Gary Jobson has accomplished much during his 40 years of competitive sailing, including winning the America’s Cup in 1977 as a tactician and earning a spot in that race’s Hall of Fame.

He is also a cancer survivor and the longtime chairman of the Leukemia Cup Regatta, a role that brought him to Seattle recently to promote the June 2 fundraising race. Three Sheets Northwest sat down with Jobson at the Center for Wooden Boats and learned that this accomplished racing and cruising sailor isn’t afraid to share his opinion on what’s going right and wrong with the sport of sailing, the role of yacht clubs and how the Pacific Northwest ranks with great sailing destinations around the world.

He also discussed his own battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and how it has helped shape his outlook on sailing and life.

What lessons from sailing did you bring to your fight with cancer?
I will take three minutes and tell you three short stories. The first story is the first time I went sailing. It was on this Sneakbox in Barnegat Bay,  New Jersey, where I grew up. I was given three jobs: keep the boat dry, don’t ask any questions and hold on to the course chart. There were 40 boats in the race and we were in first place at the first mark. I had the boat bone dry and I hadn’t said a peep. When the skipper asked what the course is, somehow the course chart had fallen out of my pocket. We went to the wrong buoy and we lost the race. The lesson there is for the rest of my career, I’ve always known what my goal is, what the course is, and where I’m going.

The second story is when I’m trying to get into the college nationals and I’m sailing this new boat called a Laser that I hadn’t sailed before. The first race, I capsized on the starting line. The second race, I clunked into somebody because I lost control of the boat and fouled out. So before the third race, I’m in last place and I’m very upset. The coach says, “Look, your problem is you are worried about the final result. What you really need to think about is taking everything one step at a time. Don’t hit anybody. If you don’t hit anybody, don’t capsize. And you have to have a good attitude and have a little fun with it.”  So I went out not worrying about the final result and just took it one step at a time. I won the next race.

And then a third story is when I was working for ESPN some years later. I’m on an aircraft carrier during night operations. This guy on the aircraft carrier says to me that he met me as a high school student and that he had never thanked me for helping him get into the (naval) academy. I had spoken at his high school and he got inspired to go. Now he is a fighter pilot.

When I was being treated for (non-Hodgkin lymphoma), the cancer came back on me twice. And the second time it came back, I’m laying in the hospital and I’m really hurting and I’m feeling sorry for myself and I’m trying to get the nurse on the button and nobody is showing up. I’m just laying there by myself and suddenly I remembered being on that Sneakbox and that what I need is a goal. My goal right now is to walk again, because I couldn’t walk at the time. The next thing I thought about was just take one step at a time and don’t worry about the final result. And finally I thought about, if I can pull myself out of this, then maybe I can inspire some other people to get through a similar experience.

And that is how sailing helped me with cancer.

Jobson on a Center for Wooden Boats tour with volunteer Vern Velez

What is your experience sailing in the Northwest?
The first time I raced in Seattle was over 30 years ago. I came out with Ted Turner and we raced in the 6-meter Worlds. I’ve done some PHRF stuff here out of Shilshole. And I was out here for the Goodwill games some years ago. I also came out as a coach with a college team and we sailed at UW.

What was your impression?
The cool thing about Seattle is you have so many different waters. You got the lake here (Lake Union); you got the Strait of Juan de Fuca; you can get up to the San Juans or Canada. And there are a lot of different elements. You are dealing with tides here. And the winds can be all over the map. So I think that sailors from Seattle get a good variety of conditions.

I’m impressed with the competition you have. There are really good sailors in this area and lots of enthusiasm and lots of eclectic clubs ranging from the Corinthian to the Seattle Yacht Club.

What do you think about the state of competitive sailing today?
We have highs and lows in the sport of sailing. First, one of the challenges is that the ages of the yacht club population are increasing. And yacht clubs generally need to get more young members to join the club because yacht clubs are the core of sailing. Sailing associations, schools, community programs are all important, but it is the yacht club that is the fundamental strength of the sport. Clubs need to go and get what I would describe as younger members, from right after college to maybe 35 or 40 years old.

Secondly, I think we have way too many classes of boats in the United States. It gets confusing and everything gets watered down. I think local areas ought to have the courage to say, “Okay, here are the four kinds of boats we are going to race and consolidate.”

Third, I think we need to focus more on adult instruction. We do well with youth instruction, but not well enough with adults. Clubs need to have their own fleet of boats and do adult instruction to keep people engaged.

On a positive note, there are 370 high schools with sailing programs in this country now. When I was in high school a zillion years ago, there were no sailing programs. There are just under 200 college sailing programs, including UW. We are graduating a lot of great talent out of sailing.

But somehow, due to job pressures or family pressures, people leave the sport. So what the sport has to do is engineer it so you can do it in short periods of time—two hours or three hours once a week so you aren’t all consumed with it. I think that would make sailing a little bit better.

Jobson admires the Center for Wooden Boats' workshop

What do you think has been the most significant change in sailing over the past 40 years?
I think we’ve done a better job on getting committees and judges certified and making it fair. I’m not sure we can ever get the handicap rules perfect, but I think sailing is fairer today. So that is good.

On the other hand, what I see happening is there is kind of a split in sailing abilities. The pro sailors, who are very high end and skilled, and the amateur sailors, who are not very skilled, are separating. I’d actually like to see less pro sailing. I don’t think everybody needs to get paid to go sailing. Mix the professional and the amateurs together and just get people sailing more for the Corinthian aspect as opposed to making a living from it.

How important is it for the sailing community to hold events such as the Leukemia Cup?
We’ve hit a nerve with the leukemia society because so many people or their families have been touched with a blood cancer.

One of the things I say is that every yacht club should pick one charity event that is not sailing-related, whether it is the Leukemia Cup, hospice or helping disabled people, because it is good when yacht clubs give back to society.

What’s next for you?
Well, I turn 60 next year, which is weighing heavy on my mind. So this summer, I’m going to sail like crazy. I’m a partner in a Swan 42, so I’m going to sail in eight regattas this summer. I’m also racing on a 12-meter Freedom in four regattas. So I have a big summer of racing ahead of me.

Longer term, I really like cruising.  I’ve done three trips to Antarctica and I’ve been to 80 degrees north and sailed all up and down the east coast. I’d like to get a good cruising boat. I decided to favor racing for a year or two, then do some heavy cruising.

You should try this area.
I tell you, the Northwest is on my list. I think the coast of Maine and the Pacific Northwest are for sure the best parts of the United States and the most scenic. It may be a little challenging because you’ve got tides and things, but it is beautiful.