“Surprised, but delighted,” is how Nick Craig described his win at the annual YJA Pantaenius Yachtsman of the Year awards. The announcement was made at the awards ceremony at Trinity House, London on 10 January.
Craig overcame two household names to win the coveted title – Ben Ainslie and Dee Caffari, both former winners of the Yachting Journalists Association’s highest award, were also nominated – and is arguably the first amateur dinghy sailor to win the award in more than a generation. He was presented the trophy by Geoff Holt MBE, the 2010 YJA Pantaenius Yachtsman of the Year winner.
Craig was nominated on the basis of an outstanding 2011 season, which included winning the OK Dinghy World Championship for the fourth time, the OK Dinghy National Title for the eighth time, the OK Dinghy Inland title for the sixth time, the RS400 National Championship for the fifth time, and the D1 Nationals at his first attempt. To cap off an outstanding year he won the Endeavour Trophy, the champion of champions event, for a record equalling fifth time. In his sailing career he has now won seven world titles and 22 national titles.
How did he expect to do compared with the other nominees? “I had an inkling that I had a chance because it’s a non-Olympic year and Ben and Dee have won it several times before, but I was kind of hoping I wouldn’t as I didn’t really fancy giving a speech in front of all those legends.”
Then when his name was read out? “I thought, oh no, I’ve got to give a speech! But of course I was also very delighted.”
“It was a great day out. Very well organised, super food and wine and nice to have a day out with my wife, which doesn’t happen often these days. It was also great to meet so many household sailing names who were all very personable, even if my wife did ask ‘Who’s Russell?’ after meeting Russell Coutts.”
In his speech Craig thanked Mark Jardine and Sue Pelling for nominating him and everyone else for voting for him and amateur sailors up and down the country. After also thanking his own sponsor Gill and Pantaenius for sponsoring the awards, Craig then thanked his crews for putting up with him “being a grumpy git in a boat, especially the amazingly talented Toby Lewis, Fiona Clark, James Stewart and Keith Bedborough” with whom he has won 95 per cent of his titles. He also thanked his wife Emma “for putting up with all my dull stories of which way up the beat I went and all the time she’s looked after the kids while I’ve been out sailing.”
Now that it has sunk in, “It feels very bizarre as I think Ben and Dee’s achievements are well beyond mine. But I guess it was also a vote for the amateur sailors who put so much energy into the sport with so many active sailing clubs in the UK, with such popular winter pursuits going on right now and more competitive classes in the UK than in any other country. Amateurs have very different constraints, getting up at 5.30 to get two hours in the gym before work, driving miles to get to a decent open, back late on Sunday and then back to work. So it was fantastic that amateur sailing got such great recognition.”
“Just about everyone said how fantastic it was to see an amateur win and see this huge part of the sport recognised – Rodney Pattison seemed especially pleased because he won all his medals as an amateur. Ben was also very gracious and said well done and took an interest in what sailing I was up to – it would be great to see him win gold again in August.”
Craig works hard and plays hard, preferring to keep the day job and his sailing separate, but does he think it is important that amateurs get recognised in the same way as the professionals? “I think the pros ultimately deserve more recognition as they are simply better at the sport. However, amateurs shouldn’t be forgotten as 99 per cent of the sport is amateur and there are some very talented amateur sailors who just can’t put as much time into our wonderful sport.”
Does winning something like this compare to winning a championship? “I am probably a strange creature because I’ll always prefer the buzz of a last race in a championship when it’s down to the wire. But I felt real satisfaction in seeing amateurs recognised and it was a buzz seeing my name on the trophy mixed in with all the absolute legends.”
What ambitions has he got left in sailing? “I’d like to keep sailing the classes I love well and, as always, am loving the challenge of getting into some new classes. I’m really enjoying getting into the Merlin and will hopefully be back in the Finn for the Masters and I’d love to get a D-One.”
Craig places big demands on himself and those around him to compete well and to win, but what drives him to keep doing it at this level every year? “I just love competing, trying to sail better each time I go out and trying my hand at new boats. I love the sport, especially on a big breeze and waves day; the socials are great as well and no other sport combines the physical and mental demands so well. So my desire hasn’t dimmed after 30 years of sailing, but I guess my body will slow down eventually. But I love it, by Monday afternoon I’m itching for my next weekend sailing fix.”
And then, interview over, the 2011 YJA Pantaenius Yachtsman of the Year was off to bed early to get up at 5.30 for some gym time before going to work.
Photos: OnEdition
Text: Robert Deaves
Report about Nick’s nomination by Robert Deaves
Nick Craig’s nomination for the 2011 Yachting Journalists’ Association Yachtsman of the Year Award is perhaps not just recognition for his outstanding achievements in 2011, but also for his dedication to the sport and his domination of many UK Dinghy classes for nearly a generation, racking up seven world titles and an astonishing 22 UK national titles.
Unlike many nominees for this award, Nick Craig is an amateur, and a quick scan of past winners would indicate that most winners, especially recently, have been professional or semi-professional Olympic or offshore sailors. This perhaps underlines the enormous impact that Craig has had on the world of dinghy sailing in an age when Olympians and professionals receive the bulk of the media attention. He has stood out among his contemporaries as perhaps the best non-Olympic sailor of his generation and even as he approaches 40 shows no sign of slowing up.
In 2011 he won his fourth OK Dinghy World Championship. This is a title that is notoriously hard to win, and which until 2004 had never been won by a British sailor in its 50 year history. He also won his eighth UK National OK Dinghy Championship and sixth OK Dinghy Inland title. Domestically Craig has been at the top of the OK Class in the UK for more than a decade.
On an international scale he ranks as the most successful OK Dinghy sailor of all time. He has also won National titles in Denmark, Germany and Belgium as well as the European Championship in 2002 and countless other events across Europe.
Also in 2011 Craig won the RS400 National Championship for the fifth time, as well as the D1 Nationals at his first attempt. To cap off an outstanding year he won the coveted Endeavour Trophy, the champion of champions event, for a record equalling fifth time.
His previous successes in other classes include three world titles and five national titles in Enterprises, as well as five National titles in RS400s. He also won the B14 National title in 2008, the Finn National title in 2005, both of these at the first attempt, and the Phantom National title in 2010.
His versatility is obvious but it is just one part of his armour. He leaves no stone unturned in his highly analytical preparation and is also an incredibly good tactical sailor, having learnt about the vagaries of the wind at his home club of Frensham Pond SC in Cadets. After a modicum of success he moved up to the more challenging OK Dinghy class, bypassing the offered Laser because he preferred something more technical that he could get his teeth into. That belief in himself translated to his first OK Dinghy Inland title in 1994 and his first OK Dinghy National title in 1998.
Speaking of his nomination, Craig said, “It is an absolute honour to be recognised in this way and to be up against such famous and accomplished sailors as Ben and Dee. To win it would just be fantastic, not just for me but for amateur sailors everywhere, as well as the thriving UK dinghy racing scene, which is probably the best and most diverse in the world.”
Craig never seeks media attention for his efforts, and in some cases even shies away from it, so to be recognised and then nominated for the YJA Yachtsman of the Year is a great achievement in itself, but to win the award would perhaps define the career of possibly one of the best amateur dinghy sailors the UK has ever produced.