SASKIA CLARK was born in Weymouth in 1979 — now, 33 years later, she is hoping
to win a sailing gold medal in her home town.
She started sailing on her own at the tender age of eight and had her first
taste of competition in an Optimist, or dinghy, at the Royal Harwich Junior
Week.
Saskia’s career highlights have been a World Championship silver medal and a
sixth place at the Beijing Olympics with ex-partner Christina Bassadone.
But all that will pale into insignificance if she wins a medal at London 2012
with her new partner Hannah Mills.
Here, Saskia reveals all about the intricacies of her sport.
THE BOAT
THERE will be eight different classes at the Olympics and I’ll be competing
with Hannah Mills in the women’s 470 event.
It’s called a 470 because of its size — the boat is 4m 70cm long.
Hannah is the helm and I’m the crew.
THE CREW
THAT’S my job. I do my work nearer the front of the boat and I control two
sails.
The first is the jib — the smaller triangular sail at the front marked ‘B’ in
the photo — which I can pull tighter or loosen using a rope (in sailing,
ropes are called sheets).
The other sail I control is the spinnaker — labelled ‘C’ in the photo — which
is the often brightly-coloured sail which billows out right at the front of
the boat.
I have to take the spinnaker up and down depending on the wind direction.
My other important role is to provide human ballast to make us go faster —
more of that in a minute!
THE HELM
I GUESS you could say the helm is the captain — I’m sure Hannah will love
me saying that!
The helm sits at the back of the boat and has two main jobs. She steers,
moving the rudder with a lever attached to it called the tiller — labelled
‘D’ in the photo.
She also adjusts the main sail (‘A’) pulling it towards her or letting it out
using a rope called the mainsheet.
Getting the best out of the boat is very much a team effort between us.
THE COURSE
WE race laps of a square course, with buoys marking the four points.
It’s a standard course we do at world-class events all year around.
The aim is to get round that square first — it doesn’t matter how long it
takes.
THE START
OUR start line is an imaginary one between two anchored boats.
A horn sounds to give us a five-minute warning so we use a stopwatch to count
down from there.
Cross the line too early and you’re disqualified but the trick is not being
too far back, either.
We aim to hit the line at speed right on the hooter.
Deciding at what point along the line you start is a massive part of the race
and you’re jostling with 20 other boats to be in the best position.
THE RACE
RACES are largely won and lost on the legs of the race when you’re sailing
into the wind.
If you aim a boat directly into the wind it stops so you have to take a
zig-zag path to get from A to B and it’s the route you choose here that’s
crucial. Sometimes it looks like we’re going way off course to get to where
we’re going.
The skill is finding the most wind, predicting changes in wind direction and
knowing where the pull of the tide is stronger or weaker. There’s a bit of
luck involved as well as a lot of skill.
THE WIND
THERE are three basic elements in sailing — we call them the beat, the run
and the reach.
The beat is when you sail almost directly into the wind and you have the
mainsail pulled in tight in line with the mast.
The run is where the wind is behind you and you let the mainsail fully out so
it’s completely hanging over the side of the boat.
The reach is when the wind is coming from the side and you have the mainsail
half out.
SPEED
ONE key factor is keeping the boat from tilting — what we call heeling.
The flatter the boat, the faster it cuts through the water.
That’s where my human ballast comes into play!
I stand on the side of the boat and, attached to a harness, I lean back as far
as I can.
Because of this job the crew tends to be taller and heavier than the helm.
The stronger the wind is, the harder it becomes for me physically, especially
on my stomach muscles and my back, so I do quite a lot of gym training based
around that.