Update


with Olympic chief Malcolm Page. The official stated plan is to ‘enhance our focus on athlete-centric investment’, which you might also read as, ‘we couldn’t afford them’. My view is that both these leaders were set up to fail. Brought


in to build a culture of excellence, neither the cash nor the tools were provided to do just that. Particularly as an ex-Olympian, I’m sad for our athletes, another generation of US sailors who’ve learnt that US Sailing’s promises always fall short. It will have a serious knock-on effect, even long after these sailors


retire from Olympic campaigning; it’s easy to imagine that in a more financially secure later life disappointed athletes will simply ignore future fundraising requests.


They did it down under A few months after the 2004 Olympics US athletes demanded a leadership change. As a team we’d had a disappointing Games – though in hindsight those two medals – including gold in the Men's 470 – look pretty good. Incoming leadership listened, and a pledge was made to (you guessed it) ‘focus on the athletes’. Unfortunately, we were still a mostly volunteer-led organisation competing in what had, seemingly overnight, become a fully professional sport. Changes were made, but they were far too little too late. At the same time Australia was going through its own upheaval,


sparked in part by 470 sailor Malcolm Page after his own Athens disappointment. As I wrote for this magazine in 2017: ‘That 2004 Olympics has been mostly forgotten, since he and skipper Nathan Wilmot went home empty-handed along with the rest of the Australian team. After winning the 470 Worlds that year, “we were obviously the favourites,” Page shakes his head. “And then in Athens we got a solid 12th. It’s the Games… deer in the headlights.” Malcolm sighs. “Like nothing else.”’ ‘But,’ I wrote in 2017, ‘Australia rebounded quickly to win 11


sailing medals over the next three Games thanks to a renewed focus initially spearheaded by the athletes. In 2012 Team Oz won the medal count in Weymouth – much to Team GBR’s chagrin – with three golds and a silver. So Malcolm has already seen what a return to performance excellence looks like. Now he’s excited to put that experience to work…’ Ah, those heady, hopeful days! US Olympic sailing has definitely evolved since 2004; there’s


paid leadership, a stronger team culture, selection procedures aligned with international results, and a much larger support staff. Structurally, though, the only significant change is US Sailing (a 9am-5pm organisation) have brought the Olympic programme more closely under their vast umbrella – despite the constant struggles to meet or even comprehend a 24/7 round-the-world racing schedule. To compete against today’s fully professional Olympic pro-


grammes athletes need strong, solid support that rewards excel- lence and then gets out of the way. As Page puts it, ‘It’s about removing obstacles, about providing resources and knowledge and guidance to the athlete. And doing it in that [national] structure is where you’ll get the efficiencies. Cost and performance.’ Since 2012 US Olympic sailing has consistently attracted great


leaders who’ve pledged to make this shift… only to leave again. The departures of Fisher and Page may be the last straw. To break away from the ever worse status quo would require a


coup led by someone with vision and access to the mind-boggling funds to make it happen. It’s a daunting challenge: fund a pro- gramme that can compete on the world stage with government- supported athletes while earning the trust of everyone from athletes to donors to the US Olympic Committee. Coups like this have hap- pened in other sports, but usually after more serious offences than just not keeping up with international standards of excellence. The underlying problems that led to such a dramatic month have


troubled US Olympic sailing for years, and they’re not going away any time soon. Perhaps calling them out into daylight (instead of writing another


rose-tinted article about the latest and greatest leader hired to ‘focus on the athletes’) will help spark the wholesale re-boot needed to reclaim Olympic medal-winning consistency… along with our own dignity as past or current US Olympic sailors.


20 SEAHORSE q


l Patience…Nicolas Groleau at JPS Production has taken orders for two new Class40s l But…before confirming designs both skippers are waiting to see how the ‘fat-nose-puppies’ go in the TJV l Plus…Marc Lombard has just sold a new updated Lift40 V2, with two more in the pipeline l Class40…it gets more insane every year l Another…sprint race? l VPLP…are suggesting a 70-day Vendée lap l Five…days faster than Sir Robin K-J, Peter Blake and friends on the 100ft Enza l Which…by the way was a cat l One person…crikes, Moriarty l 500kg…the weight VPLP reckon they could save on HB7 by not sailing around with a cockpit half full of water l 500kg…the weight of a typical Imoca foil set with hingey bits l 500,000 euros…to buy them (but including hingey bits!) l Expensive…hingey bits are pricey, you see l Seriously…77-year-old Jeanne Socrates soloes round the world non-stop and is not even on the shortlist for World Sailor of the Year l On that…note… l Gone…Andy Hunt, controversial CEO of World Sailing l Saving…so much dosh it’s Cristal all round in Paddington l (Bernie…Ecclestone is available) l Cash…flow? l A certain…sailing organisation is now borrowing heavily to get through until their next IOC payday in 18 months or so... l That’s…what they call a plan? l Also…in a spot of bother l Nasty…sh*tfight between the current management at McConaghy Boats and their predecessors l Very…nasty indeed l Reputations…hard won easily lost l By all that’s holy…85 boats raced this year’s J/24 Worlds l Guess…it was Miami l And…a boat that costs less than a big lunch l Those 85…they are actually the smart ones, eh? l How we…snickered when we saw that designer Julian Everitt had described Sir Ben’s Britannia as resembling a giant ski box l Julian…is behind the design of some of those sleek Thule ski boxes, one of which you may be clamping on this winter l Three million sold…of the latest one l Sometimes…we just feel old… l So respect…to the oldest Greenland shark yet recorded l Born between…1501 and 1744 l As we say…respect l ‘The things…I’ve seen, the things that I’ve seen’ l We support…Paul Meilhat, a fine sailor and Imoca winner of the last Rhum – and onboard an ‘old’ boat l Failing…to get a boat for the Vendée, he is now head down looking for 20million euros for an Ocean Race campaign with a brand new Verdier Imoca 60 l Good luck… matey boy (garçon – ed) l No Dongfeng…but chances are good for a new Chinese entry in the Ocean Race l No medals…and last in the 2019 SailGP series, c’mon USA, we want you back l Dammit… we need you back l So stop…firing the guys who can make it happen l Dumb… just dumb dumb dumb l Oh yeah…Malcolm Page dominated this year’s E Scow Blue Chip invitational in Pewaukee l On his…class debut l Never mind…sack him anyway l And…they did l Back to business…you know the drill l RaceboatsOnly…and eurosailnews.com please l Finally…and very, very sadly, we’ve lost Mimi Carpentier, a wonderfully skilled and very fast sailor, inshore and offshore, one of the kindest, most generous ladies you could ever meet and devoted wife and regular co-skipper to Patrice


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