Dragon Slayers

How long have you been involved with the International Dragon?

My first year in the Dragon was in 2004 and the 75th Anniversary Regatta in St Tropez was the first real event that I did. So it’s been a good while.

How did you first get involved in the class?

I sailed the Soling three-man keelboat in the Olympics [1996 in Savannah, 2000 in Sydney] and then I got quite into the Etchells Class – another three-man boat. So the Dragon appealed to me because it was a similar concept to those classes. I got asked to help someone race their Dragon and so I started learning about the boat – and I have been learning ever since.

The Dragon Class is 96-years-old this year and still going strong. What do you think is the appeal of the class?

The Dragon Class benefits massively from the fact that a lot of past Olympians, world champions, and America’s Cup sailors have been attracted to the class. I am not entirely sure why that is, but I think Poul Richard Høj Jensen had a lot to do with it. He got involved with Petticrows after the Dragon got dropped from the Olympics, and he did a good job of developing the class and getting a new crowd of people involved.

I was amazed this year how many young people were racing in the fleet. A lot of them are ex-Olympic sailors who are getting into professional sailing and have teamed up with a Dragon owner. That means the class’ age group is coming down rather than going up – and that’s great to see for sure.

I also think that the Dragon’s Grand Prix-style regattas have proved to be very appealing. Plus the fact that we have one big event each month where you can be pretty sure there are going to be 30 to 50 boats at each one. You know the events will be well run, the racing will be competitive, and it will be socially quite fun. It’s a good concept: to go to nice places to sail a great boat against nice people with great competition.

There are no rules restricting professionals in the class?

No rules. If you want to race as a corinthian then all three of you have to be amateurs. If you have just one pro then you are in the open division. It’s something that’s been debated in the class: whether the pros should be restricted and if it should be owner/driver. Personally, I think one of the draws of the class is that you get to race against the Olympic medallists and America’s Cup sailors.

There are not many sports where you can compete against the professionals and I think it is one of things that appeals about the class. Some people shy away from that and don't want to go racing and get beaten up all the time, but others like the opportunity to have a go.

Tell us about the ownership of the boat and the team set up?

We are part of the Provezza Sailing Team owned by [prominent Turkish yachtsman Ergin Imre] Ergin Imre. [The team also includes the TP52 Provezza racing on the 52 Super Series circuit]. Ergin has a passion for the Dragon and I used to sail with him on the TP52. We were having dinner one night and he told me he had a burning desire to build ‘the perfect Dragon’.