{"id":136216,"date":"2022-01-18T08:30:08","date_gmt":"2022-01-18T08:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/?p=136216"},"modified":"2023-03-23T09:01:46","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T09:01:46","slug":"tom-slingsby-a-man-on-a-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/americas-cup\/tom-slingsby-a-man-on-a-mission-136216","title":{"rendered":"Tom Slingsby: man on a mission"},"content":"What is the mark of a truly great sailor? Is it an Olympic gold medal<\/a>, an America\u2019s Cup<\/a> win, offshore racing<\/a> victories \u2013 or something else? Because Australian Tom Slingsby has all of those, but it is the sailing he does for fun, his downtime dinghy racing on his own boat, which is perhaps his most impressive.\r\n\r\nIn September 2021, Tom Slingsby won his second International Moth World Championship. In the foiling<\/a>\u00a0dinghy class that\u2019s a considerable achievement. But the manner in which he did it \u2013 13 race wins from 14 starts \u2013 and the ridiculous talent trailing behind him, was truly remarkable.\r\n\r\nThe results table reads like a who\u2019s who of sailing, of America\u2019s Cup crews, Olympic Gold Medallists and World Champions. Paul Goodison in 3rd, Francesco Bruni 5th, Nathan Outteridge 7th\u2026 It\u2019s a fleet made up of his great friends, and greater rivals. But Slingsby dominated them all.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_136229\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"]\"\" Slingsby leading the International Moth Worlds fleet all the way at Lake Garda. Photo: Martina Orsini[\/caption]\r\n\r\nFrom Garda he travelled to France, then Spain, to compete in SailGP<\/a>, where his Team Australia leads the series, winning the Cadiz event. To fill a gap in his diary caused by travel complications getting back to Australia, he joined Comanche<\/a> in the RORC Middle Sea Race, where the 100ft Maxi demolished the course record and won overall.\r\n\r\nNext was Palma for the TP52<\/a> World Championships. He carried the momentum that a slightly magical unbeaten run gives onto Phoenix<\/em>, where he gave a masterclass in light winds tactics to take 1st in the first two races \u2013 ahead of another stellar fleet, many of whom have been racing 52s for decades.\r\n\r\nIn just a few weeks he delivered top flight wins inshore and offshore. Dinghy, multihull and big boat. Foiling and conventional. It was, by any standards, a very good end to an exceptional year.\r\n

\"\"<\/h2>\r\n

Passion project<\/h2>\r\nThe Moth is a bit different to Slingsby\u2019s many professional sailing gigs. \u201cI do the Moths just out of passion for sailing. It\u2019s really the only sailing I do that isn\u2019t for my livelihood. I do it because I just love it. I spend all my own personal money on the boats and development. So it is really nice to be successful in that part of my sailing.\r\n\r\n\u201cI did the 2017 Worlds in Lake Garda, and I finished 4th. But it was the most enjoyable regatta I\u2019d ever done in my life, and I said if ever there\u2019s another Moth Worlds in Garda, I\u2019d do anything to be there. So even with everything happening with Covid, when all Italy was shut down, I still packed up my boat and sent it to Europe on the off chance it might happen.\u201d\r\n\r\nLike many sailors, Slingsby was able to devote time to tinkering with and sailing his Moth from his home in Sydney when lockdown curtailed the professional racing circuit last year. Once events resumed, he blocked out weeks between regattas to go back to Garda.\r\n\r\n\u201cI just love the development side. I love always improving the boat. And I was sitting out the last America\u2019s Cup, and so I guess I had a bit more time. I love the sailing, and I love the spirit of the class.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe development never stops. I\u2019ve changed designs again, for the third year in a row. I really enjoy trying different boats and trying to see how to make them fast.\u201d\r\n\r\nThat drive to extract the fastest possible speed from every single boat is what has built Slingsby probably the most complete sailing CV of his generation. But it hasn\u2019t been an entirely straightforward progression.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_136223\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"]\"\" Laser Gold at Weymouth 2012. Photo: Reuters\/Alamy[\/caption]\r\n

Knock backs<\/h2>\r\nNow 37, he grew up in Brisbane, Australia. Although he sailed as a child, he didn\u2019t pursue youth racing. Instead, tennis stole his attention, and he competed at a high level into his teens, to the cusp of turning professional.\r\n\r\nIn 2000, the Olympic Games arrived in Sydney. A 16-year-old Tom took his place on the shores of Bradleys Head in Sydney Harbour and, along with thousands of others, watched one of the most phenomenal Olympic regattas of all time. He decided, then and there, that he was going to win an Olympic gold sailing medal.\r\n\r\nTwo years later he was winning Laser Nationals and Olympic classes events, but needed a top 10 finish at the World Championship to earn his place on the Australian team. By 2004 he was working two jobs to support his campaign, training in the few hours left in between, and any Olympic dreams were hanging in the balance.\r\n\r\nAt the Worlds in Turkey he finished the penultimate day lying 22nd. The prospect of hanging up his sailing boots for university studies loomed large. Instead, Slingsby won two races back to back, jumping to 7th overall. His place on the Australian team was secured, though he didn\u2019t make selection for Athens 2004.\r\n\r\nIn 2007 he won his first Laser World title and by 2008 was ranked No. 1 in the world. He went to Qingdao as favourite for Olympic Gold but, as he described it, \u201cchoked\u201d. It was a hard setback.\r\n\r\nHowever, it inspired Slingsby to change his approach to sailing. \u201cI\u2019d just been really concentrating on Lasers \u2013 as all Olympians do, they just concentrate on their own class. But Nathan Outteridge and myself were team mates in Beijing and we both came away a bit unhappy with our result. So we said, \u2018Look, let\u2019s start sailing as many types of classes as we can.\u2019 We both bought A-class catamarans after the Games and said, let\u2019s learn about catamarans and faster sailing.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_136224\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"]\"\" Slingsby bought an A-Class cat to learn about foiling multihulls. Photo: Andrea Francolini[\/caption]\r\n\r\n\u201cThen we both got Moths. Nathan was coming from the 49er, a pretty fast boat background \u2013 but my background was Lasers, slow moving tactical boats. And I realised I was just learning so much more about sailing. I learned about apparent winds. I learned about the capabilities of catamarans versus monohulls, standard monohulls versus foiling boats.\r\n\r\n\u201cI\u2019d sail any type of boat. If someone said: \u2018I\u2019ve got an 18ft Skiff you can use on the weekend, do you want to?\u2019 If I was free, I said yes. I would just take any opportunity that was given and it\u2019s really helped me.\u201d\r\n\r\nSlingsby and Outteridge\u2019s post-Qingdao project had built skillsets that would take them beyond the Olympics to the future of foiling multihulls. But first, Slingsby had unfinished business in the Laser.\r\n\r\nHe won three back-to-back World titles, before taking gold at Weymouth in 2012. The following year he joined Oracle Team USA as strategist, winning the America\u2019s Cup in 2013<\/a>. He stayed with Ellison\u2019s team for the Bermuda defence, where they lost to Emirates Team New Zealand<\/a>. Slingsby then signed up to lead the Australian team in Ellison\u2019s SailGP, winning the million-dollar final of the first series.\r\n\r\n\u201cI\u2019m in a nice position now where I feel like I can jump on any type of boat and know how to get it going fast and know the keys to winning in that class. It\u2019s a really nice feeling to have, and it definitely takes a lot of work and training and dedication. But I\u2019m just so lucky to be in the position that I\u2019m in, and to get the opportunity to sail these types of boats and travel the world.\u201d\r\n

Among legends<\/h2>\r\nHis Australia team may be currently leading the second series of SailGP, but there\u2019s no let-up in pressure, thanks to the talent pool that makes up Slingsby\u2019s peer group.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s on another level to anything I\u2019ve ever experienced. We had all these legends of the sport who were considered the best in the world: Ben Ainslie in the Finns, I guess, me in the Lasers, Nathan Outteridge in the 49ers, Peter Burling in the 49ers and the America\u2019s Cup. But they,\u201d he corrects himself, modest about his own talent, \u201cwe never really got a chance to get on the same type of boat. Now we all get to jump on the same race track in equal boats, and we really get to see who the best sailor is.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_136226\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"]\"\" WInning the America\u2019s Cup with Oracle in 2013. Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget[\/caption]\r\n\r\n\u201cOn the race track, the competitiveness is unlike anything I\u2019ve ever seen. When you\u2019re on the start line and you\u2019ve got Jimmy Spithill above you and Ben Ainslie below you, two of the most aggressive sailors in history, you\u2019re just the meat in the sandwich sometimes! It\u2019s pretty daunting.\u201d\r\n\r\nWas it hard to watch many of them racing each other in Auckland? \u201cIt was tough sitting out the last Cup,\u201d he concedes. \u201cI did get some offers, but they just didn\u2019t work for me at that time. It wasn\u2019t hard for the first three years, but then when all the boats lined up in Auckland on the same race track, I was pretty jealous.\u201d\r\n\r\nWith the latest America\u2019s Cup Protocol specifying a 100% nationality rule, opportunities for sailors like Slingsby will continue to be limited (although he is a US passport holder due to his American mother, so the Cup door may not be entirely closed). \u201cIf they\u2019ve only got four entries in the America\u2019s Cup, that means if you\u2019re not part of one of those four countries, you can\u2019t compete. And I just think that\u2019s not fair,\u201d he says.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_136222\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"]\"\" Not always easy \u2013 AUS has had 1st and last places in the uber-competitive SailGP fleet. Photo: PA Images\/Alamy[\/caption]\r\n\r\n\u201cIf you\u2019re from anywhere in the world \u2013 Australia, Brazil, Uruguay, anywhere \u2013 and you\u2019re an unbelievable sailor, you should have the opportunity to compete in the America\u2019s Cup. If you\u2019re from France or Austria and you\u2019re one of the top sailors in the world you should get that chance.\u201d\r\n\r\nSailGP, by contrast, has relaxed its nationality rules slightly. \u201cI do like that there is some flexibility in the rule. It means that Francesco Bruni, who\u2019s Italian but there\u2019s no Italian team, can still compete. The best sailors in the world will actually be on the racetrack, I think that\u2019s the way to do it.\r\n\r\n\u201cBut New Zealand kicked our arse in the 2017 Cup and took away all my rights to say anything, so it\u2019s their call!\r\n\r\n\u201cI do miss working with a team at that scale and trying to design and build the quickest boat you can, and then learn how to sail it as fast as you can. It\u2019s a very enjoyable part of our sport. Who knows? Maybe I\u2019ll be back there. Maybe not. But I\u2019m very fortunate to be in a position where I have amazing options.\u201d\r\n\r\nWhat else is on Slingsby\u2019s wish-list? \u201cI want to create a pathway and a programme in Australia to develop future champions. I\u2019d love to have some sort of foundation or a team that really funnels people in and nurtures the next generation.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s something I\u2019m passionate about. I would love in the future to be helping the next generation of sailors and showing them how to get to the top and how to achieve their goals.\u201d The first lesson is likely to be: sail everything.\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n

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","excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is the mark of a truly great sailor? Is it an Olympic gold medal, an America\u2019s Cup win, offshore racing victories \u2013 or something else? Because Australian Tom Slingsby has all of those, but it is the sailing he does for fun, his downtime dinghy racing on his own boat, which is perhaps his most impressive. In September 2021, Tom Slingsby won his second International Moth World Championship. In the foiling\u00a0dinghy class that\u2019s a considerable achievement. But the manner in which he did it \u2013 13 race wins from 14 starts \u2013 and the ridiculous talent trailing behind him, was truly remarkable. The results table reads like a who\u2019s who of sailing, of America\u2019s Cup crews, Olympic Gold Medallists and World Champions. Paul Goodison in 3rd, Francesco Bruni 5th, Nathan Outteridge 7th\u2026 It\u2019s a fleet made up of his great friends, and greater rivals. But Slingsby dominated them all. From Garda he travelled to France, then Spain, to compete in SailGP, where his Team Australia leads the series, winning the Cadiz event. To fill a gap in his diary caused by travel complications getting back to Australia, he joined Comanche in the RORC Middle Sea Race, where the 100ft Maxi demolished the course record and won overall. Next was Palma for the TP52 World Championships. He carried the momentum that a slightly magical unbeaten run gives onto Phoenix, where he gave a masterclass in light winds tactics to take 1st in the first two races \u2013 ahead of another stellar fleet, many of whom have been racing 52s for decades. In just a few weeks he delivered top flight wins inshore and offshore. Dinghy, multihull and big boat. Foiling and conventional. It was, by any standards, a very good end to an exceptional year. Passion project The Moth is a bit different to Slingsby\u2019s many professional sailing gigs. \u201cI do the Moths just out of passion for sailing. It\u2019s really the only sailing I do that isn\u2019t for my livelihood. I do it because I just love it. I spend all my own personal money on the boats and development. So it is really nice to be successful in that part of my sailing. \u201cI did the 2017 Worlds in Lake Garda, and I finished 4th. But it was the most enjoyable regatta I\u2019d ever done in my life, and I said if ever there\u2019s another Moth Worlds in Garda, I\u2019d do anything to be there. So even with everything happening with Covid, when all Italy was shut down, I still packed up my boat and sent it to Europe on the off chance it might happen.\u201d Like many sailors, Slingsby was able to devote time to tinkering with and sailing his Moth from his home in Sydney when lockdown curtailed the professional racing circuit last year. Once events resumed, he blocked out weeks between regattas to go back to Garda. \u201cI just love the development side. I love always improving the boat. And I was sitting out the …Continue reading »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1571,"featured_media":136227,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[687,140],"tags":[569,173,1008,754,1633],"review_manufacturer":[],"acf":[],"introduction":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136216"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1571"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136216"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":144581,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136216\/revisions\/144581"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136216"},{"taxonomy":"review_manufacturer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review_manufacturer?post=136216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}