Jon Holt named international sailor of the decade

[Halcyon Yachts]

I have sailed with Jon (and his students) lots of times (including the Fastnet campaign). The things he has achieved with the Scaramouche Project is amazing. Well done Jon!

Jon Holt named International Sailor of the Decade - Yachting Monthly

Pete

 

[Sybarite]

I have sailed with Jon (and his students) lots of times (including the Fastnet campaign). The things he has achieved with the Scaramouche Project is amazing. Well done Jon!

Jon Holt named International Sailor of the Decade - Yachting Monthly

Pete

With respect, I think this is rather English sailor of the decade.

 

[dunedin]

With respect, I think this is rather English sailor of the decade.

Yes Scaramouche has done great things. But as even a UK "sailor of the decade" don't think would be anywhere near the league of other previous sailors like Ben Ainslie, Ellen McArthur, Alex Thompson etc.
Surely Jeanne Socrates would be higher up the list.
And Natasha Lambert, sip-puff sailing round the UK

And that is before we think about "world" sailors - olympic sailing, Americas Cup skippers, round the world speed records, NW passage, rescues etc

 

[RivalRedwing]

Can we not just congratulate Jon?
I think it is very well deserved..

 

[DJE]

"The aim of the YJA MS Amlin ‘International Sailor of the Decade’ is to recognise the achievements of those who have had the greatest positive impact on sailing."

Yachting Journalists' Association – Promoting greater awareness of all aspects of leisure boating through the professional services offered by its members

 

[dom]

"The aim of the YJA MS Amlin ‘International Sailor of the Decade’ is to recognise the achievements of those who have had the greatest positive impact on sailing."

Yachting Journalists' Association – Promoting greater awareness of all aspects of leisure boating through the professional services offered by its members

You're right, although I must say my first reaction was the same as Sybarite's ?

Such a pity, because this silly award is inadvertently detractive to a positive and kind sailing soul.

 

[Halcyon Yachts]

He managed to get his school to buy a race yacht and then enter Fastnet. The Greig City Academy is the first ever state school to do this. He has enabled so many inner city students to access sailing and offshore racing. The boys we took around Fastnet will never forget the experience:

It's not just the sailing though. They have been giving presentations around the country at yacht clubs and even at Buckingham Palace. Project Scaramouche has touched many peoples lives.

The opportunities this man has created for his students within the sailing world is immense. There is a part of London now where sailing is no longer seen as a sport only accessible to the wealthy (and predominantly white) middle classes.

This award does not detract from the achievements of other professional sailors, it simply acknowledges the extraordinary effort and impact of a very determined teacher (doing all this alongside being head of year and a teacher at a very busy secondary school).

The world needs more people like this...

Pete

 

[JumbleDuck]

With respect, I think this is rather English sailor of the decade.

Yes, it's a simultaneously parochial and arrogant name for the award. I wonder if they even considered anyone they don't bump into in pubs around the Solent.

That said, he certainly seems to have done amazing things and it's nice to see the award going to someone who has done more than "campaign" in races.

 

[dunedin]

He managed to get his school to buy a race yacht and then enter Fastnet. The Greig City Academy is the first ever state school to do this. He has enabled so many inner city students to access sailing and offshore racing. The boys we took around Fastnet will never forget the experience.

It's not just the sailing though. They have been giving presentations around the country at yacht clubs and even at Buckingham Palace. Project Scaramouche has touched many peoples lives.

The opportunities this man has created for his students within the sailing world is immense. There is a part of London now where sailing is no longer seen as a sport only accessible to the wealthy (and predominantly white) middle classes.

This award does not detract from the achievements of other professional sailors, it simply acknowledges the extraordinary effort and impact of a very determined teacher (doing all this alongside being head of year and a teacher at a very busy secondary school).

The world needs more people like this... Pete

Pete, I 100% agree that this guy has done a great job, and merits an award (indeed I believe that Scaramouche has already won quite a few awards).
But the point I and some are making is that the award he gets shouldn’t really be the INTERNATIONAL SAILOR of the DECADE.

And whilst Scaramouche has indeed done BRILLIANT things, there are a lot of charitable sailing initiatives around the U.K. who also do fantastic things, including giving access to sailing for disadvantaged people - but without access to the funding, publicity and resources that come with being close to London and the South East:

* The Ocean Youth Trust in its original guise, and its regional equivalents since have done amazing things, particularly for taking inner city children & youths to experience sailing and new places.
* Ellen MacArthur Trust in Largs taking young people with cancer on sailing trips
* Sailing In the City etc
And I apologise for not listing the hundreds of other schemes run quietly by local volunteers, clubs and charities around the country, as by definition we rarely hear about them outside their locality.
It is definitely more challenging securing fundingand publicity for initiatives away from the SE

 

[dunedin]

With respect, I think this is rather English sailor of the decade.

Indeed, so it would appear - according to the report on Yachts and Yachting - Jon was among the list of five sailors shortlisted which also included Dee Caffari, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Sir Ben Ainslie and Andrew 'Bart' Simpson

If this is accurate, the INTERNATIONAL Sailor of the Decade had no nominees from outside England, let alone the U.K.

So a bit like the American parochial view of a “World Series” then

 

[JumbleDuck]

If this is accurate, the INTERNATIONAL Sailor of the Decade had no nominees from outside England, let alone the U.K.

Perhaps they were hoping for sponsorship from Akzo-Nobel and when they couldn't get it, just shifted the quotation marks one place to the left?

I wonder what proportion of the time and miles spent on yachts in the UK are racing, which seems to be all they care about. As high as 1%?

 

[Yellow Ballad]

I'm a big fan of Project Scaramouche, sailing as a kid got me through some dark times and one of the reasons I believe (think) I've turned out to be the sort of person I am today.

Irrespective of the name of the award, he's shown a load of kids yacht racing isn't just for middleclass white people, more so hopefully he's inspired a bunch of teachers that they can do something different. School trips don't have to be cancelled because of H&S/ you can make a difference and be different as a overworked/shattered/underappreciated teacher.

 

[Halcyon Yachts]

Here's the BBC's report:

Inner-city teacher beats Olympians as 'sailor of the decade'

Pete

 

[GeeW]

The BBC made a passable film on then 2017 Fastnet race with Scaramouche, is it avaialable anywhere to view? Have had a rummage round the internet without success.

 

[Yellow Ballad]

The BBC made a passable film on then 2017 Fastnet race with Scaramouche, is it avaialable anywhere to view? Have had a rummage round the internet without success.

I don't think the CBBC film (Making Waves) is on Iplayer any more.

I did recently find this which I enjoyed.