At the second round of this year’s TP52 Super Series in Menorca our fearless leader finally got himself a vessel that is befitting his formidable achievements in keeping the best but also the most expensive grand prix class (barring the former Maxi72s, another Weiland production) going through thick and thin – including surviving the financial crisis in good enough shape to stage a full recovery. ‘Steady as she goes’ is the mantra heading into winter with only minor rule changes to keep the existing boats at the top of their game; it still is possible to move the rule towards an even lighter, stiffer, more powerful and faster boat but the TP52 class members hold the key to when this will happen. And right now they seem happy with what they have. TP52s remain the ultimate grand prix yacht, somehow succeeding where less costly imitators like the GP42s and Fast40s simply faded away
the average age is creeping up and with that how sailing is organised and dealing with change. For continuity of a sport it does not help of course if it is labelled as something for over 45-year-old white men. To add two other ‘obstacles’.
Most of the senior racing yacht owners have been sailing and racing boats most of their life, are very experienced and, not surprisingly, like to be surrounded by sailors they share memories with having raced together or against each other for decades. To the extent of accepting each other’s age-related shortcomings. Then again, most are still hard to beat in any boat of the Archimedean type if not too physical, and where agility and power are required younger talent will be attracted or push-button tech- nology brought in. I guess this stretches as far as my own functioning as 70-year-old class manager, better the experienced devil you know. For those dreaming of crewing on what to most are superyachts, no matter what their size, it can be tempting to blame the perceived impossibility to enter this scene of such an ‘old boys’ network. For sure from the days that professional sailing was resurrected in the 1970s, because of where this started, in the US and the UK, pro sailing evolved into a white male Anglo Saxon network. Not surprisingly island nations such as the UK, New Zealand and Australia are still percentage-wise the main suppliers of pro crew. Parallel to this the French created their own network – got to speak French at a good level to have any chance of entering that one. And
of course with so much sailing tradition, culture and racing there is a Mediterranean network too, perhaps the most interesting and at first sight the most pluralistic and open network in which more than one language is used to communicate – though often English is accepted as a way towards better communication and so better performance on the water.
Quite often we see a ‘mixed’ pro crew made up from the best from the Anglo Saxon and Mediterranean yacht racing cultures. In all of these networks results, so sailing ability, weigh in heavily, but social and organisational skills are certainly important too, as in any team sport.
I have no hard numbers, but it is a surprise at first sight that the Mediterranean network has so far not encouraged youth or women to participate at pro sailing level more than the Anglo Saxon one. Possibly the French do slightly better at this?
Maybe because I spend so much time in the Mediterranean and I just like it there, but I feel the Mediterranean model, many different cultures based around and so meeting on and via the same sea, still has the best potential to come to greater inclusiveness and from there a better balance of gender and age? Powered by sun, olive oil, wine and bread of course! The Med, where cultures meet! The initiative to include the young surely shall become the norm within these networks – no fun to see your skills disappear with you. Regularly I get CVs of sailors seeking the opportunity to crew on a TP52 or a Maxi72, or work for Super Series. Some from very young and frankly not experienced enough sailors, but also some who are so well qualified that you wonder why they write to me. Sometimes you have just got to be in the right place at the right time, or know somebody who knows somebody. Above all, I am convinced opportunity will knock if you have the right mix of skills and attitude. That is, if you do not give up.
Climb the ladder from the bottom, only Olympic medallists will get the opportunity to start higher up. Develop a second skill, sail- maker, boatbuilder, rigger, electronics, and so on. Help a sailor to carry a sail onboard instead of watching him struggle, join a delivery. Have a chat, be there, be yourself. You are young, we envy you… Rob Weiland, TP52 and Maxi72 class manager
SEAHORSE 41
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116
