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The selection committee should/must be wise enough to select both Farr 52s - one for each team. It was the selectors that lost England the cup last time - and put Scotland down the pan. When is the arrogance of non-owning pundits going to be replaced by people that buy the boats, organise the crew, pay hard earned cash for the sails, accommodation, crew clothing, gear, food, beer etc, etc? What do the pundits (selectors) think? When you have committed the sort of cash it needs to run a Farr 52 campaign you're not going to be serious about a Commodores Cup Campaign, only when you have paid those dues do you deserve a vote.

Look at what Peter Morton did getting three dedicated owners together for the last Commodores Cup, no committee, no pundits, no coaches, no selections, no bull**** - just outright victory with a day to spare. Pick a team Captain who is an owner, sailor, funder and pays the bills and ask him/her to put his/her neck on the block when it comes to who he wants in his team - is that not what team Chernikeef (Commonwealth) or Team Morton (Channel Islands ?) do with spectacular results. All the (pundits) selectors have to do now is name Hewison & and Hobday as Eng Team Captains A & B and let them approach the other boats and owners they want in their team, from the results that everyone Owners - Captains and selectors can see at regattas around the world around the web.

We'll see what 'the pundits' have come up with when the Commdore's Cup teams are announced on Tuesday

Irene Trellis (Mrs) gets her handbag out to give James Boyd a battering following his interview with Maiden II crewwoman Sam Davies

Dear Mr Boyd, Regarding your interview with Sam Davies. I sometimes go 'on the net' myself using my grandson's lap computer. I may be eighty-seven but I love to sail and follow much of what goes on, however in my day I was more likely to be seen passing cucumber sandwiches than taking the boat about. I have followed with great interest other women in sailing from Naomi James and Clare Francis to Ellen McArthur and assumed that because of Miss McArthur's recent success racing on an equal basis against men, that ladies in sailing had finally turned the corner. The support of journalists like you over a number of years has no doubt helped.

But Mr Boyd, how my blood boiled when within the first few lines of your interview with Sam Davies you wrote that 'the girl whose blonde bombshell appearance hides a degree in engineering from Cambridge University'. I almost kicked the cat in frustration. You incorrectly assumed that all the readers of you article are young, men, and that anyone blonde and, in your opinion, better looking than 'your' average lady should not be capable of a degree.

Mr Boyd, you really must not slip back into the abyss of male stereotyping that we have just climbed from and remember that there are some old wrinklies out here that have been putting up with this kind of attitude for long enough ? on the whole I enjoy the articles I read on Mad about Sailing even though I only see it now and then when visited by my grandson. I don't have a subscription as I don't have a lap computer but share his just like we did in the past with magazines! Please accept my arguments in a good spirit but try not to repeat the slip it in future! I must sign off now (but do you do that on a keyboard?).

This has taken me a long time to type because I lack your nimble hands. With very best wishes for the future. Yours sincerely Irene Trellis (Mrs)

James Boyd attempts to slither out: I apologise, Mrs Trellis, for making your blood boil and any potential injury to your cat. As an impartial reporter I was of course merely conveying the opinion of Sam Davies' red blooded piers when describing her looks as 'blonde bombshell'. In relating this to Sam's intelligence, I confess, I was aided by a mild plagarisation of her skipper's new book where it states on page 278: "Sam was the real party girl among them. Tall, slim, blonde and very pretty, she looked like a fashion model and would go out clubbing until the wee hours. Then she'd turn up for work the next morning still in her miniskirt and high keels. Yet Sam was far more than just a pretty face. She had an engineering degree from Cambridge University and had been sailing since the age of four." I hope you can see from this that the juxtaposition between Sam's looks and her degree has even been picked up by her skipper, the embodiment of feminism itself, Tracy Edwards!

Wait a second...I'm being stitched up here...

Further response to your comments on Mitch Booth's pitchpole during the Round Texel race , from Simon Nelson
Your comment about the Booth injury is a little naïve. If, as in the Tornado, there had been no daggerboard, Mitch might have hit the shroud which could have been even more serious. Would you therefore suggest that on high speed sailcraft, the rigging is removed for safety reasons. Some years ago, Richard Parslow broke his leg on the mast gate of a Boss. I have had my nose broken by the boom on a 505. 18ft Skiff sailors have hurt themselves hitting various parts of their boats during capsizes. Sailing is a sport where there are risks every time you go on the water. This year I know of two drownings, one in a Tornado and another in a Laser 4000. I have nearly drowned while sailing a Laser 5000. While it is reasonable to legislate for sensible safety measures, such as the wearing of buoyancy aids, to try to change fundamental design factors is starting on a slippery slope to legislating the fun out of the sport.

Tim Swinburn is of a similar mind...
Re: Mitch's pitchpole I'm sure your respondent who proposes doing without "razor-sharp daggerboards" on cats would then quickly discover that you can just as easily hit the shrouds, or the mast or the boom. So heck, let's take them off as well, and fit a motor. Sail it, enjoy it, know the risks - take the consequences if you push too hard. Mitch knew what he was doing, as did all the other cats racing Round Texel that pushed hard and capsized. Thankfully, hospitalisation and serious injury are still rare.

A true story: we are all aware of the men and women in grey suits who form the multitude of Brussels committees and sub-committees that sit around spending hard earned tax payers money coming up with their gripping European Directives. Well, in the early discussions that went into what is now the EU Recreation Craft Directive, they were seriously looking at introducing legislation so that the stability of dinghies would such that they wouldn't capsize. I jest not.

But this does raise a serious point - what is acceptible danger in our sport? You seem to be of the opinion that the present level of risk to individuals in high performance dinghies is fine. But should this prevent further work from being carried out to reduce the risk of personal injury? A helmsman colliding with a shroud at 20mph could result in something being sliced off - so why not wrap shrouds in foam to remove their knife edge? Or would this radical move be considered sissy?

There is a similar argument in offshore racing. When the Volvo boats were racing through the ice on the Southern Ocean it was considered 'risky' and very un-Volvo, but for spectators (and in retrospect for the competitors) it was one of the most exciting parts of the race. This is perhaps why events like the Vendee make for more compelling reading that our best endeavours with the Volvo. It is those moments of high risk, of being 'on the edge' that are the highlights of our sport.

Matthew Armstrong is proud the GBR Challenge Team are not involved in the AC court room battles
These syndicates could save themselves a fortune and not bother building any boats or employing a sailing team. Just employ a couple of lawyers and win the Cup in the court rooms. Good to see GBR Challenge is keeping a clean nose and not getting involved in this kindergarten court room yacht race.

Bruce Farr's views on the options available to Volvo for their next Ocean Race have elicited a great response from readers this week

Merfyn Owen has a few technical points
I would like to point out that there is a potential anomaly in your article today. The IMOCA rule is 127.5 degrees [ strangely it does now, Ed]. It may be true that you're referring to the FICO rule because Volvo boats are measured with sails onboard (I don't know if that's the case). However, that is merely a stick in the sand and a comparison like this between the two boats is unreliable to say the least. For example, unlike a Volvo boat the inverted stability (ie safer than the keel in centre example used) is actually far less on an open 60 because with a canted keel the AVS is effectively on one side is so great that the boat will right itself. Add to this the fact that the main hatch on an Open 60 is 100% watertight and the boat has five watertight bulkheads makes for as safe a boat as we can imagine having for the moment for an ocean racing yacht. That's not to say that Volvo 60s are unsafe, it's just not reasonable to compare the two craft in this manner as it is not an apples for apples comparison.

Safety is a relative issue. I think an Open 60 falling over in moderate conditions in the middle of the Southern Ocean and then turning turtle with the skipper trapped inside - as happened to Isabelle Autissier in the last Around Alone - could be construed as unsafe, hence why the pre-Vendee Globe 2000/1 batch of IMOCA and FICO rules were introduced. but are swing keels really safer than the no-moveable ballast or water ballast alternatives? The AVS of a swing keeler is almighty if the boat falls over to leeward, but it certainly doesn't look as smart when the boat falls over to weather...

Colin Strain believes Bruce has his own interests at heart
Bruce Farr has a reputation in VO60s built up over 15 years. No other designers can get a foot in with the current design. It's in Farr's best interests to hang onto the VO60 so that he can capitalise on this 'monopoly' of his. What's best for him is not necessarily best for the race. Opening up to other designers would create competition between them which could help to lower the costs and make for a more interesting race. He does make some valid points though, most important of which is the fact that the boat design is not the biggest expense in a campaign. Every bit helps though. -- Colin Strain

The overall impression we got was that Bruce Farr wanted a bigger state of the art boat and for Volvo to ring more exposure (and therefore more sponsor value) out of their event. That bigger boats equals bigger design fees, I'm sure had nothing to do with it.

Andrew McLelland has similar views
I'm sure that he's right about costs etc. However, one wonders whether or not he knows he has the dynamics of the 64' boat best understood between the designers and that if the boat goes to 80' all of the designers are in the dark again enabling someone else to get an edge on him. He knows that it would probably take another 64ft event before Frers/others get close enough to be really competitive. Having said the above I am sure that the Frers boat was better than Dalton is making it out to be.

Yes, Dalts' comments were an interesting alternative to the usual 'blame the navigator' ones, although saying this, he blamed the boat last time too... When the Whitbread 60 was first introduced there was plenty of opportunity for other yacht designers to take on the Farr dominance. Yet, it was the Farr office that ploughed a lot of their own money into research before even getting a commission and it was their taking the initial risk themselves which many believe allowed them to steal the march on other design houses.

Mike Cooke believes the Royal Western Yacht Club, organisers of the two Handed Round Britain Race have a lot to answer for
Interesting about the whole boat failure thing, but what I think is more interesting about this race is the way the Royal Western Yacht Club appear to have destroyed it. Why impose restrictions that disallow the boats that used to take place (60 foot multis for one) when this event is really the ideal one to create a circuit for these machines in this country. Timing of the race seems a little off too - why does it clash with the round the island race and round Ireland? Surely there are many boats that chose to take place in these events over the RBR, but would have raced in the Round Britain had timing allowed? A much under rated event.

Couldn't agree with you more Mike, although sailing two handed Round Britain is a slightly more ambitious project than the Round the Island. The Round Britian was once a great race and is now distinctly a 'B' division event. I too would love to see 15 60ft tris slithering around in the kelp at Barra.

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