Sailor Q&A

Gemma Farrell, London, Great Britain

Our team is called Sail 4 Cancer Team GBR and we are sponsored by OC&C and support Sail 4 Cancer. We are a squad of 6 Brits and mix up our combination depending on the boat, individual strengths and our availability. The squad are:

Pointy end: Rebecca Spelman-Marriott. Rachel Howe
In the middle: Imogen Wellington, Lucy Burn, Bethan Carden
At the back: me

We are occasionally joined by outside ringers and some Germans and Italians have been known to cross the water to join us…

QUESTION: Do you have any nicknames?
ANSWER: Team nicknames are Bexster, Howie, Imo, Luce ( all three also known as ‘The Guns’), Betty and Gems

QUESTION: Are you superstitious?
ANSWER: No, but equally you don’t need to test these things…

QUESTION: If you were a dog, what kind of dog would you be?
ANSWER: Border Collie: Fast, agile and clever. (And I used to have one)

QUESTION: Favorite part of match racing?
ANSWER: Crossing the Finish Line First!

QUESTION: Name your dream team and who you would like to be racing against in a final series?
ANSWER: My current team after us having had a couple of years sailing together with a dedicated coach.

QUESTION: Who has had the most influence on your life?
ANSWER: My dad. He introduced me to sailing, drove me around the country to compete when I was younger, and is always on the phone for support and advice now.

QUESTION: Who is your biggest fan?
ANSWER: My dad!

QUESTION: Who is your sailing idol?
ANSWER: To be as dominant as Ben Ainslie would be awesome.

QUESTION: If you were going to create a reality TV show what would it be about?
ANSWER: A year in the life of a sailing Olympic campaigner

QUESTION: If you were a superhero, what power would you have?
ANSWER: See into the future so that we can predict the shifts (and remedy our mistakes!) beforehand

QUESTION: What was your best subject in school?
ANSWER: Geography because I was dam good at using a crayon

QUESTION: Who taught you to sail and how old were you?
ANSWER: My dad tied me to the back of a Wayfarer in an Oppie, and dragged me along behind him, when I was 8.

QUESTION: What is your favorite ride at an amusement park?
ANSWER: The Rollercoaster as I love the thrill of the drops!

QUESTION: What is your most annoying habit?
ANSWER: Shouting when I am excited.

QUESTION: Besides sailing what is your favorite sport?
ANSWER: Hockey and running

QUESTION: What is the best thing about your home town?
ANSWER: London has everything; history, art, parks, nightlife, my Uni friends and even some sailing (if you count Queen Mary and Staines as London..)

QUESTION: If you could travel to anywhere in the world where would it be?
ANSWER: I would love to go to Asia as I have never been there before (there have not been many sailing events there in the past)

QUESTION: What is the most important item in your ditty bag?
ANSWER: Errr- what’s a ditty bag?!

QUESTION: What is one thing that you feel WIMRA could do for you?
ANSWER: Enable a Sponsored Women’s World Match racing Tour