Ocean Racing Magazine - #2 - April & May 2007 - (Page 84)

CHRONIQUE Wonderful to see … and popular at the same time? Chrétien de Troyes wrote his version of the story of the Holy Grail in 1180. One of the Knights of the Round Table, Perceval, sees the Grail without daring to ask what exactly it was. The Grail “was made of a very pure gold; “it had all sorts of precious stones, including the most valuable and expensive you can find on land or in the sea." The Grail – seen as an ideal or an object – continued to appear, as something you could never quite reach (it was even beyond the grasp of Indiana Jones, so that shows you…). On a more concrete level, the Grail in yachting circles was for a long time the America’s Cup, beyond reach until 1983; on a metaphysical level, for a century it meant looking for fair and just races using a perfect handicap system. Today, the handicap causes annoyance rather than passion; the America’s Cup regularly changes hands and recently selling pieces of it on e-Bay was being talked about: the legend is in tatters. The old Grails have been replaced by a new one. Over the past twenty years, many modern knights of the sea have sailed after it; some even thought they had managed to reach it, but the object of their desires got away at the lost moment. Everything or almost everything was attempted, but without success (or very little), but the quest still attracts people more than ever. The latest to have a go are Russell Coutts and Paul Cayard… clap your hands for them! So what exactly are they after in this quest, apart from "all sorts of precious stones, including the most valuable and expensive you can find on land or in the sea ", as Chrétien de Troyes said? Officially, Cayard and Coutts are launching a Grand Prix circuit with 70-foot catamarans, the umpteenth version of a Formula 1 of the Seas. There were awakenings of a circuit back in the early eighties, then things moved on to giants like William Saurin, whose skipper said, "A low-tech giant is cheaper than a small high-tech boat", and when that proved to be wrong, things r eturned to smaller sizes with the Formula 40, which did not stop some from promoting super giants, with the Jules Verne Trophy, before the Orma championship became the recently departed Multicup, and so on. What is it all for? To publicise a circuit, where television stations will show the event to the general public, as sailing is as good as football; yachting champions, football champions, car racing champions… the same battle, and for the same effort, the same pay! That is what the new Grail of modern yachting is: a series of regattas, forcing sailing to be looked at anew, and allowing the top racers to be as well paid as the best in other sporting disciplines. Hallelujah! There is unfortunately something flawed in this reasoning. It forgets that there is no media coverage for a sport without true popular support; and it is not based on a misapprehension, but on contempt. The general public is stupid: you just have to show them some great pictures and they will get excited. The public is a whore: you just have to buy enough time on the TV for them to love you and watch you. And what if they were wrong? What if the public could not care less about our beautiful boats? Yachting is plunging. According to the ISAF, we are losing up to 6-8% of sailors each year. In 16 years, the U.S. has lost two thirds of its sailors. While in the heyday, the largest gathering of French sportsmen was in sailing in La Rochelle, that was after all back in the time of de Gaulle Sailing races around the buoys interests people less today than in the past. Why? Because the majority of the population lives inland, while boating on rivers has been discouraged. Because yacht races have become so specific that they only involve those, who take part. Because sailing races have only offered the public one thing in twenty years and that is: "Give us the money to buy a nice train set and you will see how much we enjoy ourselves!" Isn’t it about time that those, who paid, finally got something out of it too? In Australia I attended a wonderful regatta for 18-footers, except we could not see anything, as the boats were too far out. The same fleet of boats then returned to the tiny sailing area in the City Park. It was a fabulous sight seeing these monsters change course mowing down the reeds with their bowsprit! The public went wild! They understood! They egged on the sailors, whistled and clapped! Suddenly, in one afternoon sailing had become a popular sport – and there was no need for 70-foot cats because for once it was the public enjoying themselves. Daniel Charles ©D.Nerney/Rolex

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ocean Racing Magazine - #2 - April & May 2007

Contents
What they said
News
Portfolio
Report
Records
America's Cup
Sponsoring
Ocean Planet
Class 40
Imoca
New products
Launch
Lab
Portrait
Practical tips
Profession
Mini Class
Design
Thirty years on
New launches
Equipment
Chronicle

Ocean Racing Magazine - #2 - April & May 2007

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