Yachts & Yachting — February 2018

O

ver recent years I have

had the good fortune to

work with Steve Hayles,

sometimes on a daily

basis, at event aer event.

On the dock before and aer racing Steve

always knows what journalists want

and gives intelligent, scientic detail in

the most understandable manner. He

is patient, always approachable, always

professional. And he has been a lynchpin

on the Rán Racing team, probably one of

the most progressive, socially responsible

and aware teams in grand prix sailing.

Niklas and Catherine Zennström and

their crew have been the most fervent

advocates of sustainable practices and

processes in yacht racing and have

increasingly championed including

active, skilled female sailors on their

race boat. For the last two seasons they

had young German 29er sailor Carolina

Werner on board in the 52 Super Series

and Steve has played an active role in

ensuring she develops as a ‘big boat’

sailor and feels valued and integrated.

erefore it troubles me greatly

to see what has happened in light of

the infamous ‘breakfast show’ video.

at is not the Steve Hayles I know

and over the years have come to

respect and cherish as a friend and

professional colleague, and pretty much

everyone who has sailed and worked

with him over the years will agree.

Hayles was doing the Volvo because

he wanted a ‘bite sized’ return to the

race he loves and cut his teeth on. In

the summer he told me frankly he

needed a break from the Groundhog

Day of endless inshore circuits, upwind-

downwinds, calling minutes and

second to laylines which increasingly

need to be metre perfect. With the

relatively late, Scallywag programme

there would not be the maximum

stress and pressure of, say, Mapfre or

Dongfeng, and, he said at the time, he

did not expect to do the whole race.

Like most, I think this was an early

morning lapse of judgement; the whole

concept of the video was not even ill

thought out, it was just not thought

The Scallywag video that caused waves in the Volvo Ocean Race has put the issue

of gender equality firmly into the spotlight – and good must now come of it

Andi Robertson

YACHTS

the conversations I have followed do

generally reect a positive outlook, the

change that is happening progressively.

If you nd yourself dealing in the

semantics, the small details – yes but

she had a beard and was playing a

man – then you are looking to pick

holes, to nd reasons that it is ok. If

you are still subscribing to the ‘what

happens oshore stays oshore’

mindset then be prepared for this kind

of explosive outcome, some time.

I have sailed many oshore miles in

mixed crews and for the most part they

have been happy. But so too I can think

of skippers or owners who turn into

predatory animals when they reach the

dock and have a few drinks. My hope

is that the tide is turning and women

can be assured that they can go oshore

racing on their own terms for their talent

and contributions, sharing the humour

and unrivalled sense of camaraderie

without giving a second thought that

they might become the butt of the jokes,

or feel uncomfortable at the topics.

Ed’s note: e Rule 69 hearing brought

against Team Scallywag’s David Witt

and Steve Hayles by third parties over

this incident was dismissed by an

International Jury during the Cape Town

stopover. Just before the hearing, Steve

Hayles stepped down as navigator for

Leg 3, with Antonio Fontes tagging in.

Few people

can match Andi

Robertson’s insight

into the big boat

world, both in the

UK and globally

about at all. And Steve was in all

likelihood put in a position where he had

to run with the storyline or kill it dead

because he thought it inappropriate.

Where the whole sorry episode

has now run to reects badly on the

project and Steve. But I do think the

whole, global debate will have a positive

outcome. ere are the re-constructed,

correctly thinking people who looked

at it and immediately thought ‘No!

Wrong!’ But there are many more who

probably looked at it, chuckled under

their breath because they saw nothing

wrong but now have been given food

for thought, reecting on the kind of

small minded behaviour and humour

which is still prevalent oshore.

At rst I wondered at Mark Turner

(then VOR CEO) and the Volvo Ocean

Race’s decision to publish it and leave it

online for several days. I am all for the

‘warts and all’ immediacy of unedited,

unscripted reporting but this, I thought,

was surely bad for the Volvo Ocean Race

image and a retrograde step considering

all the positive eorts which had been

put in to redressing the gender balance.

But when Shirley Robertson called it out,

it lit the blue touch paper on a global

debate, which as I write is still raging.

As expected the blockheads inhabiting

the dark recesses of some forums still

don’t get the point. ey never will. But

The episode reflects badly on the project and Steve.

But I think the debate will have a positive outcome

Above

Scallywag skipper,

David Witt and

their sole female

crew-member

Annemieke Bes

KONRAD FROST/VOLVO OCEAN RACE

1414 Yachts & Yachting February 2018 yachtsandyachting.co.ukyachtsandyachting.co.uk

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