British owner/driver John Pollard’s victory at the SB20 World Championship in Singapore earlier this year shows just how far grit, determination and organisation can take you in competitive sailing – writes Andy Rice.
At the age of 61 the British sailor finally achieved a world title that he has been working hard to win for well over a decade of dedicated campaigning in the SB20 sportsboat class.
“I'm not the youngest spring chicken in the world,” says Pollard. “I've been doing sort of high-level racing for quite a long time, but never really got to the podium.” At least, not in the SB20, although he’s come close to the big prize a number of times.
Pollard had to accept that what might have worked 20 years ago wasn’t going to work for him in his sixties. “As I got older I realised that I needed to improve my physical and mental wellness, and part of that is making sure my skills were complementary to the new crew.
“I worked out that it wasn't possible just to slot in a new team and then just carry on as normal. Winning requires a complete package and that’s what I needed to do.”
Pollard decided to bring in a younger and fitter crew to sail with him, whilst also not wanting to be the weak link in the package. “Two or three years ago I ended up finding myself significantly fatigued at the end of a strong-wind day. So I found a local coach fitness coach who worked with me to find a balance and compatibility between sailing and normal life. I needed to fulfil the requirements of a helmsman in a sports boat at my age.”
On-board video soon revealed where Pollard was falling short, in terms of manoeuvrability around the boat. “To be fair to my team they weren't overly critical of my wellness and my capabilities on the boat,” says Pollard. “I was more keen to see that for myself and working out what I had to do to improve my sailing techniques with a higher grade team.”
Pollard set about speeding up his movement around the cockpit. “I wanted to improve the ability to dramatically reposition weight in changing conditions. For example at leeward mark roundings, going dinghy-style around the mark, heeling the boat to leeward rather than using too much rudder steering. In Singapore this made a big difference in my ability to roll tack and roll gybe in the lighter winds.”
With his personal trainer, Pollard focused on a demanding new training routine. “The majority of it was core exercise and to start with that was pretty hard,” he says. “I joined a local gym that was more more specific to My age group. I did that with my wife and we benefited both in my sailing ability and our general well-being and mentality. Sailing under pressure is a physical and a mental thing, and this training really helped in both areas.”
Handling, and even embracing the pressure, was a key focus for Pollard. “There’s a guy from my home club, Paul Hyles, who sailed in the Olympics a long time ago. He gave me an amazing piece of advice: ‘Whatever your emotional feelings, understand that your competitors are also feeling those emotional feelings.’ For me, that comment was a game changer, to remind myself that everybody's feeling nervous, everybody's feeling apprehensive. The only way to do combat it, for me, was to improve my physical approach to sailing the boat and also understanding that everybody else is going through the same processes, and it's how you deal with it. It’s not just you suffering out there, it’s understanding that suffering is part of the game.”
There's more to come soon from John Pollard in Part 2 of Andy Rice's interview with the 2025 SB20 World Champion.
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