Above: the 1966 One Tonner Roundabout was the first S&S design to use a separate rudder… perhaps more notable was her crew’s use of trapezes racing offshore. Once again those rude rulemakers stepped in to stop some harmless progress (not). Left: still winning… Udo Schütz’s original Judel-Vrolijk designed Container, built at Schütz’s own yard, still races successfully in Finland with exactly the same equipment and deck layout as when she was winning big IOR regattas in the 1980s. The original very light Stearn rig is still standing and pretty much the only piece of hardware to be replaced was the original B&G Hercules system which lasted nearly 35 years before being replaced with a B&G Vulcan. We’re not sure Jens Christensen and her Admiral’s Cup crew would have been seen racing with a boomed-out headsail
individual interests and achieving a balanced judgement acceptable to a majority of the members… So interesting meetings and I guess some debates will take quite long. Where in sport, certainly in tech- nical matters, it could be better and obviously more efficient to keep some distance from the competitors.
Then again, in the case of Imoca, I guess a lot of debate and rules focus on competitor safety and there it will be good to have broad input and discussion. As a result there are nearly as many committee members (over 30) as boats racing (near 40) just to run the class; the events are all run by independent organisers. This in contrast with, for instance, the International Maxi Asso- ciation (IMA) with over 50 members and close to 50 boats racing, steered by a board of eight members (officers) assembling three or four times a year and, as (part-time) spider in the web, its Secretary General assisted by four part-time specialists for communication and PR, technical matters, race office and finance. The Secretary General cannot be a member of the association, which I feel was good thinking and a clear message of the IMA founding fathers. The IMA bylaws stipulate the officers shall not take upon them ‘any duty, office or position within the competence of the secretary general’. Clearly with the intention to keep it fair and relaxed between the members, as you may expect from their founding vision based on Corinthian sailing and nice social activities. Of course this is comparing apples with pears, as it would be to compare my work for the TP52 and Maxi72 classes. Basically there I am the only contractor, steered by the two respective class presidents who quite amazingly now are working together in close co-operation as the driving forces behind American Magic. It is very efficient to cover all bases, whether writing rules, uphold- ing them or steering class measurers, do the books, website, Face- book, class communication, marketing and also work closely with event organisers in writing NoRs, SIs, choice of on-the-water staff, etc, etc. But also quite lonely – there is nowhere to hide. And it has its limits – one person can only do so much. Only if technical matters get too tense an ad hoc technical committee is sometimes formed. This works fine for me but might require other solutions in the future.
From my part-time job as barkeeper in a student bar in Leiden till now, 45 years later, I have nearly always been singlehandedly in charge of the till. In the end probably that job, requiring fast judgement and flexibility, in combination with speaking several languages, sort of paved the path that I hope still has a few twists and turns before I retire.
Rob Weiland, class manager TP52 and Maxi72 classes SEAHORSE 31
BEKEN
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