Sailing Magazine
“The best thing about sailing – I would say the way in which it mirrors life, and the lessons that you learn from it. Things may go your way, things may not! The only thing you can do is try your best from the very beginning to the very end, and then the results will come.”
These are the humble and wise words of Ryan Robinson (17) who is heading off to Portugal to compete in the ISAF Youth World Championships. Robinson, together with team mate, Dominic van der Walt, will be racing in the 420 dinghy class.
“The 420 is an amazing boat! It’s just the right pathway boat for any future sailing you could want to do. It’s able to sail in wind strengths other boats can’t handle, which makes it seriously fun” said Robinson.
In terms of te competition, he has some interesting views. “Internationally the entire fleet is going to be the competition. If you pick one or two people you limit yourself, whereas if you race the fleet, you will always be able to improve.”
Having only competed together in one international regatta in the 420 class, Robinson said, “Dom and I have been sailing together for two years now. At first, communication was a problem but we worked through that and are sailing well together at this stage.”
“We are hoping to build on our experience from last year’s Youth Worlds. I wouldn’t like to pick a goal such as a medal, mainly because I react very badly under pressure. So we are just going there with the mind-set of doing our best.”
