The Rob Campbell InterviewBDA Press Officer Fiona Brown spoke with Chairman Rob Campbell to find out more about the man who heads up the British Dragon Association. (Note - this interview took place prior to Rob's election as International Dragon Association Chairman). |
FB - When did you start sailing and what sort of sailing did you do before joining the Dragon Fleet?
RC - I've sailed in Burnham most of my life, starting here when I was about 7 years old. My first sailing was in Scows and then I moved into Cadets but I got bored with that so I bought a 12 sq m Sharpie. Several of them had been left to rot in Petticrows sheds after Sharpies were dropped from the Olympics following Melbourne in 1956. Several young sailors picked them up cheap - I bought mine for 30 quid - we worked very hard on them and got them racing again which was great fun. Throughout my childhood and formative years I always used to admire the Dragon fleet at Burnham as the absolute aficionado's boat and one that I aspired to sail.
I went away from Burnham in the late sixties when I left for college where we did a lot of keelboat racing. I went to Oxford and the varsity matches were always in keelboats which we raced all around the country. After that I did a lot of offshore racing including Admiral's Cup trials and sailing in five Fastnets on the trot - 69, 71, 73, 75, 77 - the first one I didn't do was '79 so I was quite a lucky boy! I also sailed Contessa 32s down on the south coast and Finns in the Midlands.
I didn't actually sail in Burnham again until the mid eighties when I moved here from London with my wife and young family. I sailed Squibs for a couple of years and then in 1987 I bought my first Dragon. I bought a St George's boat from Aldburgh and raced her for 7 years until 1994. And then I bought a very interesting boat built by Ian Lallow in Cowes, a beautiful cold moulded boat. I shared my boats initially with Barry Stanford, who was Commodore of the Royal Corinthian from 1991-94, and as Corinthian Commodores head both the Burnham and Cowes clubs we started doing Cowes Week. When Barry finished his term I followed him as Commodore of the Royal Corinthian and as a result we did six consecutive Cowes Weeks. I bought my current boat, Quicksilver III, in October 2005'; she's a Petticrow so I have owned 3 Dragons, all from different builders.
FB - What is the origin of the Quicksilver name?
RC - The Quicksilver name came about because of my hair. The silver bit is obviously after my hair and the quick bit is supposed to be about my impressive speed although that is not quite so consistent!
FB - How long have you been an officer of the British Dragon Association?
RC - I think I'm the only person foolish enough to be Chairman of the BDA twice! I was Chairman for the first time in 2001-2002 when I took over from Mike Hayles. Until Mike took office the UK had not hosted any major events for quite a few years and he got the Gold Cup for Falmouth in 2004 so when I took over the chair I thought, well done Mike, now my job is to make sure I get a major event for the UK. Fortunately while I was in office that first time we achieved getting the 2006 Europeans for Cowes and now I'm in office again my objective is to complete the set and get the Worlds for Weymouth in 2013 which is what we're working to achieve at the moment. Owen Pay is currently Vice Chairman of the Association and, together with secretary Kate Sanderson and treasurer Philip Clarabut, we are fortunate to have a great team.
FB - Tell us a bit more about the proposal for the Weymouth Worlds.
RC - The IDA meeting in October will consider our Worlds proposal. We're proposing to use the Weymouth & Portland Academy for the launching, measuring and registration but then moor the boats round in the old harbour as everyone loves being in the town which is just beautiful. We've worked closely with the Harbour Master to identify how we can moor 70+ boats and it will give a fantastic atmosphere to have the boats all together there in front of the town quay with the public walking constantly past.
The developments in Weymouth for the 2012 Olympics will benefit us hugely with new facilities and hotels being built and existing facilities being upgraded considerably. If everything goes our way we'll be there the year after the Olympics which will bring us the maximum benefit.
FB - What has kept you so enthusiastic about the Dragon Class that you agreed to Chair the British Dragon Association twice?
RC - I love the Dragon Class and was delighted to be able to become Chairman for a second time. There are very few classes with proper fleets all over the World and indeed to be part of that is a great honour. As well as the strong home fleet one has opportunities to travel and make friends all over the world. Dragon sailors are all very nice people and enjoy the social side of Dragon events as much as they do the racing.
We actively encourage inter-nation activities. I set up an annual team racing event between the Royal Corinthian Burnham and the NRV in Hamburg - one year we go there and the next they come here - and now we've also introduced a similar event with Pirogovo Dragon Yacht Club in Moscow. There are similar events between Cowes and Ireland and Cowes and Hong Kong. The host club loans boats to the visiting team and so it's a great way for people to enjoy some international competition without great expense and it's a lovely way of making new friends around the world.
FB - What do you think is the secret of a strong national class and its associated local fleets?
RC - Over the years in sailing generally I've been staggered at how a dynamic and forceful fleet captain can generate enthusiasm. You need just one or two people who make sure there are a variety of events, encourage people to turn up, help people put crews together and all those basic things that start to build up enthusiasm within the classes.
For the local fleets keeping racing simple and easy to take part in is key to success. One of the things that people always say when they come to Burnham is how nice the racing is as it's so close to the club and you don't have to sail for half an hour to get to the race course. When you come ashore and up the ramp the line of least resistance is into the bar! One goes into the bar to have a drink and to rerun the race and everyone gets a lot of pleasure out of that.
I think the success and enthusiasm is all driven internally by making people feel welcome. If people look in from the outside and see something that's impenetrable then you've lost them and the key to the success of the Dragon class is that we make people feel welcome. We've got the crew search systems which ensure people know they can find a sail before they come down and there are plenty of social events as well as racing. There are also initiatives like the Solent Fleet Boatcamp weekend where people interested in sailing a Dragon can come down and try out the boat and meet the sailors at an informal evening social.
FB - What type of person is a “typical Dragon sailor”?
RC - If you actually stand in the bar and look around at a bunch of Dragon sailors you'd probably think what a motley group of people! They are all ages, all social backgrounds, all different financial backgrounds, there's a very broad spectrum. I suppose that we have some difficulty in getting people under 30 into the fleet when I guess they are more interested in the high performance end of things and are busy with university and starting their career and so on but otherwise the class has a very broad appeal.
FB - Does getting into Dragon sailing cost a lot of money?
RC - Crewing is not expensive at all - you can do that for almost nothing. There's obviously a spectrum of how much people spend on their boats and its true that sailing is an expensive sport but you can run a Dragon at a range of financial levels and still enjoy racing greatly.
The class is well established and big enough to provide many different levels of sailing opportunity. I get a lot of pleasure at both ends of the racing spectrum. I really enjoy going to the Worlds for example where I'd hope to finish in the top third of the fleet, but equally I get a lot of pleasure club racing in Burnham where I certainly don't expect to win all the time.
FB - What is the best way for a sailor on a budget to get into the class?
RC - I suppose initially crewing is obviously a very easy way in and frankly I'd say for any new entrant to the class crewing for a season would be very sensible before you buy because it is actually quite a complicated boat and you need to understand it before you take the plunge.
When you do buy you can race competitively very economically. The hull is really quite heavily specified. This came about when they moved from the wooden boats to the glass fibre boats in the 1970s and the people running the class at that time did a superb job of ensuring that fibreglass didn't outclass wood. As a result the boats are quite heavily specified and that means the boats last and you can buy a twenty year old hull and be perfectly competitive with some attention to the rig and sails.
You can buy a good twenty year old Dragon and be quite content that you will sail just as fast as an almost new boat. This is one of the great strengths of the class and I think a lot of people don't realise that. You can pick up a boat like that for around £8,000 and then in your first year you'd probably need to buy some new sails which will last you for a couple of years club racing. A new suit of sails would cost around £2,500 but the top level grand prix crews often sell off their sails after only one regatta and these sails can be excellent for club racing which will save you quite a bit of money.
Some of the boats are owned in partnership which is another way of sharing costs. As I mentioned before I originally owned Dragons in partnership and it's an excellent way to help spread the costs.
FB - What are the current objectives of the British Dragon Association?
RC - Our immediate objectives for the next 12 months are to try and encourage more activity at local fleet level. I feel that the grand prix end of Dragon racing is looking after itself more than adequately with big events all over the world that have full entry lists. However, I feel that at the national level we want to make sure we have good local fleets racing at the weekend and midweek and that a lot of people are getting pleasure out of it. At the moment local fleets in all classes in the UK are down by about 25% on say five years ago and we want to ensure we address and reverse that in the Dragon class.
I think the social aspect is very important in local terms. As a group we have about 3 or 4 formal social events during the year but then each of the fleets has its own regular social gatherings. For example Burnham Dragon sailors always meet in the White Hart pub on a Friday evening around 6pm and I know that other local fleets have similar regular rendezvous.
The British Dragon Association has made a conscious decision to improve its publicity and we've now employed a Press Officer to work with us and ensure we have a regular presence in the sailing media. We've also been working to improve the web site and other communications and will be introducing a regular E-newsletter to keep bring class news straight to the desks of current and potential Dragon sailors.
For more info visit www.britishdragons.org