Swiss skipper Bernard Stamm deals with winds gusting 70kt on day two of the 2006 Velux 5 Oceans solo round-the-world race – which Stamm went on to win for a second time. Without consulting its own offshore racing committee World Sailing has issued guidance reassigning responsibility for the suitability of a race yacht and crew from the skipper to the race organiser – guidance that flies in the face of every precedent and tradition of the sport, not to mention RRS No4. Inevitably that guidance comes with a disclaimer, releasing WS from any responsibility for the consequences of its ill thought out actions. The ‘kindest thing’ to be said is that our governing body needs a complete overhaul before more cockamamie outpourings embarrass us all further. At this particular moment Bernard Stamm may well have fancied passing responsibility for his life to the race organiser, and no doubt their insurers would have rushed to oblige them
This could be softened by having a system, as in many sports, of the top boat (or top two or three) being promoted to the next level of competition on a yearly basis. And consequently the red lantern boat(s) demoted to a fleet in which they should do better. This will seriously reduce the chances of the same boat winning year in, year out and as such a good alternative to the every dog principle. The separation into performance levels does not mean the traditional rating brackets will be lost but it might need reassessment of how to combine the two. Smaller events with not enough entries to have the full range of classes shall have to combine starts, as IMA does with the maxis. In general this is supported by competitors, certainly if the effort is made to discuss the options with them. A weak point I see is that going down this road in a way underlines that it is impossible to rate and race different boat types fairly, even if divided in rating brackets. It will require the rating rule administrators to step over their shadow somewhat. Which should be easy if it grows interest for their certificates. And the pros? These will be less spread out over the fleet, I feel, and will mainly end up in the racer starts. Which should help to ease frustration on this topic. Maybe. Talking about frustration, I was disheartened to read the World Sailing publication labelled ‘Coronavirus (COVID-19) Addendum to Guidance for Event Organisers of Offshore Yacht Races’. Typically the document starts with a lengthy disclaimer, accepting zero respon- sibility and then continues with a text that leaves in practice zero margin to organise fully crewed yacht racing while also putting some strange if not discriminative limitations in place. What to think of banning sailors over 65 years or of any age with medical conditions such as diabetes? Or of charging race organisers with the task of judging if boats are safe handled by reduced crew? A judgement one should park with the owner and his advisers. Worrying is that as far as I am informed the guidance is issued unilaterally by an unnamed WS medical commission without trace- able consultation with the Oceanic & Offshore Committee. Nor with any major organisations that actually run racing for offshore boats. So we may find ourselves sitting at home watching 22 guys playing soccer and a variety of other ‘contact’ sports whose authorities, clubs, organisers and sports people found ways to deal with the situation without killing their game? The document, no matter that it is labelled as ‘guidance’, will be seen and used by authorities, sailing or non-sailing, as protocol for their decisions… Because it is issued by the federation supposedly in charge of our sport. The text shows little consideration for World Sailing’s own Racing Rules of Sailing Rule 4, Decision to Race (The responsibility for a boat’s decision to participate in a race or to continue racing is hers alone). Bringing the responsibility regarding Covid-19 protection under the wings of event organisers is another worry as this, I feel, abuses the very essence of offshore sailing and yacht ownership. Over the years, mainly following trends in law and arguably not all of it bad, more and more responsibility for the safety of the com- petitors has been allocated with event organisers but here we are faced with a document that will for sure cause misunderstanding if not friction between organisers and their clients. It is good to know the matter has already been taken up by entities such as IMA, RORC and JOG and that their reaction is endorsed by many other organisations including World Sailing Member National Authorities (MNAs). I trust the guidance will soon undergo major revision. I like to end on a positive note… Rob Weiland, TP52 and Maxi72 class manager
SEAHORSE 35
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