A Neate bit of work

A vision becomes a reality for World Contender Champion Jono Neate, as David Henshall reports.

It is said in business that one of the habits of successful people is that they have a clear view of their long term goal. This same clarity of purpose is also a common feature amongst successful competitors across all sports. So it is no surprise when ISAF’s latest World Champion, Jonathan ‘Jono’ Neate turns out to be a sailor who has been following a clear mental picture of what he wanted to do.

Jono’s vision dates back to the 2007 Contender Worlds in Medemblik, when his friend and fellow Victorian sailor, Marcus Hamilton, retained the championship title he had won the previous winter in Canada. As he watched Marcus collecting an armful of silverware, Jono knew that this was what he too wanted to do.

This was no idle dream for Jono, as he comes from a family with an established track record of success afloat - both his father and grandfather were accomplished yachtsmen. Jono’s first recollection of “sailing” was when he was launched out in an Optimist-style dinghy onto the testing waters of a swimming pool. By the time he had reached his teenage years, Jono was enjoying success in the 420 and it was here that he came into contact with another key influence, in the form of future world champion Nathan Outteridge. Nathan was already showing signs of the amazing talent that would soon bring him success in the Foiling Moth and 49er. Jono recalls that it was an ‘awesome’ day if he was able to beat Nathan in a race, but the fact that on his day he could hit the front against such top class opposition clearly showed that he was a sailor destined for future success.

Having outgrown the 420, Jono spent some time sailing in 470s but this was always destined to be a short-term occupation. For a start, Jono was enjoying his sailing too much and did not want to risk this by moving into what could easily become a full time involvement. The other issue with the 470 was that Jono was fast physically outgrowing the boat, leaving him either needing to keep his weight down or else risk becoming uncompetitive.

A new boat

The other option was to change classes and here Jono was again handily placed to get some crucial advice. This was the era of the epic battles between the Australian Arthur Brett and the Italian Andrea Bonezzi for mastery of the Contender and it was tales of the encounters between these two (and in particular the final head-to-head race of the 2002 Worlds) that convinced Jono that this was the boat for him.  

It was clear to Jono that the route to the front of the Contender fleet would come from smooth and efficient boat handling and it was to this that he applied his early efforts. Moving to the Contender is a steep learning curve for any sailor, with the first six months being an exciting time for Jono. Still, with the boat handling being addressed, his natural self confidence saw Jono seeking to avoid a restricted style of sailing that would only bring him success in one set of conditions. After Medemblik, the pace of Jono’s development increased, as he could now see that world championship success could only come from his ability to record results across a full range of conditions.

At the same time, Jono worked to make sure that he had the best gear available by taking the simple short-cut of buying the boat Marcus Hamilton had used to win the Worlds. Apart from a change of mast to a CST (following a breakage in the Australian Nationals) the boat has been kept essentially the same. Jono has made sure that that the decks are extensively covered with pro-grip but in all other ways his boat is remarkable in the fact that it is so close to the norm being sailed throughout the fleet.

Jono’s programme saw him sailing in the 2009 Worlds in Denmark, where he came second to Bonezzi, who was to take his seventh world championship title at the event. After Denmark there was only six months before the next Worlds at Brisbane, but first Jono wanted a complete break from sailing. Then, in the Australian spring conditions, he sought advice from his friend and mentor Marcus Hamilton, whom he asked to come and watch him sail. This was a big confidence boost, as Marcus’ view was that Jono ‘was there’ and had reached the level needed to mount a serious challenge for the World title.

There was one last issue to address. In Denmark Jono had weighed in at 78kgs, which although fine for light to medium conditions left his close – and heavier - competitors with an advantage upwind in breeze. A focused approach to training, based mainly around running (with the sessions aimed to be of the same duration as the Championship races), saw Jono’s weight increase to 85kgs, at which point he felt that he could now compete on equal terms with the heavier sailors in the fleet.

The best laid plans...

However, on arrival at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, host club for both the Australian Nationals and the World Championships, things did not start out in keeping with Jono’s plan. For some days before the event a brisk wind had been blowing, with the race course out in Moreton Bay churned up into what was described by some competitors as a large washing machine. Used to the larger but more regular seas of his home club on Port Philip Bay, Jono found the short, confused waves difficult to ‘read’ on the downwind legs. For the first three races of the Australian Nationals the wind stayed strong, which played into the hands of local favourite, Matt Mulder, who used the power from his new North rig to take all three races. When the wind finally eased for the final day Mulder was already out of reach, but Jono posted notice that he was a force to contend with as he won the final race and pushed his arch rival, reigning World Champion Andrea Bonezzi, off the runners-up podium position.

When the World Championships commenced in superb sailing conditions, Bonezzi was in commanding form as he reeled off a string of great results to end the second day comfortably in the lead. It was at this stage of the regatta that Jono’s youthful determination asserted itself. Believing that he had the ability to seize the initiative from his rival, Jono decided to embark on a high risk strategy that saw him going for the prime spot at whichever end of the line he felt offered the best opportunities. This paid immediate dividends as Jono took a hard-earned victory against the close-chasing pack behind him.

It could all have gone so wrong in Race 6, when with two minutes to the start Jono was seen sampling the waters of the bay, following an uncharacteristic capsize. Quickly righting the boat he raced for the pin end, grabbed his favoured pole position and made an almost perfect start. Just 30 seconds later, he was able to tack onto port, shave across the bow of the leading starboard hand boat and sail away into what is best described as a ‘horizon job’. Better still for Jono, on the day that he took these two wins, Bonezzi could do no better than a pair of fourth places, leaving the two of them tied on 12 points with two full days of competition still to go.

Confident that his high risk strategy was the correct approach, it was no surprise when Jono repeated the process in Race 7 and again, the results were conclusive. From his favoured pin end, Jono sailed away into clear air to record his third straight win and with Bonezzi again fourth, the opportunity was there for Jono to win the event with a day to spare. Then the odds ran out, as after another flying pin end start Jono got caught on the wrong side of a shift and was suddenly relegated back into the pack. Bonezzi meanwhile was trying some high risk strategies of his own and his fourth and third places were enough to hold onto second place overall. Further back, Jono could finish no higher than seventh, which meant that the overall lead was taken by Germany’s Christoph Homeier. With a day and two races to go, the leading three boats were separated by just two points.  

The last day saw Jono sticking to his plan, again going for a pin end start. As it had done many times already during the event, the risk paid off as Jono recorded his fourth win. He could not relax though, for with Andrea Bonezzi taking second and Christoph Homier fourth, the numbers showed that the championship was still wide open going into the last race. Once again Jono went for his favoured pin end start, although this time Bonezzi and Homier were close by. However, with victory in sight, Jono now showed that he had the skills needed to be able to modify his game plan, as he reverted to a more conservative sailing style. He carefully sailed the last race to finish fourth, a position that gave him a comfortable three point margin over Bonezzi with Homeier third.

After a fairly boisterous night of celebration, the following day saw Jono in a reflective mood. He is quick to highlight the help and support that he has enjoyed, firstly from his parents, then from other sailors, notably Marcus Hamilton. At times he seemed a little bemused by his success, for he felt that his championship victory had come more quickly than he had expected.

He has already committed to the task of retaining his title when the next world championships are held at Weymouth in August 2011. With Jono already having the vision that shows him winning again, back to back championship victories have to be a very real possibility.