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22 Comments on the Sail Rule for Classics “PAY LESS AND GET MORE” IN THE CLASSICS Dear Classic Lovers, ISMA News International 6mJI Association The resurrection of the classics throughout the world is a great manifestation of the people’s sense on what is short and what is long in the human culture: the art is one of the few long lasting things. The art and the beauty in the six-metres lie both in their aesthetic appearance and in the way they sail. Then, why race them at all? Racing is an excellent tool to maintain the motivation of the owners in their hard work of keeping up the yachts. Races satisfy our needs to meet other people at an equal intellectual level, and they offer an opportunity to play a game in the spirit of fair sportsmanship. By tradition, success in a race between these decades-old yachts is only 5% of the joy – as long as the game is fair. During the recent years, however, a tendency has been observed where winning has become more and more important, even to the extent where it already fights against the values of classic sailing in general. This is understandable, of course, because we always have brothers and sisters who cannot distinguish between good and bad taste or feel the difference between fair and unfair competition. The alarming thing here is that such a development may threaten the existence of entire fleets by rapidly decreasing the owners’ motivation. An identical drop of interest in the class almost made it vanish from the Earth in the 1950ies as the six-metres ceased to be able to enter the Olympics. At that time the origin of the motivation was purely in racing while today it is in the arts. A plenty of other classes more suitable for racing are available for those who consider winning as No.1 and classic values as No.2. Fortunately, two positive needs meet each others simultaneously: the wish for a fair game in racing and the desire to maintain the cultural heritage in the classic p , p A clean arms-controlled classic six-metre An armed six-metre "s/y America's Cup Hobie" Oil from the hydraulics (it always leaks) The two figures above hopefully amuse you and give a worst case scenario on what we fear.
ISMA News International 6mJI Association Bulletin 1/2004 in preserving the class and in making races even and interesting for everybody. The work on the definition of the classics is one correct action in this development. The other would be the continuation of the arms control. The metric rating rule, even in its original form, has a nature of arms controlling. It is a collection of rules limiting the design of a yacht and its equipment. Then, we may ask: isn’t the existing rule sufficient for us? Currently, the same set of rules applies to the modern and to the classic 6-metres. The work and cost of keeping up a classic, however, are easily multifold compared to a modern. This added to high racing costs can easily make the classics a boat that extremely few of us can afford. In history, such a situation has always predicted a loss in the popularity of the class. Such a loss is a loss for everybody because none of us wants to race by himself. This risk is evident. Now we must choose whether we want to encourage people to decrease the upkeeping costs or the racing costs. Logically, if we struggle to preserve the class on a long term, too, the latter is the only alternative. This is calling for our immediate action now. We can cut our racing costs by trying to cut the regatta fees, by limiting the material costs, or racing less (e.g. only at home waters). The last alternative, unfortunately, has already been chosen by many of us, and not many yachts travel to international regattas. Cutting the race fees is desirable but probably unrealistic. The only alternative left is the material costs. This means an arms control far stricter than today. Low racing costs + even performance More yachts entering races Increase of interest in 6-metres Cut down racing • already occurring, f t t l Choose Lower costs -how? Lower material costs: • new sail rule • less electronics • ban hydraulics • other … Diagram. The logic of the discussion above: pay less and get more. High racing costs + uneven fleet Few yachts seen on race courses Loss of interest in the class Lower regatta fees • d esirable but probably a dream Extra bonus: aesthetic values are preserved 23
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