Sail Talk with Saskia Clark
- SAIL TALK - Sail Talk - Rolex Swan Cup
Sail Talk with Saskia Clark

Saskia Clark, Olympic silver medallist at London 2012, sailing for the first time in Porto Cervo in the role of tactician on the ClubSwan 50 Moonlight during the Rolex Swan Cup.

After hearing so much about it, you finally came to race on the Porto Cervo regatta course, what's your impression at the end of the Rolex Swan Cup?

Our class only did windward-leeward races, so I couldn't get a flavour of the renowned sailing around the islands, but I must say that the place and the event really live up to their fame, it is certainly very beautiful. From a competitive point of view, the race course is much more complex than it appears, especially when the wind comes from the south east. In any case Porto Cervo offered us alternating conditions, from light wind to a solid mistral, really beautiful and covering all bases. And then, when we couldn’t race because the mistral was too strong, I went to do some fantastic windsurfing.

 

You are the only woman in the role of tactician in this class, what's your opinion on that?

Personally I don't make it a question of gender, I have to admit that I still have to improve my performance, especially considering that in this class you are race against living legends from the world of sailing, I am very lucky to have this opportunity. Coming from the Olympic classes, I need to get a better understanding of how to manage the wind shifts on these much larger and heavier boats and, more generally, the strategy with respect to the other competitors. But it's just a temporary problem of lack of experience.