Ram\u00f3n Carl\u00edn, first Whitbread champion, dies aged 92<\/p>\n
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Ram\u00f3n Carl\u00edn, the \u2018weekend sailor\u2019 who upset the odds to become the winner of the first Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973-74, has died in Mexico City at the age of 92 (full story below).<\/p>\n
– \u2018Weekend sailor\u2019 stunned sailing with win in 1973-74<\/p>\n
– Leadership qualities of Carlin ensured against-odds triumph<\/p>\n
– Film made last year to commemorate achievement<\/p>\n
ALICANTE, Spain, May 6 \u2013 Ram\u00f3n Carl\u00edn, the \u2018weekend sailor\u2019 who upset the odds to become the winner of the first Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973-74, has died in Mexico City at the age of 92.<\/p>\n
Carl\u00edn was a complete unknown in the sport when he entered the event, which later became the Volvo Ocean Race, having made his fortune manufacturing washing machines and other white goods in his native Mexico after starting his career as a door-to-door salesman selling cutlery, pots and pans and other household goods.<\/p>\n
By 1973, he was seeking new challenges. He assembled a crew of good, but unheralded sailors, before upsetting some of the era\u2019s leading names of offshore sailing, such as Britain\u2019s Chay Blyth, by winning with his Swan 65, Sayula II.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t insure Sayula II for the race, but saved on the premium to cover necessary repairs. The crew only discovered this as they approached the finish with only 14 of the 19 strands of the forestay still intact.<\/p>\n
After the race, in which three rival sailors died in the 19-strong fleet, Carl\u00edn returned home to a presidential reception in Acapulco and became Mexico\u2019s most famous yachtsman.<\/p>\n
Right to the end of his long life, Carl\u00edn delighted in recounting his triumph, which was commemorated in a successful movie last year, \u2018The Weekend Sailor\u2019, directed by his countryman, Bernardo Arsuaga.<\/p>\n
Carl\u00edn told how his team were mocked in the English media prior to the start in September 1973, portrayed as lazy Mexicans with big sombreros and completely unprepared for the huge round-the world challenge ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe winning difference was my boat and that crew,\u201d Carl\u00edn recounted later. \u201cWe 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two years ago, Arsuaga and Carl\u00edn, staged a 40th anniversary reunion of the crew, many of whom were meeting for the first time since their inaugural Whitbread victory.<\/p>\n
One of the crew, Briton Butch Dalrymple-Smith, had no doubt that it was Carl\u00edn’s exceptional skills of leadership that transformed a crew of friends, family members \u2013 his wife was the cook for the first leg \u2013 plus an assortment of international sailors, into world beaters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe won because of our skipper. We exceeded our own ability because Ram\u00f3n Carl\u00edn trusted us,\u201d Dalrymple-Smith said in an interview with\u00a0www.volvooceanrace.com.<\/p>\n
\u201cRam\u00f3n was as close to a perfect captain that I have ever experienced,\u201d added American Bob Martin, another of the crew. \u201cHe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a perfect skipper really,\u201d said Dalrymple-Smith.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe identified the things that were necessary to win the race and he took care of it. He let the best sailors sail the boat, and the best navigator do the navigation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Mexican businessman managed his team smartly, and humbly, even in the toughest Southern Ocean conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was very, very considerate,\u201d added Dalrymple-Smith.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone was sick, he would take his night watch. He would dry our wet gear if we forgot to do it. Others would scream. He just wasn\u2019t like that.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything that made the difference between success and failure can be traced back to Ram\u00f3n.\u201d<\/p>\n
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