Italian America’s Cup challenger Luna Rossa finished mid-fleet on their new Botín-designed TP52 at the opening Super Series event at Sibenik in Croatia – Luna Rossa tactician Vasco Vascotto also losing the first round against his previous championship-winning team on Azzurra who finished third. Round one was won by another Cup team, the DeVos family’s Quantum Racing. Listen up, kids: sheet your jib right into the mast and drag your boom up towards the weather deck, they won’t teach you that one in sailing school…
IN PRAISE OF RELEVANCE – Dobbs Davis As in every four-year cycle of Olympic decisions, World Sailing is again at that nexus point where fashion, politics, delusion and reality all collide. This is not a fun place, and the outcome can be frustrating for those of us on the sidelines as well as in the brawl. But unlike past cycles where only specialists paid close attention,
now passions are broad and running high in the US even among those who have no intersection with the Olympics. The anxiety is driven in part by simple patriotic pride – Americans don’t take losing well and it’s been a long time since there were many US medallists on the podiums – and in part by dissatisfaction with governance: decisions and outcomes are not making sense to most US sailors, who feel increasingly removed from the top end of the sport. The latest Olympic boat types have never really taken root here,
so they’re not attracting the mainstream youth who are the future of every sport. Skiffs? OK, they’re fun when it’s windy but not too windy, and they’re not cheap, nor are they found in many US clubs. Foiling cats? Yikes, look what happened to Bora’s [Gulari] hand. Kites? Not expensive and a fun toy to muck about with on holiday, if it’s windy but not too windy. And are they really considered boats? Come the latest World Sailing meeting the potential loss of a
proven double-hander – the 470 – really raised the ire of not only 470 Olympians like Dave Hughes and Steve Benjamin, but many US sailors concerned about the trend towards singlehanded boats that are poor performers in very light or very windy conditions. ‘The 470 has shown incredible versatility for decades,’ said Benjamin. ‘It is robust in all conditions, both genders can compete, and there is an infrastructure in place around the world for its use.’ And then there’s the issue of gender equality, about which Hughes
argues, ‘Why don’t we pour our time, efforts and resources into bolstering female participation in the sport as it currently exists, keeping a boat like the 470, and not into developing new boats and classes? A new boat won't suddenly siphon more girls and women
12 SEAHORSE
into our sport. Changing classes only creates economic and scheduling barriers, and those barriers limit rather than encourage a better gender balance in sailing.’ Most of us got excited last November about the possibility of a
format that related to the boats we sail and doing what we like to do: sail offshore. It’s too bad the Japanese found the complication of having a showcase event in Tokyo too much to handle, because this could have been a great opportunity to show the world an essential part of the sport that lies at its very roots. The World Sailing Executive Board member responsible for
offshore matters happens to be from the US, and he was strongly in support of an offshore medal at the Games. Gary Jobson was joined by other prominent and respected committee members like Matt Allen (AUS), Stan Honey (USA), the entire delegation from France, and others voting in favour of this new event. Unfortunately they lost by a 22-19 margin. ‘That was really disappointing,’ said Jobson. ‘When you step
back and look at it, it makes no sense not to have this as a new event.’ Jobson then ticked off some of his reasons: l Other sports showcase both their depth of talent and breadth: running has the 100m and marathon; skiing downhill and cross-country; cycling sprints and longer races, and so on. Offshore sailing would allow sailing to match this breadth. l With tracking and graphics this could easily be the most media-friendly sailing event. l The format is uncomplicated: whoever crosses the finish first wins the race. l There is tremendous potential to motivate a new group of mixed-gender crews with less reliance on specific body types and sizes; just one week before the vote US university and academy coaches were discussing acquiring a fleet of boats to support a new offshore discipline in intercollegiate sailing, with the Olympics an important motivator for funding. l If there is concern for numbers of athletes, then have this as
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INGRID ABERY
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