Rohan Veal – an experimental sailor

by Wes Greene on 5 Oct 2005 When painting the picture of a World Champion, we usually think of someone who is super competitive, driven and hungry for results, so it’s refreshing to meet a world champion such as Rohan Veal, who instead is driven by the desire to experiment, have fun and share his sailing success with others.

It’s this attitude that has resulted in Veal’s effective domination since 2002 of the International Moth Class; a class that boosts few design rules and encourages radical design and development.

Sailing Sabots and 420s in his youth, Veal decided it was time to get back on the water after completing his business degree. He considered purchasing a Laser but, ‘the only reason I went for the Moth was that I could buy one second hand for $500 - and that was all the money I had.’

Getting hooked on the speed and lightweight responsiveness of the Moth, Veal sailed whenever he had the chance. After purchasing a more competitive boat, Veal quickly gained credible results in local races beating many of his seasoned competitors with their newly designed boats. ‘I don’t know why but it just clicked, it just felt right for me.’

Approaching the 2003 Australian Moth Championship, Veal decided that if he won the event he would purchase a new boat. However, he knew he couldn’t get a new boat unless he found a sponsor to assist him. Veal’s training and design partner Andrew MacDougal notes: ‘He has the ability to make the decision and it’s completely set. 'That’s where I’m going and that’s it. There’s no doubt, no second thoughts'.'

It’s this type of decisive thinking that resulted in him winning that Nationals and purchasing his first new boat, with the assistance of sailing hardware company Ronstan.

Veal took this new boat to France for his first World Championship, and in the lead up to the event, began trailing the experimental idea of attaching a foil to the main centre daggerboard. With enough boat speed, this foil creates enough lift so that the boat’s hull flies above the water’s surface, resulting in greater top end speeds due to low drag.

Foils had been tested in the past in the Moth class, but had never achieved great success. However, Veal could see the potential. ‘It felt fairly natural. It felt almost easier but just going twice as fast. How could you not do this; how could you not go well with this boat and enjoy it.’

Initially the addition of a foil proved to provide inconsistent results, with Veal blitzing the field when the weather conditions were right, but then suffering when the optimum conditions didn’t prevail.

As one of the favourites to take out the 2003 World Championship in France, the Melbournite decided to use the foil whenever possible, despite its risky performance. ‘I shouldn’t have used them, but I was just so keen on using them I said 'stuff it'.'

Placing third at the event was in some ways a disappointing result, but in many other ways, Veal’s use of the foil signalled the beginning of a new era of design for the sport. ‘The downside was I didn’t win, I got third. The upside was I learnt how to race with them against a big fleet - and we got a lot of publicity out of it. It made me more determined to go to the next Worlds and really do well.’

Veal’s use of the foil signified a major shift in the development of the class and attracted plenty of criticism from the more established competitors. ‘If there’s a dramatic change in class development, there’s going to be people who resist it. You’d think in a development class like the Moth that people would accept it with open arms; but that wasn’t the case and there were a lot of people that were very much against it. It was a bit disappointing to lose friends because of that, but what can you do?’

Undeterred, Veal totally absorbed himself on the task of developing his equipment and skills. With his training ground of Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne dishing up a wide variety of conditions, Veal was able to modify the foil and his sailing, hence performing with greater consistency.

Throughout 2004 Veal, won every Moth championship he entered in Australia and Europe. At the next World Championship in early 2005, he stamped his authority on the class by winning eight out of eight races onboard his boat named ‘Outlaw’. His winning margins varied from two minutes to an incredible 17 minutes.

With top international results and a committed involvement in the organisation of the class, Sail Melbourne recently nominated Veal for the 2005 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards. Veal will be attending the ISAF Awards ceremony in Singapore this November.

Whilst Veal acknowledges the kudos of results, he really lights up when asked about the future development of the sport. His desire to continue winning races and push the speeds of these boats is outweighed by a desire to see the class grow and gain acceptance.

‘So many times you give someone the boat to sail and you can’t get it back off them, they just enjoy it so much, it’s so different.’ By helping make the Moth class more affordable, Veal believes the Moth’s performance will sell itself.

When you log onto Veal's personal site (www.rohanveal.com), George Bernard Shaw is quoted: ‘Progress is impossible without change, and people who cannot change their minds cannot change anything'.

Expect more of the unexpected from Veal, as he thrives on a challenge and the risk of the unknown. ‘I need to keep changing, otherwise I get bored doing the same thing over and over. I just want to see what’s possible.'

www.sailmelbourne.com.au