Traditions hold fast in the sport of sailing, and with many of the previous generations wisdom, beliefs and sailing culture continuing through to our current crop of Olympic sailors, it's no wonder there's a few curly ones still left!

This tradition is a little more modern than that of 'there shalt be no bananas on thou boat'. It started in the 90's, when Aussie 470 team Nathan Wilmot and Malcom Page were teamed up for the first time. They named their boat Australia, and while seeming innocent to most, the link was far more involved. Turns out, a mate of the theirs jokingly called them so skinny, it looked like they had spent a few months in the Bankok Hilton. Kidman stars in the TV Series by the same name, and the rest is history. Australia, Practical Magic, Room to Move. There's more, but you get the point. One time they ditched tradition and named their boat 'Happy Feet'. They came 12th, and the next campaign they were back to trusty Kidman.

She knows about it too, speaking with the crew before they left for several Olympic campaigns, even on race day! "Sitting in the food hall in Beijing eating my breakfast before the first race day." Tells multiple gold medalist Malcom Page, "My Aussie mobile starts ringing with an Australian number that I didn't have saved in my phone. My instant thought was, it's a journalist … and I'm not talking to them just before my first race of that Games! So I hit the red button. Then one minute later I got a text along the lines of, "just tried to call to wish you luck for the racing. Thinking of you both. X Nic." Didn't I look impressive in front of the boys saying I rejected a call from Nicole Kidman!"

Got a tradition for naming your boats? Share yours with the Seabreeze.com.au community in the sailing forums!

#News #Sailing