The Code of Competition by Stuart H. Walker, Illustrated by Thomas Price. By Richard Evans In <strong>the</strong> latest of his many books, The Code of Competition, Dr. Walker steps back from <strong>the</strong> tactics and strategies of racing per<strong>for</strong>mance one-design sailboats to <strong>the</strong> psychological roots of what pushes us to raise sails every weekend. Is it to win races and defeat o<strong>the</strong>r sailors? No! Is it to bask in <strong>the</strong> glory of holding silver at <strong>the</strong> award ceremony? Not really. According to Dr. Walker, most of us race to satisfy <strong>the</strong> need to be accepted by a pack, like a pack of dogs, or in sailboat racing, <strong>the</strong> fleet. Maintaining pack or fleet cohesion and fellowship are <strong>the</strong> underlying principles to <strong>the</strong> unwritten rules we follow in competition on <strong>the</strong> water. Except now <strong>the</strong> unwritten rules are listed in Dr. Walker’s book. He gives 35 code-of-competition precepts such as “Admire courage. Fear revealing fearfulness,” and “maintain <strong>the</strong> pecking order; do not attempt to usurp <strong>the</strong> higher place of someone more deserving.” In essence, he’s listing <strong>the</strong> behavioral reasons why most of us don’t win regattas, instead acting as <strong>the</strong> fleet’s nice guys. We’ve all had this kind of conversation around Book Review <strong>the</strong> club: “Do I know Bill? Yeah, I know Bill, he frostbites Lasers with me every Wednesday evening. Great guy, middle of <strong>the</strong> fleet, but he always brings good beer.” The code of competition keeps <strong>the</strong> status quo, keeps us all in our correct rank in <strong>the</strong> fleet so we are all happy pack members. It’s <strong>the</strong> pack or herd mentality that Dr. Walker uses to rationalize his code, along with some genetic arguments and shout-outs to <strong>the</strong> Iliad, Galileo, Shakespeare, various Olympians and hubris. His justifications aren’t fact; of course, he’s simply compiling anecdotal evidence and behavioral <strong>the</strong>ory to support and justify his code. The anecdotes are compelling because mid-fleet sailors can see <strong>the</strong>mselves in <strong>the</strong> stories – like <strong>the</strong> time we let <strong>the</strong> lead slip out of our hands on <strong>the</strong> reach, or <strong>the</strong> time we won <strong>the</strong> first race and tanked <strong>the</strong> second. It’s those kinds of per<strong>for</strong>mances that Dr. Walker uses to define two types of competitors <strong>the</strong> true competitor and <strong>the</strong> code competitor. The code competitor follows <strong>the</strong> code of competition by keeping his rank in <strong>the</strong> fleet, suppressing hubris, restraining aggressiveness and so on. The true competitor “senses <strong>the</strong> fear, but derides <strong>the</strong> code and its requirement to atone. He exacts his own retribution <strong>for</strong> all <strong>the</strong> times he has been defeated. He seeks <strong>the</strong> <strong>for</strong>bidden Grail. He attains hubris and glories in it. He has but one goal – victory!” If <strong>the</strong> true competitor doesn’t sound like a nice person, well, that’s <strong>the</strong> point – he doesn’t want or need hugs and kisses from <strong>the</strong> fleet, he gets those at home. As <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> rest of us, we launch our boats every weekend pretty much knowing <strong>the</strong> race outcome be<strong>for</strong>e <strong>the</strong> first horn. That’s not a good feeling, and now that Dr. Walker has diagnosed our problem, he’ll have to deliver <strong>the</strong> cure in his next book. Serious Fun at <strong>the</strong> <strong>2010</strong> District 2 Championships, Bow Mar Yacht Club, Denver. 1 www.snipeus.org
US SNIPE SAILOR Fall <strong>2010</strong> 1
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