A man called Dingo
by John Curnow, Sail-World.com AUS Editor 12 Aug 2024 01:00 PDT
As Australian as it gets - a dingo and beach.. © Fisho's Tackle World
Australia has just sent its largest ever team to the Olympics. They have competed in more events than we have before. We have also had our best ever medal haul (In terms of Gold and overall count for an away Games). Nice. Very nice. Well done all. Tip of the hat, and everything... Some pondered if the 2024 Australian Olympic Team should be renamed, The Kelly Gang, in reference to the amount of Gold, Silver, and Bronze being hauled back home. Thing is, there was no robbery involved here. These were earned. Well and truly.
For us sailors, it is important to acknowledge Grae Morris' wonderful Silver Medal. The powers that be always said to me that he had a special quality, and boy did that shine through. Looking back over my conversations with him I keep coming up with one word. Focus. Well done lad, and it is just the beginning...
Matt Wearn OAM secured his back-to-back Gold Medal in the only style he knows. From the front. His legacy for those to come is as immense as his talent. I know he feels pressure, but he is just so good at channelling it into the job at hand. To be the only person to ever do so in the single-hander is perhaps something to take in as time goes on. That he, together with Tom Slingsby OAM and Tom Burton OAM, has created sailing's version of the Kieran Perkins OAM/Grant Hackett OAM bold and underscore notation in the history books is indelible now, and forever more.
Sailing is categorically entrenched in the top five for Team AUS, which is something perhaps the mainstream media will one day eventually realise. We are so much more than the track and the pool. Until then, take a bow, all of you. Round of applause erupts...
Now there was one recently departed man who would have got such a huge smile and a lifetime's worth of quips from all of this. Once of course he sorted out the seating arrangements on the flight home, which was always a great source of laughter for those that were there, and those who had the stories relayed to them.
He is, of course, the inimitable, Andrew John Plympton AM. A World Champion in his own right, which would be about the same time as he earned one of his nicknames, Dingo, so wonderfully anointed on him by John Savage. Now if Plymo was not the Architect of the Gold Medal Programme inside Australian Sailing during his tenure as President, then he was definitely the point of inception, and certainly the protagonist and flagbearer for, as well as THE long-term advocate of high-performance sailing.
Even when he moved on from Australian Sailing to be involved with the Australian Olympic Committee, thence the Australian Sports Commission, and finally the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, he kept a covering tack on all things sailing, and loved nothing more than making sure any and all possible connections to other like-minded souls was on offer.
"With Andrew, it goes back to the Athens era (2004)", said long-time friend, John Bertrand AO (JB). "The key with Andrew is that he was a disruptor. He was never happy with the status quo. It's just who he was, and constantly rattled the cage to see how we could do things better. He was very entrepreneurial in terms of pulling the right people together at any one time. I remember one of the things he did in the very early days was get together a technical advisory board within the sport of sailing, but also outside just to endeavour to bring world best practice to the table."
"He was very much a visionary when he became president of Australian Sailing, and sought to raise the bar and raise people's sense of expectation of really what can be done on the world stage. He's left his indelible mark," said JB.
Naturally, many others, such as Victor Kovalenko and Michael Blackburn, certainly made the big plan ever-so-grand. Now another of Plymo's great skills was to scoop in talented souls from the corporate world into the sports arena. A 'link' man for sure, he was perpetual, and his involvement was constant, even when he was occupied elsewhere. Insidious in the most glorious of ways.
JB's involvement with this special individual continued until the end, with he as Chair of The Sport Australia Hall of Fame, and Plymo as a Director. It is clear that Bertrand misses his friend, but is so very clear as to his enduring value. "He encouraged new people to be involved, in terms of becoming board members and advisors. He never stopped connecting people that he thought could add value to the overall equation. We debated things constantly, often in a very heated manner, but our daily conversations were just marvellous. He was always very clear and respectful."
JB himself takes a special sense of joy from Paris 2024. His own deep involvement with the Dolphins (swim team) ties directly back to JB coming on board to turn things around after the disappointment that was London 2012. Enormous change had to take place. Asked if he took a little bit of pride in the fact that helmed the turnaround from London to seeing what it is today, JB said, "Immense sense of pride. I'm just as proud of the turnaround in Swimming Australia, as I was in terms of our winning of the America's Cup."
Five Ring Circus to Lawyers' Convention
Next. Take nothing away from Australia II's win in 1983, but it is time for a new deal for a new generation. Not so much a casting off, as it is a standing on the shoulders. Better view up there, after all...
Four of the Australian Sailing Team now depart Marseille and their OTB craft to go and play AC40s in Barcelona, where the other Youth and Women's sailors of what is now, Andoo Team Australia, are also amassing.
Of the gathering, JB said, "It's about having people to be empowered and encouraged to think outside the box. What will the game look like in 10 years' time? Let's get there faster than anyone else in the world. It'd be a pretty big achievement to win either or both the Youth and/or Women's America's Cup events. The reality is that it's not a level playing field. The Women's and Youth teams associated with the existing America's Cup challenges have had access to the AC40s for, in some cases, several months. We've been using the flight simulator, which is a very, very powerful tool, but splash needs cash."
"The learning curve is almost vertical, but yes, they will have a red-hot go at it. Interestingly enough, it gets back to the quality of the people in the team, but also the compatibility and the synergy of the individuals. Because it's all about endeavouring to get one plus one equals three. It is about having group of people who really leverage off each other. Then there can be real enthusiasm, to allow passion and trust to flourish, then magic can happen. Anything goes in terms of the upside opportunity. That's why I find it not only fascinating, but exciting," added JB.
Make it so, Mr Sulu
The Winning family's pedigree in sailing is effectively peerless. John 'Herman' Winning is the CEO of the Winning Group, has won a Hobart with Andoo Comanche, as well as the fabled JJ Giltinan Trophy in the 18-footers. Their support for our sport over the years has been unwavering and significant. Now it goes next level, as their direct involvement has allowed for the team to firstly travel to Barcelona, and more importantly, get some water time!
After the Team Australia Challenge had raised the money for a simulator, Winning donated his office so the team could have a home to train from. Yet he knew that water time would be crucial, but there was no appetite from corporate Australia for such. An Olympic year for sure, but in reality, there has not been such for decades. This needs to change.
So, in the face of it all, Winning Jnr stepped up again and his Andoo brand became title sponsor, and it is why the team are there all set to use some chartered time onboard the French AC40. BTW, AUS is paired with NZL for the event.
"Australia has sailors on board the AC75s, as well as in coaching, design and administrative roles. We need to be there as Australia. As a great stepping stone towards that goal, we will be there for the Youth and inaugural Women's events, which are wonderful to support in their own right. So far, our simulator results against other teams have been tremendous, but now it is time to get real", said Winning Jnr.
Sam Fay, Chief of Staff and Head of External Affairs at the Winning Group, added that it has always been clear that the overarching notion is, "That if you can't train well, you can't be competitive. Clearly there is a marketing element, as was the case with Andoo Comanche, and the V8 Supercar before that, but this is more than beating other teams on the simulator, as the athletes have done already. We're not going just to make up the numbers. When the youth and women hit the water, they need to be on the pace. It's a different game then."
"The Winning family has a decades long history in sailing, and will not stop supporting sailing in Australia. This is the next evolution of what has become the Andoo Team X, which is the Andoo extreme sports team. It also includes wing suitors, foil borders, and skydivers." See Insta for examples of that...
Clearly, we have a good corporate citizen, but also one that is not merely looking for a flash in the pan. The other element with all of this is that being in the AC proper is also a nation-building programme, and that is very much embedded in the psyche at the Winning Group.
"Hopefully some spectacular results in the Youth and Women's racing will be a good start. Sport is a great leveller, and if you look at the world currently, it's a mixture of financial market uncertainty, and geopolitical conflict. Sport brings people together. I don't think there is a nation that has got per capita more decorated sailors in the world, yet we're not competing at the America's Cup for Australia. If Australia is going to step up and compete at the America's Cup level, then our corporations and the individuals behind them will need to step up too."
It will be a wonderful thing if we can go some way towards creating a new paradigm. From big things, little things can grow. Clearly, this is the catalyst behind the Youth and the Women's Australian teams participating, "And it's the catalyst behind Andoo's corporate partnership," added Fay.
"I have a genuine disappointment that the best sailors in the world are Australian, and are competing or participating in the America's Cup, but not for Australia. We have the people here to not just turn up and be competitive, but to turn up and win for Australia. The reason we are backing this is that I genuinely see this as the first step to getting Australia back on the start line of the Cup. This is my stated ambition, and I am trying to drive the agenda," said Winning Jnr.
All I can do is probably borrow from Fay himself; "Without a leader, you're rudderless."
OK. There it is. There is so much more on the group's websites for you. Simply use the search field, or 'edition' pull-down menu up the top on the right of the masthead to find it all. Please enjoy your yachting, stay safe, and thanks for tuning into Sail-World.com
John Curnow
Sail-World.com AUS Editor