Bumping into celebrity sailors
Posted by fku500@reddit | sailing | View on Reddit | 22 comments
I do not look like a fan boy - grey hair, late 40s, non-inviting gaze - and I was just walking out of a döner place near the main train station in Frankfurt (of all the places!) as I bump into a pair of two men walking down the street in the opposite direction. I immediately knew that I know one of the faces (sport celebrity, wait a minute…) but I needed couple of seconds to recognize it. Boris Hermann! Of all German cities it must be the least expected location to meet the dude (are we racing the Main river now?). Anyways, I didn’t run back to greet him, although my badge in this sub might suggest I could have :)
Have you met anyone from the sailing world in a similar way?
paleone9@reddit
We have met many you tubers and sailing celebrities both on the water and at boat shows in Miami and Annapolis
We have met and hung out with
Billy from Tulsa’s Endless Summer Bobby from Sailing Doodles Annie Dike from Have wind will travel Fatty Goodlander from Cruising World Bob Bitchin from Lattitudes and Attitudes
Random_Reddit99@reddit
Most of the sailing celebrities I've met have been through formal introductions....but I was in a local bar on Kauai with a buddy maybe 10 years ago and Laird Hamilton walked in. I've seen him out on the line-up before...but we've have never formally met. I turned to my buddy to ask, "is that...", and he replied, "guess how long before all the cougars attack?" Before I could answer, every female divorcee in the room swoops and he's back pedalling trying to escape and backs right into me. He turns and apologizes and I tell him, "no worries...looks like you have bigger problems." He smiles weakly and shrugs. The guy he was looking for comes up and Laird gives him the, "dude, I can't believe you made me come in here" look, and they turn to leave, giving me the 'later bro' nod & shaka.
PossiblyBefuddled@reddit
At an after party, I got a drink from the crowded bar, turned to go back to my crew, and almost dumped my drink all over Dennis Conner.
I also sat at a table with Dave Perry once, but wasn't introduced.
Practical-Run-9904@reddit
I walked right past Pete Burling in Barcelona a week after the cup had wrapped up. They were breaking down the TNZ base camp. I reacted the same way as OP, just got really excited but didn’t run back like a fan boy. He was clearly just “heading to work” for the day and I didn’t want to bother him.
Eightstream@reddit
Our club has a few Olympic medallists and America’s Cup sailors, they are good peeps. Most of them are not famous in a regular sense so very grounded, just hard working and good at their jobs.
caeru1ean@reddit
SDYC?
SVAuspicious@reddit
A goodly number. Jimmy Cornell, Nigel Calder, Carolyn Shearlock, Beth Leonard and Evans Starzinger, Chris Parker, Lin and the late Larry Pardey. Lots of others. I live in Annapolis and cool people come through especially for Fall Boat Show. I do have a hook. Most of these people sell books or other products and shipping for Boat Show can be a problem. There is a high loss rate when you ship to a hotel in advance of check-in. Then moving things around becomes an issue. So they ship to me. I have a little bar code system set up so the right things go to the right people and local sailing volunteers help with delivery and get to meet the personalities. We deliver directly to the booths at Boat Show during set up.
I'm just this guy who knows people. *grin*
Dinner at my house one year. I'm left rear. The man center rear is the tricky one. Everyone else should be recognizable. Carolyn, Sheryl, and I white wine, everyone else red.
dpg5q@reddit
Fatty Goodlander?
SVAuspicious@reddit
I've never met him. Certainly follow his work. Nice try.
The fellow center rear is Peter Nielsen who at the time was Executive Editor of Sail Magazine. Big impact and a low profile. Very nice man, very capable, and a good sailor. He left Sail to go sailing.
noknockers@reddit
Going through this thread and I don't recognize one single name...
fku500@reddit (OP)
Here are two of them:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Herrmann https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Ainslie?searchToken=5gar0gvmch45lvxtzpxgrhnbk
fku500@reddit (OP)
Got a bit of googling to do )
74_Jeep_Cherokee@reddit
I met Mads and Ava from Sail Life. They were rebuilding their catamaran down the street from where I live and their monohull was berthed down the road from where mine is.
SailorChic76@reddit
My mom and I shared a flight out of Gothenburg with Mark Towill and Amory Ross a few days after they completed the Volvo Ocean Race as part of Team Alvimedica. If the roles were reversed, I would've probably been just craving some sleep after a grueling sail around the world, but Amory seemed happy to chat with a fan for a few minutes. Nice guys.
planeray@reddit
Walked out of a lift at work and did one of those tight, corporate smiles hello at the random woman entering. Took a couple of seconds before I realised it was Jessica Watson. When I got back up to my floor afterwards, went to tell someone else and there she was, in a meeting room, doing some consulting work.
Impeachcordial@reddit
Only kind of unexpected because it was on the water, but unexpected because he's a pretty good sailor - I pulled Ben Ainslee off a rock once
fku500@reddit (OP)
Must have been awkward.. for him?)
Impeachcordial@reddit
None of us like hitting rocks. But yeah, he wasn't happy about it (not ungrateful, just pissed off at himself like we all would be)
RumSwizzle508@reddit
I got to meet bill Pinckney a long time ago and have also met Bill Koch. Plus a few Olympians.
Candygramformrmongo@reddit
Not random, but fanboy admission - not much hair left 50's. Went to see my personal hero Kristen Neuschaefer at her first speaking enagement after her Golden Globe win. She looked a bit bewildered when I asked her to sign my cap after our chat, but graciously obliged "Kristen #53"
wanderinggoat@reddit
I saw Russell Crow in a sailing shop once, but since I have heard he is a bit of a dick I didn't want to talk to him, I guess he deserves his privacy. I had a chat with Lin Pardey who was quite nice but I think Larry was the more knowledgable sailor so its a pity I didnt meet him.
Holiday_Reindeer_692@reddit
Omg that's amazing!! I definitely would have ran up to him😅 We once met Dan and Kika from Sailing Uma at the Boot Dusseldorf. I behaved quite awkwardly as always but we talked for a few minutes - I actually got excited even though I'm really not the fan-girl-type myself haha