MARC TURNER/PFM PICTURES
off the back of chopping and changing.
It was something I don’t want to repeat;
by the end of it, I genuinely wasn’t
sure if I wanted to campaign again.
“After Rio it became clear to me
that something had to change. I was
absolutely clear that I was not going
to do the same thing that I had been
doing for the last eight years. I made
some poor choices in the Rio cycle, and
unforeseen things happened. I look
on the four years building up to Rio as
very disjointed. I was proud of what
Twiggy (Chris Grube) and I achieved;
we only had eight months to get ready.
But after Rio I was exhausted, it had
been day and night, and when you are in
amongst it, you just have to keep going.
I was physically and mentally drained.”
Luke hoped that by starting a fresh
journey, it would help him identify the
way forwards. “Since Rio, my sailing hasbeen vast and varied. I started to delve
into a bit of bigger boat sailing, M32 cats,
and some fun dinghy sailing with mates,
just saying yes to everything. I was sure
about wanting to increase my skill set,
and to start to create the journey into
bigger boats, which is where I wanted to
eventually end up. This reminded me of
how cool a sport sailing is, how varied it
is and how amazing it is just to sail. ThenAbove
Enjoying calling
tactics on the
Fast40+, ZephyrI realised that I did want to go to Tokyo,
that I did want to win the gold. I am not
a gold medallist – that is what drives me.”BROADENING HORIZONS
After that realisation Luke has continued
to expand his sailing repetoire but it
is now more about what skills he can
learn to boost his 470 campaign. It’s
been a valuable process so far, one
that has taken him back to basics.
“On the bigger boats, I was effectively
a beginner, and that gives you a different
mindset,” he says. “In the 470, your
muscle memory is so ingrained, 90 per
cent of your concentration is on tactics,
so to get into these different boats was
like learning a new sport again. I don’t
have a big ego, and it was good for
me to just let go and be comfortable
with being a novice. It was beneficial
to really have to focus on new skills. Iam tons better for it, because I believe
that thinking quickly, and on your feet,
exercises other parts of the brain.
“One of the hardest to get to grips with
was the M32 catamaran; I was sailing
along, maybe calling the wind, and then
we were tacking. I really had to think
about the manoeuvre – foot here, grab
that, pass that to him, pull that board up,
that board down. The thought processmade me feel like an idiot, a novice.
Here I am, a professional sailor, and I
can’t even tack this boat?! You change
one element, the boat, and you are right
back at square one in a sport that you
think you know so well, which was
quite humbling. It has been a wonderful
experience to sail with so many different
people, on so many different boats.”
Another high octane class in which
Luke has been making an impact is
the Fast40+, racing with Zephyr in
the Solent for the 2017 season.
“Zephyr was a very interesting
experience,” he comments. “One of
the biggest things for me was the
acceleration; timing on a startline was
very different to 470 sailing. It was very
easy for me to stand at the back and say
‘go’, but also to forget that the big boat
takes more time to tack, and to set the
sails, and get up to full speed. For me,
time and distance on a Fast40+ startline,
and giving the crew time for a move,
was quite tricky. You have the box telling
you the numbers and someone calling
the time, but that was alien to me.
“Communicating with the bowman
approaching the leeward mark was a
crucial skill for me to learn. The bowman
is 40ft away and you can hardly hear
each other. You can talk about metres
to a cross, or whether we take a lee
bow. However, if you don’t give the
crew enough time, you can end up
with the spinnaker wrapped around
the forestay, and you lose the race.The process made me feel like an idiot... I am
a professional sailor, and I can’t even tack?!
INTERVIEW LUKE PATIENCE
March 2018 Yachts & Yachting 27