Update
They’re all going to die, except of course they’re not. Adventurer and singlehanded round-the-world racer Don MacIntyre’s latest cunning plan is for a round-the-world race in home-built Mini 5.80m yachts (sic). At that point it did indeed seem clear that we would have been right the first time. Then, however, details of the course leaked out and while the Cape of Good Hope very much has to be left to port Cape Horn does not. In fact, with stopovers with names like Tonga and Papeete, things soon start looking up. The rules for MacIntyre’s latest adventure will be released by Easter but the 2024 round-the-world race is the culmination of a true ocean racing series including a Transat in November 2021 and an Azores and back race in summer 2022. The all-plywood boats have been designed by Polish sailor and designer Janusz Maderski for either home completion or construction at a local shipyard which will not require skills beyond those needed in the normal course of business. Boat 1 is already in build. The motivation is to create a pocket ocean racing class that returns to Bob Salmon’s original ethos when he created the Mini Transat in the 1970s. Today, however, a foiling Mini Proto can cost up to €300,000 so MacIntyre not unreasonably sees a gap in the market. The boats are tiny but sturdy, chunky even, with plenty of freeboard and a modest rig. The project is well advanced, as we’d expect of any MacIntyre project. Rules are written, a provisional schedule of races defined, entry and costs set out. A full set of building plans is already available for €300 including class registration
These were not the organiser’s RIBs, they were separate. These
were the coach/parent/support RIBs. Now add up the fuel used to get the RIBs there, the fuel they
use on the water – plus you have to get the coach there, and so on. Sailing is meant to be and is thought of as a good environmental sport. The reality is right now a lot of sailing is not that much different from motorsport. We’re kidding ourselves. To be honest I was one off these offenders, bringing my RIB to
support my children’s sailing and for their coach to use. Not proud of that but it got me thinking. We need big steps to make any difference, to stop playing round the edges with comparatively trivial things that make us feel better about ourselves. Surely we should just have a minimum number of ‘food RIBs’
on the water supplied by the regatta organiser, where sailors can put their bags of food when they come out. Or go further and say no food except what you carry with you. Same for all. Other than those and safety RIBs that should be it. Or the food
RIBs could double as safety RIBs during the racing. All other RIBs should be banned. Now that will make a difference. Then there are the sporting considerations. No performance-
support RIBs means a more level playing field. Emerging nations and sailors with less support – less money – all have the same back-up on the water. So no disadvantages to anyone, perceived or real. I have always found the best dinghy sailors are the ones who
learn from their own post-race analysis. Any top sailor (not me) I speak to can tell you everything about the racing that day, what worked tactically, and with the weather, and what didn’t and why that happened. They can often tell you a bit about your race too,
16 SEAHORSE
as by now they’ve worked out why certain tactics worked or didn’t (that’s me). If we didn’t have coach boats on the water the sailors would be
forced to learn more again through robust self-analysis rather than relying on support to do the post-match thinking for them. It would be more satisfying for the sailors knowing they did it themselves and they would become better for that. Most of us came into the sport appreciating the freedom and
independence of being on the water. Somehow the value of that independence is lost when it comes to our own kids. We’re all guilty; when did you last see an Optimist sailor at a
major regatta doing all the packing up, washing down and unloading themselves? We still need coaches to teach us how to go fast and help give
us the tools so we make good choices. And they can teach us how to post-race analyse and learn better from our mistakes. But they can do all that at home. It would be great if World Sailing and all the sailing MNAs banned
all RIB coaching and private support. It would be even better if this came down from the elite sailors themselves. It’s getting old, banging on about reusable water bottles while
pumping tons of noxious fumes out of 300 RIBs. Every little does help, but it’s time we moved on from the low-hanging fruit. To be honest, that we moved on from dealing with the things that don’t make any real difference to our own sailing. Can the RIBs, can the gas, can the smelly fumes. Can the bl**dy
noise too. Maybe something to talk about the next time you’re towing your RIB to a distant regatta…
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