From The Feedback - 15/03/01

We'll be publishing the choicest moments from the stuff you send us - but each contribution may or may not be subjected to a rigorous process of editing for language, taste and imparted wisdom. And of course, as they so famously say at the start of anything like this, the opinions expressed in From the Feedback do not necessarily reflect those of the management, staff or investors of madforsport.com. Instead, and much more importantly, they reflect your views.

From Dave King,
What solutions should RORC consider? The RORC must do everything in its power to keep the Admiral's Cup going. If owners do not want to sail the Sydney 40 then there is only one option available and that is to drop the boat from the event and run the Admiral's Cup as a 'two boat team event'. The Corel 45 and Farr 40 are superb boats and will keep the integrity of the regatta going for many years. Another alternative is to replace the Sydney 40 with the Mumm 30 - already proven as a great boat for the Tour de France. In the end it doesn't really matter what boats we sail in the AC so long as the boats are safe offshore and the event stays at a high level. Popular one-designs will attract the world's best sailors to the shores of Great Britain. The world's best sailors include owners, amateurs and professionals alike. Whoever from wherever. (Dave was bowman aboard 'Jade' in the 1985 British Admiral's Cup Team).

From T Bayliss,
What solutions should RORC consider? The general idea that an owner-driver class could compete in the "World Championship" of Ocean racing is ridiculous and diminishes the entire event. Combine that with two classes that are generally failures. The Sydney 40 without dispute, and the Corel is only really vaguely popular in SW Europe. It's no wonder the whole thing is falling apart.

From Mr Butler,
What solutions should RORC consider? Continue with plans as is. But I think that the RORC should take it upon itself to assist in organizing a Sydney 40 for the US team. It seems that the AC is at a point where it could regain its pre-eminance. As such, this is probably a time to pull out all stops. One thought for the future would be to run the AC as one design for one more event, and then switch to IRM if there is critical mass. I think that it will have cuaght on in the US by that time.

From Paul, (from UK, in USA),
What do you think is going on here? What's going on is that in America sailing is not seen in anything like the same light as in most European nations or many other nations. It is very difficult to attract sponsorship for sailing events or for individual campaigns. In short, a lot of people are not interested in the sea, they are interested in themselves and particularly in their own money. Most Olympic campaigns are fully funded in Europe, while the front runners in the US struggle to get small amounts of money. Money is kept closer to the chest, even though in real terms there is an ability to spend it that must be 10 times greater (compared to UK), given the amount of money sloshing about the economy. To campaign that boat in the Admiral's Cup you can bet they are not looking for an individual benefactor who holds the team together and just "does it", but more a rich kid who won't spend his own money but wants to get sponsorship and spend somebody else's. It's a vicious circle - the sponsor says to himself: "hey, why should I give my money to somebody who can clearly afford to do it himself"..... Wake up America! This is true throughout the sport. All of the global races are non-American, but then practically all of the Olympic class winners were non-American too. "Go figure", as they say here. You have to have the will to do this stuff. I seriously wonder if America was or ever will be a maritime nation, no matter how much money is thrown at campaigns. I suppose we have to remember that America is a young nation and has never had a large merchant marine or true depth and a true desire to have depth in the marine environment.

From Mike Ahrenberg,
What do you think is going on here? Feels like the Americans are afraid of beeing beat. Brittain is a great sea-faring nation and thus it takes men (not boys) to do serious racing in the open sea. As I understand it, it is not a question of money or lack of boats. Here we have a matter of personal views, " if I cannot win I will not compete". This way of thinking is a looser's way of thinking. Besides it takes a lot out of the racing, which is bad for the image. I do hope the Americans come to "see the light" and put up a crew for the Admiral's Cup.