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Editorial Not going away
Andrew Hurst
Patrice de Colmont created the Nioulargue in the early 1980s then ran it successfully for more than 10 years. However, he refused any further involve- ment after French maritime law changed in May 1996, making regatta organisers partly respon - sible for any accidents. ‘During the tribunal (over a fatality at the 1995 event) I was told captains
cannot be responsible for everything; that organisers like me could be responsible if the event was badly planned. I agree with the spirit of that, but it’s not precise enough – it’s crazy. The captain is always responsible for the running of his ship. We have other responsibilities, but captains must see to it their vessels don’t crash.’ It still amazes me that the great maritime nation that gave us the
Vendée Globe is also the country where race organisers now live in more fear than anywhere else about their legal exposure if something goes wrong. No one is to blame for this. There was a tragic loss of life at the last official Nioulargue, various people sued and several of those involved received fines and suspended prison sentences. It was painful for everyone. It was obviously most painful for relatives
and friends of the young doctor who drowned, but for the race officials and others in the loop, who lacked the virtually unlimited resources of the yacht owner at the centre of the episode, it was a scary time. It would be easy to blame the judiciary, it was a novel decision in
terms of precedent. But given they found against both boats it would be hard to believe in any conspiracy… having a pop at one of the richest men in the world, for example. What happened happened, if not in St Tropez this new legal precedent would probably have come somewhere else in the 30 years since. In France the consequences for all forms of racing have been
trimarans. They may have replaced the previous Orma 60s in the wider imagination, they have not replaced them in terms of sea - worthiness with a finishing rate on long courses that remains abysmal – the reason they take their own mothership is because the boats have become uninsurable). The bigger point is that at every level sailing, like all other activities
with measurable risk, is becoming increasingly regulated; and this trend is not going to change for the foreseeable future. France is the most obvious, some would say pernicious case, but only because of the contrast with its great oceanic racing history. From the smallest sailing clubs on local puddles to starting the
Sydney Hobart Race, the potential legal exposure and the ingress of external bureaucracy enforcing barely manageable shoreside and competitor controls is increasingly being felt. In particular the demands on small clubs grow by the day, especially in terms of safety assess- ments, safeguarding requirements and the operation of small safety boats. Remember when kids could be dropped off and left to enjoy and learn? Ha! Obviously I do not ‘advocate’ risk-taking. But the drive to one day
formalise every possible area of risk-management in a sport like sailing requires more pushback. Remember, too, that a steady sanitising of the sport can get in
the way of safety, especially where blue water racing is concerned. If you can’t make mistakes and learn lessons in wild conditions close to shore, how will you survive a winter storm in the north Atlantic? There is no obvious answer to the unintended consequences of
immense. If the immediate forecast suggests 25kt or more of wind then any form of sailing competition, from dinghies to keelboats, is likely to be postponed or cancelled. For major ocean races the situation is more flexible but the influence of the St Tropez ruling is still felt as, more understandably, is the history of other big races that have gone ahead on schedule and launched into boat-breaking weather. In the hiatus at the start of the TJV there were diverse discussions,
among competitors and organisers alike. That said, the forecast was horrendous and the organisers went to great lengths to back their decisions with detailed analysis of the likely routes and timings of each fleet against expected weather in each relevant area. In 1986 the Route du Rhum went ahead regardless of the actual
conditions on the day of the start and several boats never made it out of the bay. The storm that destroyed most of the Orma trimarans in the 2002 edition was less easily modelled and also arrived several days after the race start. But no one can criticise the fluid but crisp decision-making of the
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TJV organisers last month. The result of their actions was a cracking race where the finishing rate broke all previous records. The same incidentally was true of the 2023 Mini Transat, which saw a record finishing rate of 95 per cent. The weather was relatively benign but, like the Imocas and other bigger yachts in the TJV, the boats are simply getting better and the skippers much more prepared. (Into this discussion we must inject mention of the Ocean Fifty
don’t drive’ – Don Street
Mick Jagger is 80, US senator Mitch McConnell is 81. The benefits of a life of sex, drugs and rock ’n roll should clearly not be ignored!
this general direction of travel. But it deserves much more discussion than it is currently receiving. It is not going away.
You tell me On 1 November the Rolling Stones’ new album Hackney Diamonds was at no1 in the download and streaming charts and the Beatles’ ‘new’ single was top of the pops in the singles charts. And there are not enough fossils out there clicking ‘buy now’ to have done that on their own
SELF-KNOWLEDGE Art Mitchell, corporate
navigator – business card of the ‘third’ Harken brother
TAKING THE MICKEY In Ireland petrol has become so expensive the new motto is ‘Drink
FALSE GODS It has taken six years and £2.3m but our R101 airship is going to prove that we can now fly to India in complete
safety as well as luxury – Lord Thomson, Air Minister, 1930 (days later he will lose his life with 47 others when R101 explodes over France)
I think luck will figure rather conspicuously in
our flight… – Lt Commander Noel Atherstone, First Officer
Q: Compared with the R101 what has been the cost of developing
aircraft, ‘the Spitfire’ – Parliamentary question
this new fixed-wing
A: £20,765 – Philip Cunliffe-Lister, Air Minister, 1936
BRUTAL
Particularly under sail, it was incredibly difficult to get PlayStation (110ft) safely stopped near anything like a man
q
overboard dummy – Gino Morrelli Later we concluded the best answer was to have a handgun at the helm and shoot the
MOB as we went past – Another crewmember (anon!)
NO WINNERS We want to live, our neighbours want
for compromise – Meir
us dead – Golda Meir It leaves not much room
DUE RESPECT Are you able to fix her,
Corporal? – Group Captain RAF (retd) Peter Butcher’s Land Rover has stopped
I think the f***ing
f***er’s f***ed, sir – The expert assessment
SEAHORSE 9
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