First Whitbread champion dies
12 May 2016
Ramón Carlín won the Round the World Race in 1973-74
WHITBREAD CHAMPION: Ramón Carlín, winner of the first Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973-74, has died in Mexico City, ages 92.
Mr Carlín was completely unknown to the sport when he first entered the event, by 1973 he has assembled a crew of unheralded sailors and upset the odd to win the race with his Swan 65, Sayula II.
“We won because of our skipper,” explained one of the crew members, Briton Butch Dalrymple-Smith, who had no doubt it was Mr Carlín’s exceptional skills of leadership that transformed the crew into world beaters.
“Ramón was as close to a perfect captain that I have ever experienced. He was enthusiastic, he did everything in a first class way. He cared about us, we had the best food and the boat was beautifully equipped,” added American Bob Martin.
Mr Carlín’s life was commemorated in a successful movie last year, The Weekend Sailor, which was directed by fellow countryman Bernardo Arsuaga.
In the film, he told of how his team were mocked in the English media prior to the start in September 1973, portrayed as lazy Mexicans completely unprepared for the huge round-the world challenge ahead.
“The winning difference was my boat and that crew,” Mr Carlín recounted.
He continued: “We had no time to train. My plan was to get to know the crew and teach them how to manage the boat during the first leg, but all of them turned out to be very good.
“What hooked me was that it was an adventure, no one knew which way to go. It was the first time anyone had gone round the world with a full crew and the competition was real.”