All work, no play

Wednesday, 23 December 2009, 21:00 GMT

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Jerry Kirby is the life and soul of any team or party for that matter. You can hear him from a mile off and his enthusiasm for life and pushing himself to the limit is infectious. He was the bowman on PUMA Ocean Racing, this time round the globe up till the Rio de Janeiro stopover and, as usual, loved every minute of it.   

Kirby is a veteran of three Whitbread/Volvos - Chessie Racing (1997-98), Pirates of the Caribbean (2005-06) and PUMA (2008-09) and six America's Cups. He is as happy on the bow offshore, as round the cans.

Asked if he would do another Volvo, the 53-year-old's answer is immediate. "In a heartbeat," he says. "I am waiting to see what happens. For a lot of people it is up in the air. And it will be interesting for a guy in my position with three under-30s onboard, it means there will be one more guy like me gone. It puts a lot more pressure on. It means you have to be a skipper or navigator, so it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out.

"I have always used the hockey rink as my litmus test for whether I should keep sailing crazy offshore stuff, but as long as I keep up with the kids I am good to go. But for sure you need to have the kids come into the sport or the sport is going to die. I am all for the youth movement."

Kirby has devoted the majority of this time after he left the PUMA programme in Rio to his wife Kim, who was diagnosed with cancer during the 2008-09 race. "She is doing great," he says. "She has been unbelievably tough and has a great attitude. She's fighting and saying 'poo poo' to all the people saying how sick you will be and that you will lose a year of your life and just trucking along. "

Kirby also runs a successful construction business (Kirby Perkins), along with his brother-in-law, based in Newport Rhode Island. "We build super custom architect homes and we restore crazy old historic mansions," he explained. "When I started out in the early days of sailing, there was no money in it back in the 70's. So I when I stopped running the boat as the head jig, I realised I wanted to go do the Cup.

"But in-between times you had to make a living, so I started up the construction company to fill in and actually make some money.

"After the Volvo I have been pedal to the metal with the business and am going sailing with Rambler this winter and Honaman the new J-Class. And then a lot of surfing, motocross riding and ice hockey. The only problem is all the old guys have gone. It's like all I see is 20 and 30 year old kids on the rink. But it's fantastic."

So after six America's Cups and three Volvo Ocean Races, which does he prefer? "That's easy, not even a comparison, the Volvo blows the Cup away.

It's for a simple reason the Volvo is life changing and the America's Cup is just a great sporting competition. It's one of those rare competitions where if you are lucky enough to be part of one Volvo you will never forget it. And if you are lucky to do more than one it's awesome. You look at the pictures from the Volvo and you almost don't need words.

"I would say that is the most revolutionary part of what has happened to the Volvo is the introduction of the embedded media person. You now have non-sailors following the race who are suddenly absolute experts on the Volvo."

Kirby is looking forward to Kim finishing her treatment in July and his son Rowan competing in the 49er World Championships this January. "Look out next Volvo, you might have another Kirby on the start line," he says.

So what's next for the adrenaline junkie? "I am starting to think I have to do a barrel roll kite boarding, that's my next goal. But as for boats, I have been thinking about some short-handed offshore sailing. But I have a few things on my plate right now. I have to get my wife healthy first. She is a good sport, but I definitely owe her some time. Right now, it is all about her."

Meanwhile, fellow veteran Jonathan Swain (left) has taken time to reflect on the 2008-09 race. South African-born Swain, who now resides in the US, chalked up his fourth Whitbread/Volvo by serving as watch leader on Telefonica Blue.

Like Kirby, Swain's first race was in 1997-98 as a crew member on the American entry Chessie Racing. He has subsequently sailed on Tyco (2001-02) and movistar (2005-06).

As for 2008-09, Swain says the new route brought fresh challenges. "There were a lot of diverse conditions, a lot of close racing and visiting some very interesting places," he said.

"Sailing to places like India, Singapore and China seemed like a fantasy before the race had started but soon became a reality as we sailed into Kochin and then onto Singapore via the renowned Malacca Strait and then getting "pasted" by two storms on the way to China."

The marathon 12,800-mile leg from China to Rio was testing, he added. "I never thought that I would ever spend six weeks (42 days) on a Volvo Open 70. All in all, the sailing was typical Volvo Open 70 stuff with some fun downwind, a lot of upwind and the usual wet reaching conditions."

Since the finish of the 2008-09 race, Swain has rejoined the crew of Rosebud (a STP 65) for their Cowes Week and Fastnet campaigns. His association with Rosebud spans six years.

Next stop was the Maxi Worlds in Sardinia before finishing up the European season with the Middle Sea Race in Malta.

Of all the sailing he has done sine St Petersburg, the highlight was a race from Tenerife to St Maarten on Alexia a Wally 100. "We had a bit of a movistar (2005-06 Volvo) reunion of sorts as there was myself, Peter (Spike) Dorien, Mikey Joubert, and Chris Nicholson. Daryl Wislang (Telefonica Blue) and Brad Jackson (Ericsson 4) were also part of the crew," he said.

"We had a one beer a day ration along with sit-down dinners, cheese and crackers in the afternoons and a real treat of Vegemite on toast for breakfast. Every boat should come standard with an electric kettle and a toaster. This race was a real treat compared to the 70."

As far as future endeavours, Swain will join the Farr 40 circuit, with some racing on Beau Gest combined with racing on Rosebud off the east coast of the United States and the Tour de France a la Voile which is using the Mumm 30 for the final time.

And the next Volvo? "I am always thinking about the Volvo because once it is in your blood, it's there for good," he says.

Interviews: Sophie Luther and Helena de la Gandara

Related Audio

• I'm going to miss it - Puma's Jerry Kirby
• The end of term report - Telefonica Blue's Jonno Swain