Editorial Andrew Hurst Reset


‘The Ocean Globe unashamedly places its her- itage in the Whitbread.’ So opens Don McIntyre’s pitch for his new crewed round-the-world race. In spite of the scepticism that greeted McIn-


tyre’s solo Golden Globe ‘re-enaction’ six years ago the first event garnered huge coverage, though many of the competitors proved woefully


short of appropriate experience. But they all survived and Les Sables d’Olonne was quick to renew its host port status for the second race next year. That first race was won by legendary soloist Jean Luc Van Den Heede and, while he has not re-entered, the status he helped give McIntyre’s event was reaffirmed with the entry for next year’s edition of multiple Vendée Globe competitor PRB. McIntyre knows his audience. We have banged on for years in


favour of a ‘new Whitbread’ for non-specialised, run-what-you-brung boats racing on IRC. The idea was recently endorsed by 2006 Volvo winner Mike Sanderson, who expressed his complete lack of sur- prise at the rush to enter McIntyre’s event. Sure enough, the Ocean Globe has 26 paid-up entries with a maximum limit of 34. Present entrants include more than a dozen Nautor’s Swans, several Baltics, two Whitbread 60s and two Maxis, with two more keeping their powder dry. There are also several iconic racers from previous Whit- breads including Maiden and 1985/86 winner L’Esprit d’Equipe. The popularity of this new race is indicative of a return to both


offshore racing and Corinthian values. And while this magazine revels in the grand prix classes, we are thrilled that at the widest possible level offshore sailing has never been as strong as it is now.


Melges. The next generation had the Dorestes, Schümann and then Ben Ainslie. How many of today’s youngsters went sailing to follow their Olympic idol? How often do you hear a youngster spoken about hopefully as ‘the next Ben Ainslie’? How many kids in emerg- ing sailing nations have similarly been inspired, then had their lives transformed by amazing volunteers who get them out on the water? Sailing remains one of the biggest participation sports in the


world but Olympic sailing is on life support. Take off the gloves. It’s time to stop being so chummy in the


halls of power with our boardsailing/flying friends. Fight hard, not for your class but for a return to sailing autonomy with the boards reclassified as an Olympic ‘sport’ along with rowing, kayaks and the rest. Then sailing has a chance of being there in 2036.


Let’s see Cork, Cowes, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Abu Dhabi? Auckland? Why do I think that canny Dalts already had the winning bid in his pocket, long before putting on enough of a show of negotiating to keep New Zealanders feeling they’d been treated reasonably?


Choose your battle The die is cast. There may be no going back. Not for that hugely desirable offshore medal, not completely out of the frame for a future slot but for Olympic sailing itself. Dress it up how you like: only six Olympic sailing disciplines will be competing at Paris 2024. Drill down further and there will only be four designs of boat. The killer mistake was in 1980 when the Windglider board was,


rightly, voted in for Long Beach in 1984 – but as a sailing class rather than a new standalone discipline. Since then, as boardsailing went through cycles of growth and decline, returning in different guises, Olympic sailing has been under increasing threat. At Paris 2024 there will be four board classes and six ‘hulls’… QED. Ironically both World Sailing and the IOC are still behind the curve,


fighting the last war. Why add kite medals when wing-foiling will eclipse kites within a year or two at the most? When snowboarding hit the Olympic trail it was as a new winter sport, not at the expense of skiing (though skiing too has had to fight for its medals). We really dropped the ball in 1980 when medals were under far


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less pressure and adding a new standalone medal was much easier. Had it gone that way then sailing may have lost a medal or two with pressure on athlete numbers but not be under threat as a sport. I took up sailing inspired, like countless peers, by the Olympic exploits of greats like Rodney Pattisson, Valentin Mankin and Buddy


Did anyone tell the builder that the organisers of Paris 2024 had cancelled that big order for new Olympic offshore one-designs?


It’s better to be fast During the 1981/82 Whitbread Round the World Race (with 29 starters and won by Flyer II – page 46) the heavy Italian IOR yacht Vivanapoliwas boarded by an Angolan gunboat off Africa; the crew were arrested and taken ashore to Luanda. It took the Italian ambas- sador seven days to secure the release of his countrymen who reached Cape Town eight days after the start of Leg 2.


YOU’RE FIRED We are not going to hide the fact that it [Arkea’s 2020 Vendée Globe project] was a


ONE OF A KIND


what it takes – Ken Read


complicated experience – Cédric Malenfreau (Arkea Paprec) sacks Sébastien Simon and Vincent Riou


This man is absolutely incredible!!!


– Patrice Carpentier finally meets Jacky Setton


F1 car in his office! – Carpentier (getting his breath back)


I mean, he has a modern


SLAP SLAP They [Team NZ] rejected our funding package of NZ$99million


– Prime Minister Ardern This is sad news for America’s Cup fans, but good news for taxpayers


The large amount of high-level funding we had earmarked for the offshore medal has been frozen


– Corinne Migraine, FFV vice-president


We will not be bothering with the ‘European


Championships’ – Migraine


q


Very ‘frustrating…’ – Shirley Robertson We’re done


– Marie Riou and Benjamin Schwartz (current European Offshore champions)


the Europeans – Ian Walker, RYA


We will no longer fund the team or a coach for


– Louis Houlbrooke, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union


It was NZ$39 million anyway


– Grant Dalton, Team NZ


Singapore decides that sailing should not go offshore in the Olympics, that is


THAT DECISION If one person in


BRAVO The IOC’s decision is more a loss for the Olympics than for


Offshore Doubles – Larry Rosenfeld, Offshore Doubles founder


BREAKFAST BONUS Covid hair and new shades, Andrew… that


made me smile! – Jeff Burch


Hair like mine,


actually!! – Burch


Seahorse magazine and our associate raceboatsonly brokerage site are both at: seahorsemagazine.com The editor is contactable by email at: andrew@seahorse.co.uk


SEAHORSE 11


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