Rob Weiland
Forever young
Two reasons for the decline of competitive sailing pop up regularly in online discussions: the lack of young sailors in both dinghy as well as yacht racing and the mix of pro and amateur sailors in what basically is an amateur sport. The lack of young sailors is very much visible
on most of the TP52s competing in the 52 Super Series and is possibly one of the reasons why a 65-year-old class manager still is an acceptable phenomenon. At first sight the pro and amateur sailors’ mix is not of much relevance to TP52 racing when it comes to the popularity of the competition as, bar a few teams, the only amateur onboard the TP52s racing in the Super Series is the ‘poor’ owner (in this case we should not take that adjective too literally.)
But the two are connected as the pool of high-level pro sailors
ages with the clock ticking away. Today there is hardly any young talent making it to the top of monohull fleet racing and, without being too speculative, I fear that besides the main reason discussed below we are also faced with a lack of people taking responsibility for the medium, let alone longterm, planning and health of our sport. The main focus is on instant success – which means that any consideration of mixing pros with amateurs to secure sharing of knowledge (learn from the best) goes straight out the window. Learning from the best is, however, one of the main arguments if not the main argument in the debate about mixing pros with amateurs in sailing. Without mixing experience with fresh ambition we risk not only the continuity of our sport (and with it the pros’ business…) but we also lose the opportunity to benefit now from the energy and spontaneity of the young.
When you have seen it all a thousand times before the pleasure of the moment easily gets lost or invaded by future concerns and planning how to keep the business going. Winning a race then is not just a temporary crown in a game but a way to secure a reputation and gain future business. When the fun goes and the urge to control
28 SEAHORSE
business and protect a reputation takes over we are at risk of losing sight of the essence of sport and with it eventually the interest of those paying the bills.
Of course the only amateur on the boat when it comes to sailing is often at the same time the only pro onboard when it comes to business! And in this complicated dance, rarely untouched by burning ambition, it certainly takes two to tango. But the owner in the end is the one with the power to steer such ambition and set realistic targets… so he should lead. This does not mean the pros can lean back and relax. By no means.
At first sight I do not know of other team sports where the team members are self-employed and play in various teams spread out across competitions all over the world. Yes, the best soccer players also play for national teams, but with strict conditions and (usually) with carefully streamlined scheduling.
Our best sailors each now race regularly in perhaps five to 10
different teams spread across the planet; it is not rare for them to arrive at their latest job jet-lagged and tired with two days or even less to get ready before the first race.
Yet sailing is a very complicated sport, the teams are large and the equipment is immensely complicated. Is it such a strange idea to contract key crew for a year or even several years, with stipulations about the time they can spend away racing for other teams? I guess this is what America’s Cup teams do and why for instance back in the MedCup days Team New Zealand often appeared to be such a well-oiled machine compared to their rivals.
Thirteen great sailors do not automatically make a great TP52 team, actually the chances are it is the start of a tiring week. I am afraid this is why top-level sailing is as crew-exclusive as it is right now. By keeping the pool of sailors small and made up of the same people year in year out the pros more or less get away with the lack of training and team-building that is standard practice in other sports. Today the pool is about 200 sailors at most, possibly less than 100 at the deep end. It is just deep enough to make up the required
NICO MARTINEZ/SUPERSERIES
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