Yachts & Yachting – April 2018

ALEX & DAVID IRWIN/SPORTOGRAPHY.TV; GREIG CITY ACADEMY

more recently Dragon World Champion,

Lawrie Smith. “He has been an advisor

sincethestart,”saysHolt.“Hebought

Scaramouche’ssails.Heisverykeen

that they race on smaller boats too.”

While in Miami, Smith introduced

Montel to East Coast yacht racing

legend and Etchells World Champion,

Steve Benjamin. This has led to Montel

beingofferedasailingscholarshipto

studyatauniversityinVirginia–quite

astepforateenagerfromHaringey.

Along the way the Academy has

acquired yet more keelboats including

an Intro 22, Halcyon 27, Bolero 25

andaNicholson35–steppingstones

between dinghies and Scaramouche.

“Theyareidealbecausetheloadson

them aren’t very high,” explains Holt.

but instead Montel raced the Lloyd’s of

London yacht, Lutine, at Cowes Week.

Then he did the Fastnet and helmed

for probably two-thirds of that.”

This summer Montel will graduate

from the Academy and while he has the

option of going to the USA, he has also

received an unconditional offer from

Portsmouth University, thanks to his

success on the water. As to his future

sailing, he is still figuring it out: “I have

enjoyed inshore and offshore equally

because you learn different things.

Inshore you learn the little details about

sail trim. Offshore you learn different

things like the weather and how to

deal with things when they break.”

His fellow YJA Yachtsman of the Year

winner Alex Thomson has invited him

out on Hugo Boss (and, reciprocally,

Thomson will sail on Scaramouche).

“One of my main goals is to inspire

the younger generation,” says Montel.

“When you see what I’ve done in five

years, if you get people to start younger,

their opportunities will be endless.

I went to the primary school where

my mum works and did a talk there.

Now there are all these kids coming

up to her after they saw me on TV.”

While Scaramouche remains the

pinnacle of the Greig City Academy

Key has been empowering the

students to take responsibility for

themselves on board. “Rather than the

youngsters joining the adults on board

just for the experience, instead they

become actual crew,” explains Holt. On

the Intro 22, the students initially sail

with a teacher. As they become more

competent the teacher is replaced by

one of the older students holding a Day

Skipper qualification (students are all

encouraged to get RYA qualifications).

Currently the GCA sails on Tuesdays

at Stoke Newington Reservoir, and there

are six trips a year to Coniston Water.

“Where Montel really developed was

doing three-day intensive dinghy sailing

programmes,” recalls Holt. “Now we have

a link with a sailing centre in the Lake

District, which is good for learning the

basics.” They are also currently in talks

with UKSA, to sail dinghies in Cowes.

Of Greig City Academy’s 1,050

students, roughly 200 go sailing annually.

At Cowes Week they have boys and girls

teams, involving around 25-30 students.

This season, with no Rolex Fastnet

Race, the intention is to enter

Scaramouche in five RORC races plus

two training races, one down from

the East Coast past Dover, finishing

in Cowes. They will continue racing

Etchells, while the Halcyon 27 will be

used to establish properly a girls’ sailing

programme. Already Tracy Edwards has

been involved with the Academy and

has invited the students to visit Maiden.

“The problem is the capacity to do

all of this,” admits Holt. “I am a full

time teacher and I run the sixth form

and the outdoor education project.

Running the sailing on top of all that

isalot.Ihavejustdoneseventripsin

seven weekends – two months without

a day off, that’s not sustainable!”

STAR PUPIL

For Holt, Montel receiving the YJA

Young Yachtsman of the Year award

is vindication of his effort, which also,

thanks to the commitment and skill of

the crews, has been enough to impress

both David Franks and Lawrie Smith:

“The reason Montel got that award was

due to his sailing ability, which is a step

above the others. He has taken every

single opportunity: the Gertrude Cup

involved the crew having to drop 16kg

in weight (between them). He could

have taken a week off before the Fastnet,

GREIG CITY ACADEMY FEATURE

Above

The GCA crew on

Scaramouche

Main picture

Etchells racing

in the Solent

Lawrie Smith has been an advisor since the

start. He’s keen they race smaller boats too

46 Yachts & Yachting April 2018 yachtsandyachting.co.uk