“My life has always been about amazing moments …” – an interview with Tan Wearn Haw

Interview by Lai Jun Wei and REDintern Tan Jon Han/Red Sports. Photos by Tan Jon Han/Red Sports.

Tan Wearn Haw, 31, is a Singaporean sailor who has competed in the America’s Cup and World Match Racing Tour with professional teams. He was formerly with the Sino-French Syndicates for two years, before sailing with the China Team – an international team with sailors from Europe and Asia. Recently the team was in Singapore for the Singapore leg of the Extreme Sailing Series Asia. Red Sports caught up with him for a quick chat.

Red Sports: Tell me about yourself.
Wearn Haw: I am Tan Wearn Haw, a Singaporean. I started sailing here, in Singapore. I followed the youth programme back then and did an Olympic Campaign. Now, I am with China Team. This year we are doing more sailing again, eventually building our programme towards the America’s Cup again.

I left Singapore at age of 18 to pursue my undergraduate studies on an overseas scholarship. I was sent to France, without knowing a word of French. I then took time off from my studies to focus on an Olympic Campaign for Sydney 2000. For the 2007 America’s Cup, I was also based in Spain for two years.

Sailing was and is still my main sport but I am a keen sports fan and follower nonetheless. Essentially, I upgraded from sandcastle building to sailing at the age of seven and never looked back!

Always looking to go outside my comfort zone, I put sailing aside to dive into windsurfing for two years, a most challenging but interesting experience. I find it interesting. I had lots of exposure since young. I did some racing in Asia. It was challenging but for me, it was interesting. Unfortunately, it is time spent away from developing my career, but there are always pros and cons.

What made you take up sailing?
Largely thanks to my late father, who was very involved in sailing; a former athlete and coach who made a positive impact not just in my life, but many of my peers as well!

Most of my friends are married with kids. When they look at me, I am going around the world, something quite different. It's a give and take. No regrets for me. If I drop dead tomorrow, hopefully it's with a smile on my face.

A few years ago, my dad died, at the age of 50, the age of setting yourself up for retirement, looking forward to enjoyment. Kids grown up, kick back and relax, but he passed away. I was my early 20s back then. That had a great impact on me.

How did you end up in China Team?
Team China was looking for sailors from China and Asia in 2005, 2006. I was approached to go for the selection trial. Then, I was involved with the team. I was involved on full-time basis for about two years. We still keep the links now and are doing quite a fair bit of sailing together but not as much as before, due to work.

What was your experience like sailing for China Team at the Extreme Series Sailing?
Fantastic! Most of the world level sailing I did, such as Olympics, America’s Cup have always meant that I did all my training and racing everywhere but Singapore! So, to be racing in front of the home crowd and sharing my unique experiences with the folks here in Singapore is very special. And what better way to do it than on the extreme 40 catamarans, a real adrenaline rush!

Being a Singaporean in a team of mixed nationalities, what difficulties have you encountered?
Language is one of the problems. 80% of them are French. They were the previous French team who took part in the American Cup Campaign in 2000 and 2005 in New Zealand. It was a joint venture with some Chinese investors. To me, it's still okay as I speak French.

On the sports side, it isn't that bad because all of us understand the sport. However, communication is still important. But after awhile, we are able to gel together.

Any memorable moments to share while you were out at sea?
My life has always been about amazing moments. I’m a lucky guy! From the rough days in Europe early in our Olympic campaign in the 1990s, where we slept under our boat covers in the boat park to scavenging enough money for the next meal; near drowning when I trained in gale force mistral winds in south of France; doing high speed windsurfing in unbelievable conditions in Taiwan (where I nearly broke my legs in a wipeout!); racing at the 2007 America’s Cup and beating the BMW Oracle Team in a significant upset of the series; dangling 30m up in the mast of an America’s Cup boat as windspotter; notching some memorable wins against the world’s best sailors in World Match Racing Tour events; racing on classic yachts in jet-set locations like Porto Cervo, St Tropez and doing the famous Prada and Louis Vuitton sailing parties … the moments just keep coming!

But more importantly, I’ve met amazing people along the journey and made great friends from all over the world, and that’s the key. It's the people that you share the experience with that makes it that more special, and that much more fun!

How is your training like?
Right now, it's just the usual daily grind of adjusting body weight to the needs of the next project and maintaining fitness. I bulked up from 70kg to 85kg when I was sailing professionally during the America’s Cup, but have since dropped back down to 70kg as I no longer need all that muscle. I’ve been running a lot and eating less!

I have a real day job (which sometimes eats into the night as well!) and I fit in my physical training around that. Otherwise, the usual gym, body resistance, plyometric and cardiovascular training applies. For sailing, upper body and core strength is usually pretty important and forms the bedrock of any fitness programme.

Tell me about your buddies at sea, fellow sailors on China Team. What are they like?
In the original America’s Cup team, we had French, Americans, Swedish, Polish, Chinese and of course Singaporeans onboard! So, quite a diverse mix. You should see the Christmas messages that go around! On the Extreme40 programme, we have Hugh and Adam from UK mixed up with Thierry from France and me. First and foremost, the attitude is professional when it comes to racing. But we do laugh at ourselves a lot and generally have a good time. Throw in the mix of nationality and languages and the usual brickbats between the French and English, with me, the French-speaking Singaporean caught between, and you can be assured of being entertained all the time! As they say, "A bad day on water is still better than a good day in the office!"

What are your hopes and dreams?
Well, as with most people, my hope is to win a lottery and then live happily ever after in paradise??!!

But seriously … I’m pretty much living my dream when I look back on the journey thus far. I’ve been really lucky to have the opportunities I’ve had. The experiences and memories would already last a lifetime. But as an athlete, I’m always looking to better myself and progress onto the next level. To keep racing at the highest levels on the most exciting boats, being involved in innovative projects spanning the Olympics, America’s Cup amongst many would always bring a smile to my face! And to win these big events would see me grinning from ear to ear!

Have you thought of a career out of sailing? What would you most likely be doing if you’re not sailing?
Well, I did make it a career to a certain extent. I’m trained as an aeronautical engineer and that was largely influenced by my sailing involvement. So, I could easily switch into the yacht industry – in sail or boat design. For two years (from 2006-07), I was racing with an America’s Cup team. My work experiences have been varied and wide ranging, so I’m rather versatile in terms of crossing domains.

As for what I would be doing if not for sailing? I have no idea!

What do you think about the local sailing scene here in Singapore?
It's starting to pick up again. It seemed to me that the 1997 financial crisis took a big bite out of the momentum in terms of the number of big boats and events. The windsurfing scene is nowhere close to the heydays of late 80s and 90s. But I’m optimistic that with Asia on the upswing, sailing in this part of the world is poised for big things. Exciting times ahead, and the Singapore sailing scene will no doubt benefit from this.

What do you have to say to young aspiring sailors out there?
Enjoy the sun, sand and the sea. Keep believing and keep sailing, you never know what tomorrow brings!