Olympians still winning together after 40 years

by Peter Campbell on 29 Sep 2008
Carl Ryves and Dick Sargeant, who crewed together in the Flying Dutchman class at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, teamed up again last Saturday to win the International Dragon class race in the third day of competition in the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron’s spring pointscore.

Sailing Carl’s Sidewinder (the same name as their FD of 40 years ago), the two former Olympians scored a hard-fought 34 second win from Abracadaba (David Seaton) with Tatsu (Wolf Breit) only three seconds astern in third place.

It was a significant win for Ryves, who has returned to sailing after missing two seasons during the long illness of his late wife Alison, who died last year.

“The boat had been sitting on a trailer in the street for almost two years but near the end of winter the Dragon Class Association organised an introductory day for potential Dragon sailors on the Harbour,” Ryves said today.

“Sarg and I took out five or six people and enjoyed the day so much that we decided to return to racing – and the win on Saturday was really something after sailing together on and off for 40 years,” he added.

Dick Sargeant, along with ‘Pod’ O’Donnell and skipper Bill Northam in the 5.5 metre class yacht Barrenjoey, won Australia’s first gold medal in sailing at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

For the Mexico City Olympics, Sargeant teamed up with Carl Ryves in the high performance Flying Dutchman class. They finished 4th overall, just .7 point out of a medal, in fact, the closest an Australian crew ever came to winning a medal in the FDs.

Now, four decades on, the pair are continuing their long sailing association with impressive results in the lead-up to the prestigious Prince Philip Cup which the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron will host in early January 2009.

In four races so far this season, Sidewinder has a scorecard of 2-2-3-1, although leading yacht is Abracadra which David Seaton has so far steered to three wins in the mini regatta and a second on Saturday.

Ryves is sailing the Dragon with a crew of four – himself, Sargeant, former Laser sailor Kevin Burnham, and enthusiastic sailing newcomer Elizabeth Clayton.

“We are finding that four-up is giving us a good weight combination..the Dragon goes better with a bit of weight on board,” Ryves explained. “I just steer; Sarg calls all the shots…tactics and trim.”

The last time the Prince Philip Cup was sailed on Sydney Harbour Ryves and Sargeant and their then third crew member finished equal first on points with Tasmanian Nick Rogers but lost on a countback. It was just a matter of one second in the last race,” Ryves recalled


Sailing Carl’s Sidewinder (the same name as their FD of 40 years ago), the two former Olympians scored a hard-fought 34 second win from Abracadaba (David Seaton) with Tatsu (Wolf Breit) only three seconds astern in third place.

It was a significant win for Ryves, who has returned to sailing after missing two seasons during the long illness of his late wife Alison, who died last year.

“The boat had been sitting on a trailer in the street for almost two years but near the end of winter the Dragon Class Association organised an introductory day for potential Dragon sailors on the Harbour,” Ryves said today.

“Sarg and I took out five or six people and enjoyed the day so much that we decided to return to racing – and the win on Saturday was really something after sailing together on and off for 40 years,” he added.

Dick Sargeant, along with ‘Pod’ O’Donnell and skipper Bill Northam in the 5.5 metre class yacht Barrenjoey, won Australia’s first gold medal in sailing at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

For the Mexico City Olympics, Sargeant teamed up with Carl Ryves in the high performance Flying Dutchman class. They finished 4th overall, just .7 point out of a medal, in fact, the closest an Australian crew ever came to winning a medal in the FDs.

Now, four decades on, the pair are continuing their long sailing association with impressive results in the lead-up to the prestigious Prince Philip Cup which the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron will host in early January 2009.

In four races so far this season, Sidewinder has a scorecard of 2-2-3-1, although leading yacht is Abracadra which David Seaton has so far steered to three wins in the mini regatta and a second on Saturday.

Ryves is sailing the Dragon with a crew of four – himself, Sargeant, former Laser sailor Kevin Burnham, and enthusiastic sailing newcomer Elizabeth Clayton.

“We are finding that four-up is giving us a good weight combination..the Dragon goes better with a bit of weight on board,” Ryves explained. “I just steer; Sarg calls all the shots…tactics and trim.”

The last time the Prince Philip Cup was sailed on Sydney Harbour Ryves and Sargeant and their then third crew member finished equal first on points with Tasmanian Nick Rogers but lost on a countback. It was just a matter of one second in the last race,” Ryves recalled

By Peter Campbell

Carl Ryves and Dick Sargeant, who crewed together in the Flying Dutchman class at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, teamed up again last Saturday to win the International Dragon class race in the third day of competition in the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron’s spring pointscore.

Sailing Carl’s Sidewinder (the same name as their FD of 40 years ago), the two former Olympians scored a hard-fought 34 second win from Abracadaba (David Seaton) with Tatsu (Wolf Breit) only three seconds astern in third place.

It was a significant win for Ryves, who has returned to sailing after missing two seasons during the long illness of his late wife Alison, who died last year.

“The boat had been sitting on a trailer in the street for almost two years but near the end of winter the Dragon Class Association organised an introductory day for potential Dragon sailors on the Harbour,” Ryves said today.

“Sarg and I took out five or six people and enjoyed the day so much that we decided to return to racing – and the win on Saturday was really something after sailing together on and off for 40 years,” he added.

Dick Sargeant, along with ‘Pod’ O’Donnell and skipper Bill Northam in the 5.5 metre class yacht Barrenjoey, won Australia’s first gold medal in sailing at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

For the Mexico City Olympics, Sargeant teamed up with Carl Ryves in the high performance Flying Dutchman class. They finished 4th overall, just .7 point out of a medal, in fact, the closest an Australian crew ever came to winning a medal in the FDs.

Now, four decades on, the pair are continuing their long sailing association with impressive results in the lead-up to the prestigious Prince Philip Cup which the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron will host in early January 2009.

In four races so far this season, Sidewinder has a scorecard of 2-2-3-1, although leading yacht is Abracadra which David Seaton has so far steered to three wins in the mini regatta and a second on Saturday.

Ryves is sailing the Dragon with a crew of four – himself, Sargeant, former Laser sailor Kevin Burnham, and enthusiastic sailing newcomer Elizabeth Clayton.

“We are finding that four-up is giving us a good weight combination..the Dragon goes better with a bit of weight on board,” Ryves explained. “I just steer; Sarg calls all the shots…tactics and trim.”

The last time the Prince Philip Cup was sailed on Sydney Harbour Ryves and Sargeant and their then third crew member finished equal first on points with Tasmanian Nick Rogers but lost on a countback. It was just a matter of one second in the last race,” Ryves recalled