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THAT evening we took John Parrington to a restaurant at St. Germain-des-Pr�s in order to put our questions to him. It isn't every evening that you have the opportunity of dining with a world champion, especially when he's such a nice person as the big Australian. To help us to reach our ends we had a
redoubtable ally in the form of a white wine that is just right for loosening tongues. After several pints had been downed our executioner-in-chief, Jean-Claude Buck, began the interrogation.
Jean-Claude Buck: -What difference is there between your 505 and Bryan Price, your predecessor's?
Parrington: -Very little. "Waltzing Matilda", our boat, is more robust, being intended for rough Irish waters. Price's boat was particularly light.
JGB: -Otherwise the two boats are fitted out in the same way?
P: -The very first time we went out in her we fitted her just as Price hat done, and as we won straight away there seemed no point in changing anything. (Parrington, an architect, draws from memory on the tablecloth several diagrams with detailed figures for the fitting out of his boat.) We adopted a new rectangular rudder
cheek � the old one being sugar loaf shaped like the centrebeam. The new design makes it more efficient in waves and prevents it from vibrating like the old one used to.
JGB: -A spy told me that you use a very special inhauler.
P: -(smiling broadly and displaying a fine set of teeth) It is special, I suppose. It was Price's idea. I didn't think much of it, but Chris and I thought it might puzzle our competitors.
JGB: -It certainly did.
P: -What's more, it really does have an effect on the behaviour of the boom.
J-GB: -(filling up the glasses again) In France we prefer to use flat jibs that hollow out when the sheet is released. Farrant uses a flat jib as well, but yours is still curved, though much flatter than your earlier ones. Could you tell us the reason?
P: -We are very much in favour of hollowed-out sails, especially in windy conditions.
JGB: -(unable to believe his cars, and wondering if he's been too generous with the drink) What? How do you explain that?
P: -It's quite simple. When it's windy, the sea's generally rough too. The waves have a braking effect on the boat, especially if it's as light as the 505. You don't try to turn very sharply because the waves would slow you up even more. So as you're following a straighter course, it's possible to use sails that are more curved. But most important of all, you need a lot of momentum to get over the waves, and a curved sail provides that propulsive force. On the other hand, when the wind is light, the sea is generally calm, so that you can try to turn and the flat sails allow you to sail closer to the wind.
JGB: -I see. It all sounds very reasonable, but after all, curved sails are the recommended thing for sailing in a light wind.
P: -Let's agree on our terminology. Curved sails are certainly good in calm weather, but what I want to point out is that a sail for windy weather should be more curved than one for light winds. Power is required in a high wind, finesse in a light one.
JGB: -There still remains the difficulty on controlling a curved sail in windy conditions.
P: -That's another question, and mostly one of training.
JGB: -How do you train?
P: -We hold regattas every weekend, all day Saturday, and all day Sunday.
JGB: -How many boats take part in these regattas?
P: -Six to ten, not more. In Australia towns and big yachting centres are very far away from one another. The most you'd find would be 25 for an important regatta with 505's. This is very good compared with the other classes. There's no real unity in our yachting. Each district has its own management and its own classes. There are as many of these as in England, but there are not many units in any given one.
JGB: -Is it possible to train with ten boats?
P: -Of course, everyone tries as hard as he can to win. We race one another very seriously.
JGB: -Wasn't this habit of racing with a small number of boats a drawback for you at Cork?
P: -At first I was afraid it might be. I was very worried about starting with nearly 100 boats. We made our first start very carefully, but little by little we realized that it was the same thing really, and tried to get off to as good a start as possible.
JGB: -In the last heat you even managed to keep the Farrant brothers in hand, though for five minutes they were trying to get away from you.
P: -It wasn't as easy as you think. At one stage they managed to stop their boat completely. We were unable to do so, being carried along by the force of our own momentum. We found ourselves six lengths in front of him. Happily a gap opened up and allowed us to find our way back to him.
JGB: -What is the place of sailing in Australian sport?
P: -Sailing is very much respected. Australians attach as much importance to it as to athletics, swimming, or tennis. What's more, the conditions under which we sail are very exacting. There's no room for joy rides.
(Parrington passes his hand over his wide, bare forehead, and swallows a mouthful of white wine, smacking his lips like a true wine-grower, but Jean-Claude Buck allows him no time to get his breath back.)
JGB: -What are these conditions?
P: -Australia is a very hot continent. The central desert draws the wind off the sea. So we have a thermal breeze, a sort of solar wind that changes its direction as the day progresses. This wind is often very strong, and as it comes from the open water, it brings with it a great many waves. Also we often have a strong swell breaking at the crests of the waves. Dealing with these big waves is an art in itself. We travel on them at high speeds, as though surf-riding. To do this properly, you have to operate the centreboard very accurately. Often a breaker lands on top of us. If the wind is more than force 7 the waves are so difficult that it's impossible to go out at all.
JGB: -This sounds as though it should provide enjoyment for the Europeans who are competing with you for the World Championship in Adelaide in 1966. One last question. What is the reason for the name Waltzing Matilda?
P: -As was the case with Price's boat last year, we were able to build a new 505 thanks to a subscription. In this way we collected �A 2,000, and thought it only right to ask the subscribers to choose a name for their ship. Out of 200 replies to our question, Waltzing Matilda came up 70 times. It's the title of an Australian folk-song. For Australians it's almost like a national anthem. In a way it represents Australia itself.
Conversation then took a gastronomical rather than a nautical course.
Recorded by Bertrand Ch�ret.
