Yachts & Yachting - July 2018

I

n a keynote speech at the Marine

Advertising Agency press lunch

held recently in Gosport, the RYA

director of racing, Ian Walker

spoke about taking up his new

position with the RYA, saying: “Sailing

is an incredibly complex sport and

we need to think clearly about how

we make everything we do relate

to the person learning to sail.

“Sailing needs to remain afordable

and accessible. I’m trying to make sure

everything we do on the racing side is in

support of clubs and class associations

and all the people who deliver the

sport on the ground, especially as we

have challenges in volunteering.”

As a sport, sailing for the most

part operates independently from

its international authority, World

Sailing, through a series of well-run

events organised by sailing clubs,

which don’t tend to be inluenced

directly by World Sailing; for many

of us, that is ‘sailing’ as we know it.

For what it is worth, the majority

of sailors are unafected by World

Sailing except for the fact that they

all contribute to the income of the

international authority and therefore

I feel should have a say in the way

in which it is used or misused.

In many areas of our sport we can

do much as we like, restricted only in

our racing by the International Racing

Rules, the copyright of which is held

by World Sailing. In theory, this body

can, with the collusion of its Racing

Rules committee, change these without

reference to the great body of sailors who

use them. One wonders whether those

who sit on that committee would be

strong enough to withstand interference

from the international authority. In the

past it has been strong enough to avoid

any such molestation. Now, as World

Sailing shows every sign of attempting

to expand its inluence, who knows if

it will retain that strength of purpose.

Whether the sport can resist its

inluence is a matter of conjecture.

Should we stand back and allow

In a sport as dynamic and complex as ours, how can sailors best

exert their influence over the international governing body?

Bob Fisher

OPINION

re-introduction of sailing into the

Paralympic Games. It was dropped ater

the 2016 event and World Sailing, along

with boundless others, seeks to have it

restored for the Games in Paris in 2024.

All praise for that, but will it please

drop its links with kiting and tell the

International Kiting Association to

stand on its own two feet and not try

to muscle in where many feel it is not

wanted. If IKA went about tackling

the IOC on its own, it would have a far

better chance of establishing a footing.

here is no denying that kiting is

an exciting sport, sometimes, but not

always, held on water and should have

its own place in the Olympic Games, but

not at the price of diminishing sailing.

One of the biggest

names in yachting

journalism, Bob

Fisher has a passion

and depth of

knowledge that’s

second to none

wholesalechangestobemade,orshould

we be taking steps to stop them and

retain the status quo? General opinion

favours the latter, but that means

taking action as soon as possible. And

it has to happen with due regard to the

establishedstructureoftheRYA.Itis,

ater all, our voice with World Sailing.

Firstly we should discuss our

requirements or potential changes with

the committees and lag oicers of our

clubs and encourage them to further

our cause. hat way we establish a

proper chain of authority with the ability

to rattle the doors directly of World

Sailing and its various committees.

What can be said for World Sailing

is that it is campaigning for the

We should discuss changes with our sailing clubs

and encourage them to further our cause

Above

Those sailors

beneath the

pinnacle of

Olympic sailing

can and should

have a voice

SAILING ENERGY/WORLD SAILING

July 2018 Yachts & Yachting 13