Event Briefing
Two (invaluable) days in Spain
The latest Yacht Race Forum in Bilbao was another chance to catch up with as well as influence every possible aspect of international competitive sailing
Around 365 delegates from all over the world joined the Yacht Racing Forum in Bilbao, Spain, for two days of conferences, presentations, networking and business. The leading classes and regattas, teams, brands and venues contributed to the event, designated by many attendees as “the best YRF ever”.
“The pace of change in the sport of sailing is moving quicker than ever’. This is one of the key messages that came out of this year’s Yacht Racing Forum in Bilbao. One of the sport’s brightest minds, Stan Honey, opened the two-day conference with an inspiring keynote speech that made a few predictions for the next decade. A winning navigator of the Volvo Ocean Race among many other sailing accolades, the multi-Emmy Award winner has been even more successful in developing technology for sports broadcasting including the Liveline technology that has revolutionised coverage of the America’s Cup.
The advent of foiling will open up the opportunity to take all the big offshore records, Honey predicted. Smartphones are now becoming so powerful that the kind of Liveline technology that was only affordable by the America’s Cup could trickle down to grassroots sailing. ‘We developed an electronic umpiring
80 SEAHORSE
system for AC34, but the technology is becoming so affordable that my next prediction is that electronic umpiring will have a big impact across the sport.’
Honey’s other prediction, that the already meteoric growth in double- handed offshore racing will continue to rise, was echoed by other speakers at the Forum including Rodion Luka, founder of the L30 keelboat, which is opening up opportunities for aspirants to the new Olympic event for the Marseille Olympics in 2024, mixed two-handed offshore racing. In similar fashion, Dawn Riley explained how Oakcliff Sailing has repurposed a fleet of Melges 24s for affordable two-up offshore competition.
“Professional sailors need to be great storytellers as well as good athletes”, was another of the key messages to come out of day one. If anyone can tell a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat it’s Don McIntyre, who laid out his vision for the Ocean Globe Race, designed to mirror and honour the tradition of the glory days of the Whitbread Round the World Race. Meanwhile Johan Salen is re-envisioning the round-the- world concept with The Ocean Race and he described the exciting future that encapsulates the VO65s and the outlandish foiling Imoca 60s. The
Above: many attendees said this
year’s Yacht Racing Forum in the Basque Spanish city of Bilbao was the best YRF ever. The rapid pace of change, the trickle-down of electronic umpiring systems, the potential for even more growth in two-handed offshore
racing, female participation and the business potential of sustainability were among the stand-out themes of this year’s Forum
builder of the recently launched Hugo Boss Imoca 60, Jason Carrington, reminded delegates that there is nothing cheap about high performance, describing the giant foil that protrudes out of each side of Alex Thomson’s 60 footer as like ‘having a Ferrari strapped to each side of the boat’.
The Yacht Racing Forum has always been a pioneer and advocate of social and environmental change in the sport. Vicky Low presented her research into women’s role in sailing, and her findings reveal that however far gender equality and parity has come in the past few years, it still has a long way to go. Jeremy Pochman of 11th Hour Racing and his panel addressed the business potential of sustainability. Far from being scared of the whole notion of sustainability, Pochman argued that the business opportunities in embracing sustainability are immense. The Forum concluded with the Top of the Sport, culminating in a star-studded panel to discuss the current America’s Cup cycle. Juan Kouyoumdjian voiced his doubts about the direction taken by the Cup. ‘If you look at the AC75 from a concept point of view, utterly brilliant, but when you look at what we needed to do as a successful Cup, I’m not so sure. If you zoom into
RICK TOMLINSON
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