SailJuice Blog

Andy Budgen is one of the most talented sailors in Britain, it’s just that he’s too laid-back or lazy to show it. He finished runner-up in the 49er World Championships sailing with his brother, Ian, just over a decade ago. Since then he’s been better known as a coach to aspiring Olympic sailors, but he’s recently proven that he still knows what he’s talking about as he steered his 18-foot skiff Project Racing to 7th place in the JJ Giltinan, the unofficial 18-foot skiff World Championships.

7th, you say? Nothing particularly remarkable about that, on the face of it. Except that while all the front runners are racing around on hulls no more than two or three years old, Budgen’s hull is a 1995 vintage. That’s Jurassic by the standards of 18-foot skiff sailing. An impressive performance from… Read the rest

If I’ve been offline for a while it’s because I’ve been having too much fun in Sydney. Thanks to old mucker Simon Nelson for putting me up at his Balmoral palace and giving me instant plug-in to the Sydney skiff scene. Highlight was the 12-foot skiff outing with Cam McDonald from Lane Cove Sailing Cove.

Cam normally sails with legendary 49er coach Emmett Lazich, so I must thank Cam for his patience with my unorthodox (I’m sure he’d have other words to describe it) boathandling. He even introduced me and Simon to Korean food in downtown Sydney. Thanks Cam, but I didn’t dig the dog…

Next day I showed up with trapeze harness at Double Bay in the hope of hitching an 18-footer ride. But no hangovers and no injuries, so a trip out on Bob Killick’s camera cat… Read the rest