Assume nothing

I am sitting here trying very hard to conjure up some words for this months column with the weight of a very big black could overhead.

Now to us sailors that usually means more breeze, which is a good thing. But the economic cloud that is rapidly taking on global proportions may well blow a wind of change through our sport.

Now I know economic prospects look very different when viewed from a Middle East perspective, compared to the USA and Europe, but it is sobering to think that without the emerging economies of China, India, Russia and indeed the Middle East, many major corporations would already be in serious financial meltdown. So will this effect the boating world?

Certainly boat sales are down and in the UK brokers are slashing the prices of second-hand boats, but the high end one of market is still as buoyant as ever. Indeed to come back to the primary subject matter for this column - yacht racing - things are remarkably strong.

But will economic turmoil create a sea-change in the sport? The early 1990's financial slowdown certainly aided the demise of the hitherto bullet- proof International Offshore Rule.

Spending crazy money on extracting every ounce of speed for rating had certainly had its day by 1995. Low cost speed became the new holy grail.

While so called ‘no-rule' boats had existed for years, under various rules that did not encourage development, Channel Handicap began to bow to the pressure of one-off development by steadily relaxing its tough stance on boats primarily designed and built for racing.

When CHS changed its name to IRC (International Rule Club) the flood gates opened. Now IRC is dominated by expensive specials, optimised, (illegally) to the rule.

Owners of inexpensive family style cruiser racers, the type of boat CHS was conceived for, are feeling ever more ousted by the pot hunting exploiters of the rebranded rule.

This is familiar territory for those who watched IOR being dominated by ever more refined race boats, only for the whole thing to implode when a combination of general economic woes coincided with absurd levels of cost and specilaisation.

Just as back in the 90's, the boat owners will start to ask; "Do we really want to be ‘boxed-in' to these rules that type form only one style of boat?"

A good indication that Larry Ellison of BMW Oracle Racing intends to use a box rule style 90 footer for the 34th America's Cup, if and when he wins the Deed of Gift 33rd series, is given by the one time appearance of the TP 52, US 17.

Designed by Reichel Pugh, who just happens to head up Oracle's monohull design programme, US 17 won her debut regatta in the Med Cup series in Marseille and was promptly put on the market.

Talk about getting on-water experience at any expense! But it shows they intend to show the world that they have the right ideas when it comes to developing this type of ‘simple-rule' boat.

The experience seems more relevant now that this offshore class (TP after all stands for Trans Pacific), has become yet another ‘inshore' class that won't go out to play if wind exceeds 25 knots. Maybe its just as well they don't go out of sight of land often.

At the last series of the Med Cup, the TP 52 Cam suffered a structural failure in the bow and sank within two minutes, in a moderate breeze that was blowing well under the class limit!

I'm afraid that rules, like IRC that encourages as much ballast as possible to be put in the keel and or bulb at the expense of structure, could lead to more catastrophic structural failures.

It is sobering to note that the keel failure of the yacht that sank in the Gulf of Mexico (see last months column) has led to the widow of the drowned yachtsman, Roger Stone, to file a lawsuit against the builders, designers and repairers of the yacht.

The sport of yacht racing has largely managed to avoid litigation as courts have tended to rule sinkings as ‘Acts of God' within a dangerous sport. But if it is found that designers, builders and owners are being encouraged to develop intrinsically unsafe offshore boats by the rules they race under, expensive legal flood gates could open.

Finally, records just keep tumbling. The latest is the single-handed trans-atlantic; now five days 19 hours and 29 minutes courtesy of Frenchman Thomas Coville.

Thomas crossed in his 105ft, Nigel Irons and Benoit Cabaret designed trimaran; eight hours and 32 minutes faster than the previous record held by another Frenchman, Francois Joyon in the trimaran Idec.

The outright transatlantic record from Ambrose Light to the Lizard, is a staggering 4 days 3 hours 57 minutes and 54 seconds. And yes, it is held by another Frenchman; Franck Cammas sailing trimaran Groupama 3, albeit fully crewed!

What does this latest record tell us about the state of our sport? Sailors are skilful, brave and have the fortitude to push the limit (but not beyond) for several days on end. And, for speed on water without limits then multihull still rule!

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