SailJuice Blog

The Bums On Seats theorem has certainly got a lot of you off yours! Seats that is….

The response to this article has been overwhelming, and we’ve had a few comments from some quite eminent people in the sport. I won’t name names without their permission, but seeing as Pete Conway identified himself in his comment, I guess he won’t mind.

Pete, if I’m not mistaken, is a well-respected catamaran coach, so I wouldn’t expect him to agree wholeheartedly with the Bums On Seats angle, from which the Tornado does not emerge particularly strongly.

“A rather controversial approach to do the bums on seats bit!! The whole ethos of Olympic sailing involves superlatives - higher, stronger, faster. There is no underlying sport for all message in the rarified environment of Olympic sailing!!” says Pete.

And yes, that is an excellent point. Who said that mass participation should be a criteria for the Olympics?

But I just want to see people have fun doing what they’re doing , even if it is a serious, furrow-browed activity like an OLYMPIC CAMPAIGN. To some extent, you could argue that the Bums On Seats quotient is a measure of the fun factor. Or at the very least, a sailor’s willingness to spend four years of his or her young life doing something that he/she believes is worthwhile.

Another enthusiast for keeping the cat in the Games is Marina Kienitz, a self-confessed Yngling sailor from Brazil, but not the greatest supporter of the Yngling by the looks of her hilarious comment.

“Seriously I am hoping so bad that the class is dropped off of the Olympics! Sailing, Olympic or not is meant to be fun…..but as you said, starting from the point we are already three (and three GIRLS) onboard a 6,30m boat….remembering it is a heavy, slow and not fun boat – how can the class survive?….

“ok ok very tactical, but too old fashioned….and not media appealing at all….the boat is slow even with 20 knots of wind and can’t be sailed with over 25 knots (take as example the downwind leg in Cascais course 5 when it was blowing 30 knots! - no spinnakers up….and if yes, thumb rule [rule of thumb? Ed] - WIPE OUT). Sponsors don’t want to be associated to catastrophes as well do they?”

Well actually Marina, if Ynglings fall over at inopportune moments, I would argue that might actually be a plus point for some sponsors, especially if you can get a photo of their logo painted on your keel as it emerges from a high-speed broach!

However, we shouldn’t be too harsh on the Yngling because, as Jim C points out (is that the Jim C I see on every sailing forum, surely the most prolific forum poster out there? Welcome aboard Jim)… yes, as Jim C points out, the Yngling was only brought in to fill the gap after the Women’s Match Racing lobby rather made a hash of their golden opportunity at the ISAF Conference in Edinburgh back in November 2000.

Some other excellent points in the Comments made thus far, notably Maarten Jamin’s suggestion of MIXED fleets, compulsory men/women fleets. Nice idea, but currently unworkable, for reasons I’ll explain in the coming days.

Keep the Comments coming, even if they’re anonymous. I will respect your anonymity, although those who put their names to their opinions are more likely to get the lion’s share of attention.

Last word to Pete Conway with his impassioned celebration:

“Vive la Revolution!! Vive la vitesse!! We love sailing!!”