Paul Cayar
Rob Weiland
One hundred years later
So when we talk about sailing and how it can be improved what do we refer to? The sailing we remember, the sailing we do
right now, the sailing we would like to do or that we feel others should do: cruising, racing, amateur or pro, the Olympics, the Ocean Race, the AC or club racing, midweek evening racing,
sailing traditional craft, dinghies, kiteboards, surfing, mono or multi, displacement, semi or fully flying, one-design, box rule, handicap, maxi, superyacht, singlehanded, double, full, mixed, youth, inshore, offshore, oceanic…? Believe it or not, sailing as simple pastime is history, sailing shall
serve a higher purpose now. This is not unique for sport – business in Silicon Valley is another example, if it is not actually leading the transition (as in many things). A simple mission statement is old school, just focusing on what
is possible, fun or profitable is out. Even setting an audacious goal is no longer enough, now the purpose shall be to create a trans- formative impact: ‘Find something you would die for and live for it’. Mission statements are relabelled Massive Transformative
Purposes (MTPs). To help the reader get the idea here are a few examples. Google: ‘Organising the world’s information’, Tesla: ‘Accelerate the transition to sustainable transportation’ and again by the MTP’s high priest Elon Musk for his SpaceX: ‘Humans must become a multi-planetary species’. This is of a different order of ambition than ‘sailing must become flying’! There are of course also quite a few sad examples. It is not easy
to live at Musk’s level, look at Uber with ‘The best way to get wher- ever you’re going’. A worthy if rather forgettable effort. Sad I guess also is that often the purpose overrules reason and commonsense, the individual is no longer important, whether as employee, consumer or just passing by. This is reflected by the heated debates of our time: if you are not with the purpose you are against it, black or white, live or die… to friend or unfriend. World Sailing on its website claims a vision, albeit one with
32 SEAHORSE
purpose since sustainability was introduced... or rather stuck onto the back of it. I read: ‘World Sailing’s vision is a world in which millions more people fall in love with sailing; inspired by the unique relationship between sport, technology and the forces of nature; we all work to protect the waters of the world.’ The sustainability bit sounds like an afterthought. Then the text
continues with World Sailing’s mission: ‘To make sailing more exciting and accessible for everyone to participate or watch; and use our reach and influence to create a sustainable future for our sport and the waters of the world: l To create, and regulate, exciting competition events to showcase the natural power of wind-driven watersport. l To build a strong profile and image for sailing – using our key points of difference to resonate with people and give them a lifetime of sport. l To create a tangible sustainability programme that maximises the positive effect that the sailing community can have on our environment. All of this can be encapsulated in a simple message: sport,
technology and nature in perfect harmony.’ Way too many words of course to move millions. Either way, just
being at sea with a few friends enjoying a bit of sailboat competition no longer seems to fit the bill. The desire to get sailing organised internationally started around
the turn of the 20th century with the perception that it could be progress to have an international rating rule. A purpose I for sure support, but one not as simple as it seems as we have not come much closer to that goal since the first rumblings of the putative International Yacht Racing Union (IYRU) in 1904. That year Major Brooke Heckstall-Smith, at the time secretary
of the Yacht Racing Association (now the Royal Yachting Association) wrote to the Yacht Club de France pointing out the desirability of a conference for the purpose of devising an International Rule of Measurement for racing yachts acceptable to all European countries. The International Conference of Yacht Measurement was held
VINCENT CURUTCHET/DPPI
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