dinghies to cutters so he’s worth listening to. 

 

When did you start sailing and what got you into it?

Bad sailing experiences as a youngster with my Father and promises to sail in his National 14 that never came to fruition, probably made me decide to sail properly later!

 

It was mainly dinghy sailing in Enterprises/505’s/RS800 in my teens and 20’s, crewing in many offshore boats – both racing and cruising - in my 20’s, and I bought my first offshore boat in my late 20’s.

 

I really enjoyed racing in a number of different boats, particularly in sports boats like the SB3 (now SB20), and have equally enjoyed many miles cruising in a lot of different boats from a Nova 27 and a Bavaria 49 to Atlantic crossings in Gaff Cutters.  I have an X-50 now.

 

What’s your greatest sailing achievement to date?

The two Transatlantic crossings stand out, as do the two class wins in the Round the Island race (once in an Ohlson 38, and one in SB3).  I completed the AZAB race to the Azores and back last year with Paul Hooker in the X50 which was very rewarding, but winning class in Antigua Classics in Chloe May (my Gaff Cutter) was a real highlight too.

 

Are there any skills you can take from your job to sailing, or vice versa?

Positive mental attitude required for both.

 

What do you look for when buying a new sail?

A company who shows me a personal interest in what type of sailing I wish to use the sail for; know the boat I sail and can optimise the IRC figures advising me on not just the new sail but how it will fit into the wind range and advising me about the whole sail wardrobe.

 

I am keen on performance sails that last well, from a Company who offers good after sales service.  Nothing worse than ordering a new sail to find it is an ‘off the shelf’ version of a sail which does not set well in a breeze. I had this with one of the well-known sailmakers who sold me a sail that simply did not set well, and to add to that, their aftersales service was poor.

 

Do these factors change when you’re buying for a race boat or a cruising boat and size of boat?

 

Materials may change, but nothing saddens me more than seeing a cruising boat owner buy an expensive boat with cheap sails that set badly! I would strongly recommend that if a boat owner cannot afford good sails for the boat they buy then scale down until they can find a cheaper boat with better sails, or buy a motor boat! Good sails are required for cruising and racing, for safety as well as performance reasons.

 

Why is it important to take into account what you want to achieve from your sails?

 

See my answer above, but I would caution any sailor that if they try to skimp and save on sails, they may well find it being false economy in the long run. If sailing is their interest, then buying a boat that carries poorly designed sails strongly suggests that maybe “sailing” is not the reason they bought a sailing boat in the first place! To use the motor boat analogy, that to me would be like buying a Sunseeker with a lawnmower engine!

 

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