Them’s the rules

by John Curnow, Editor, Sail-World AUS on 18 Sep 2017 Whether it is ‘improved fairing’, or hidden water tanks, it does not take much to get a wind blowing when it comes to sailing in a One Design class. Neither should it, mind you. The joy of the OD scene is the cut and thrust, and the better the class, the more that cut and thrust attracts top talent, and importantly, the more fun is being had by those who do not often, or ever make the top ten, let alone the podium!

I have been fortunate enough to be around the premier OD class in Australia, the Etchells, for many years now. Seeing the ‘love in’ occur at Porto Cervo for the J-70 Worlds reminded me to thank a group who do not often get highlighted specifically, but their work, especially before a grand event, can mean long arduous days under significant pressure. They are the measurers, and then there are technical committees and other volunteers before that setting up the class rules, and the tolerances they are to allow for.

Clearly some do not like the state of the J-70 pitch and wanted to take their bats and balls home, but if you’re looking for your edge in areas other than crew work and tactics, then you need to go to an arms race class. Once there you can await the arrival of the very conditions you specified, at the exact time you need them, and for the period you require them, so that your purpose built wünderkind can shotgun to the lead and show all and sundry what it is good for.

172 vessels and crew from 25 nations said aye for the bash at Porto Cervo, and the waters off Sardinia are both glorious and oft blessed with a good breeze. Seriously, what more could you reasonably ask for? So when seven teams get pinged, and then squeal neither all the way home, or off to market, but rather to any media outlet listening, you have to wonder if it is doing the sport any favours at all. I mean who is going to look on at the brouhaha and go, ‘Yeah! I want me a part of that.’

Everyone vents, but it has been a long time since Jutland, and Capital Ships are now dinosaurs. There won’t be another IJN Yamato, and the big guns now are delivered from UAVs piloted by Millennials back in shed somewhere, who then go out for avo smash, sautéed mushrooms, sourdough, and a latte straight after the mission. If you don’t like it, you can either go, or seek to have things rectified, but crocodile tears won’t abate a thirst.

There’s nothing quite like a bit of trans-Tasman commentary, and it seems last week’s piece, The Question, was enough to get some Kiwi editorial fired up. AC36 will take place in foiling monohulls with sailors as crew, and they’ll even have to come from the country of origin! Who would have though of such a novel idea? (According to most polls that vast majority of you supported this theorem.) So it is great news, and here’s hoping Oz can get something together to support the rich vein of talent that can hum a Peter Allen tune, or an old bush poem better than the national anthem. At any rate, those two sell Oz better than the real one anyway!

Alas, never fear, for it seems all the foiling tech is being readied for delivery downstream to sailing and power classes, so it was not a period lost, or consigned to the history books.

So seeing as we have already done the hop, and the skip, we now may as well complete the triple with the jump. It happened when the IOC announcement came out about the 2024 and 2028 Olympic Games going to Paris and the LA, respectively. Trying to make something out of nothing, they tried to claim it was wins all ‘round, claiming awarding double games simultaneously was “Ensuring the stability of the Olympic Games for the athletes of the world for the next 11 years is something extraordinary,' commented IOC President, Thomas Bach.

Bach added, “Los Angeles and Paris have put together very inspiring projects. Both have embraced Olympic Agenda 2020, particularly in the way they are planning to use a record-breaking number of existing and temporary facilities.” I mean OK and all that, but what is that apart from spin? I can see the late John Clarke simply saying, “Oh just tell them it is what they wanted all along anyway.”

What does it all mean for sailing, then? Well, expect the Sailing World Cup to move West from Hyeres, and to Marseille in next few years, and by 2024 SWC Miami could well be SWC Long Beach.

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