2:23 AM Mon 28 Sep 2009 GMT
An interview with Tudur Owen, Mirsky Racing Team.
Tudur Owen, Mirsky Racing Team
Position: Pit
Age: 26
Kyle Langford: You grew up as a member of the RYA Keelboat squad, how has this helped you to get to where you are now in your sailing
career?
Tudur Owen: The Keelboat programme gave me the opportunity and access to coaching, mentoring from programme members and managers, access to the programme' s boats such as the J80's, the Farr45 and TP52 and to meet and sail with some of the country's most talented Keelboat Sailors. Funding from the Keelboat programme ensured that we were able to compete at the Warren Jones regatta in 2006 and 2007, and during those regatta's I met Graeme from MRT.
KL: Who has had the biggest influence on your sailing?
TO: I can't single out one person specifically here and I will probably miss someone out who I shouldn't have, but I have my Father to thank for getting me into Sailing to start with. We both started sailing at the same time and my first sailing experiences were Sailing Dad's Day Sailors. I grew up sailing a one off IRC Castro31 called Turbulent Flo, this was a great boat to be a part of as a youngster and we had a very young crew (apart from the owner- sorry Dave), and one of my fondest memories was travelling up to Northern Ireland to compete in Bangor Week and Winning our class and the regatta overall. So I have Dave Hughes and all the crew of turbulent flo to thank for them experiences. I must also thank former Keelboat programme member Alastair Hall who I started match racing with in 2005, that's where it really all started to happen for me.
KL: How do you find sailing with a team of Australians, what is the biggest difficulty?
TO: No real difficulties, however sailing with Australians you can always be sure that they will always tell you how it is! So I guess they can be a little to straight at times...!
KL: You have raced a large variety of boats from Lasers, Etchells to TP52's, how do you compare sailing those type of boats to the World Match Racing Tour?
TO: I have really enjoyed all of the sailing I have done in the various disciplines/classes, they all offer unique challenges to overcome to ensure good performance. The same can be said of match Racing, with only 2 events using the same class of boat the challenges for our team is being able to adapt to the boats and locations and perform as best as we can. Obviously I have a few favorite's on the tour, If I had to pick I guess my favorites would be the SM40 and the KM36. These are the boats used in Portugal and in Korea. These boats I find in my position particularly physical and I enjoy the challenge of managing the physical aspect of the role
around my other Jobs.
KL: Do you and your team help any other teams who aspire to compete at the level you do?
TO: Last year I coached a young team to 2nd at the RYA Youth Match Racing Nationals, most of the sailors from this team started Keelboat Sailing as a result of a programme I set up as part of my previous job before joining MRT. It was great to see the young sailors that I have mentored come through and compete so well at their first match racing event.
Another sailor who recently won the Youth National was my bowman when I took to the stick for a RYA G4 Qualifier earlier this year, from that event he met the team he sailing with now and they have aspirations of competing in next years Warren Jones Youth Regatta.
So I guess having had some great experiences with MRT so far and coming from an area that does not typically offer many sailors opportunities to further their sailing careers I am very happy to help young sailors reach their aspirations and goals
KL: Finally, tell us something about yourself that most people wouldn't know.
TO: Most people are aware that I am the only non Australian in the team, I am actually Welsh... and as a typical Welshman I spend a lot of my downtime helping my Dad on his 600 acre beef and arable farm in North Wales, and I also enjoy cooking!
Mirsky Racing Team website:
www.mirskyracingteam.net
by Kyle Langford
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