Shirley Robertson OBE was born in Dundee, and went on to become the first British woman to claim consecutive Olympic Gold Medals for sailing.
The cruise ship Ambition arrived in the Port of Dundee this weekend, and on board was the ship’s godmother, Shirley Robertson, responsible for christening the ship with its new name.
Shirley has her own fond memories of sailing at Broughty Ferry – though she says the tides made this pretty challenging.
The sailor wasn’t envious of Ambition’s captain who had to navigate the 700ft cruise ship into Dundee’s port.
“You know when you’ve got to parallel park and you’re worrying: Will I fit in that?” Shirley joked.
At a young age, Shirley developed a love for being on the water.
“I remember days out, getting ice cream at Broughty Ferry and the beach,” she said.
“My dad had done his national service in the navy – that gave me a little tease, a taste of sailing.
“It was the 1970s so he was DIY crazy. He ordered a flat-pack boat and built it in the garage.
“Even now when I go in the garage I can see the resin outline of the dinghy.
“[Sailing] was a massive part of my childhood.
“As a child, it’s an amazing thing. Your parents just kind of push you out and it’s a massive sense of freedom – and adventure.”
But it wasn’t all plain sailing for Shirley.
Near miss on Olympic medal left her ‘devastated’
In 1996, Shirley finished fourth sailing on a one person dinghy in the Atlanta Olympics, just shy of the bronze medal. This left her feeling “devastated”.
“I remember the feeling, arriving back at Gatwick and I’d just finished fourth in Atlanta,” she said.
“I was expected to medal. I was so close I could taste a medal – and then I finished fourth.
“I was devastated and I sobbed forever.
“I remember arriving back in Gatwick, sitting in my car. It’s raining, the windscreen wipers are going.
“And I thought: What am I going to do now? Where am I even gonna go?
“Everything I’ve been working towards [for] that medal at the Atlanta Olympic Games and I was home with nothing.”
“When you’re so close to a medal,” Shirley said, “people don’t even really know what to say to you. It’s like a bereavement. So no one calls for months.
“It was a really difficult moment.”
But Shirley used that struggle as motivation to keep on trying.
“If I hadn’t finished fourth at those Olympics, there’s no way I would have gone on to win two gold medals. Maybe it’s a little bit of a cliché, but you know, when things are tough, you can really learn from it.
“I had a very different approach to the other medals and actually everything in my life since. And often I look back at that moment and what I did wrong.”
Shirley has the right ‘ambition’ to be ship’s godmother
“All vessels have always been christened, and normally by a woman,” Shirley explained, “it’s perceived as lucky.
“But this is slightly different because it’s a renaming – it’s the start of a new beginning for Ambition.”
The ship was built in 1999, and underwent refits in 2017 and 2022.
Gordon Wilson, the Ambassador cruise line’s chairman, sees Shirley as the perfect fit for the ship’s godmother.
He said: “Ambition is core to an Olympic athlete, after all.”
And the key to that ambition? Shirley says it’s all about finding something that “rocks your boat”.
“I think if you’re passionate about something, then it’s easier. You want to be better and better.
“The overriding thing is: Find something that rocks your boat.
“Then just keep plugging away. Don’t necessarily think of the big goal. You break it down.
“You don’t really imagine yourself – I never did – standing on the podium with the gold medal. I daren’t think about that actually.”
“You just think about every step and cracking that. And in the end, standing at the podium, hearing the national anthem, it just happens. It evolves, in a way.
“It’s a result of all your good decisions. Those small decisions all add up to success in the end.”
Shirley went on to win her two consecutive gold medals in Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004.
She still sails today, and while she admitted Broughty Ferry isn’t quite up there with sailing in Sydney Harbour, she was delighted to come back to her birthplace onboard Ambition.
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