Ten weeks into his new career as an Olympic Star-class sailor, Craig Monk has finally figured out where his elbows and knees go. Just in time, as he and fellow crewman Hamish Pepper lead the world Star championships in Sweden.
Their relationship as a sailing couple may be young, but
Pepper, the former world Star champion, and Monk are already taking the Olympic class by storm.
Yesterday, at the world championships in Varberg, the Kiwi crew - known as Southern Star - were top of the fleet after four races, with two to be sailed. They had recorded two 11th-placed finishes, one ninth and one first.
It has been a whirlwind start to their partnership with an eye on the London Olympics in three years time. In those 10 weeks, the two former Team New Zealand sailors have spent perhaps seven weeks actually sailing together.
Pepper, who won the world championships in 2006 with Carl Whiting, has been based in Valencia, while Monk has been travelling from Auckland to Europe for the major regattas of the Northern Hemisphere summer. Monk also underwent knee surgery in the middle of that.
But it's obvious that the yachting experience of both men, who grew up together from sailing P-class at Murrays Bay Sailing Club, stands them in good stead - even against some of the world's best Olympic sailors who have been inevitably drawn to the Star class.
"Experience pays, like the America's Cup in a way," says Monk. "You can't come in to a Star boat wet behind the ears, because it will bite you - everywhere.
"With the Star crews we're up against now coming from the world's best Laser and Finn sailors, it's the toughest class of the Games. These guys have upped the standard, so we're going to have to be on our game every step of the way. It's definitely 100 per cent teamwork that's required from both of us to make the boat sail fast, and Hamish and I really complement each other."
Monk's CV stands up on its own. The winner of eight straight New Zealand Finn class titles, he won a bronze medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in the single-handed Finn dinghy. He moved on to America's Cup boats as a grinder for Team New Zealand's successful '95 bid, and has since sailed in four other Cup regattas.
He was with the British Origin challenge for the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series in Auckland earlier this year, but with little Cup action, he found himself sitting on the beach "watching with envy at these guys out there sailing".
Pepper, meanwhile, was in search of crew after Whiting had decided to try cycling.
"Around Christmas I thought, if I want to be competitive in 2012 I need to find another crew now and build on that relationship. A few people mentioned Craig, and when I called him I was pleasantly surprised - he was the keenest of all I approached, and he was easily the best calibre."
When they sailed in their first event together, the Delta Lloyd regatta in the Netherlands in May, Pepper hadn't sailed a Star since the Olympics nearly a year before. Monk could count on one hand the number of times he'd sailed in a Star.
Although Monk came away bruised and sore, the Southern Star crew finished ninth in that regatta, achieving their first-up aim of a top 10 finish. At Kiel Week in Germany less than a month later, they won the medal race to finish second overall, with Monk still recovering from knee surgery.
The pair were disappointed with ninth place at the European champs in Germany last month, after a black flag disqualification. But this week's performance in light airs and shifty currents at their first world championships has resurrected their confidence - especially with a win in yesterday's third race of the six-race regatta.
"We feel good - we're sailing pretty well off the start line and keeping our noses clean," Monk said yesterday. "We're sailing as fast as anyone out there. It's only been 10 weeks, and we're still getting ourselves sorted out, but we're going faster every time.
"And I've got no more bruises, now I'm jumping into the right spots, so we must be doing things right."
Hamish Pepper (left) and Craig Monk crew together at the world Star champs in Sweden. Photo / Fried Elliott/www.friedbits.com
Ten weeks into his new career as an Olympic Star-class sailor, Craig Monk has finally figured out where his elbows and knees go. Just in time, as he and fellow crewman Hamish Pepper lead the world Star championships in Sweden.
Their relationship as a sailing couple may be young, but
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