Black Sails New Double Handed Dinghy Coach – Marc Chapon

WORDS: MARC CHAPON | IMAGES: GEORGE WEBSTER AND LAURA CARRAU

ince I can remember I have been passionate about sailing. I grew up speaking four different languages, Spanish, French, Catalan and English, and having travelled all my life, I am at home in an international environment and feel comfortable communicating with people of different origins and backgrounds.

Over the years, I have built experience in an extensive number of sailing boat classes. Some I sailed long-term in a committed sailing partnership, such as the 29er and 49er and in others, I joined a team for one-off trainings and championships. Among these, I had the chance to train alongside many great sailors and coaches as part of the Professional Olympic Sailing Team in CNBPP (Cercle Nautique la Baule le Pouliguen Pornichet), which is based in La Baule, France. It is this location where I learnt about the fundamentals of a healthy, strong and successful team.

During the completion of my Bachelor in Sports Science and Physical Activity, it was only natural for me to move into training younger sailors and sharing my knowledge. I have always found that sailing is a very comprehensive sport where mental and physical health together with communication skills of each individual will combine to procure an ideal environment for successful teamwork. I have obtained various official Sailing Coach and Manager Licenses and am proud to have applied my knowledge in different boat classes, age groups and countries. The latest being Australia where I was also able to learn, by the hand of Sailboat Designers at the cutting edge of development, about the physics involved in the boat tuning.

Through my own professional sailing career, I know what it means to be organized but flexible. Therefore I consider the role of a Coach as being an example for the values we aim to see in our athletes, such as responsibility, devotion and humility.

Despite the shutdown, which occurred one weekend after I started at Middle Island, I have still been able to work with the sailors who have come to work on their boats. I very much look forward to continuing to build and strengthen my teams once we are able to get back out on the water!