Henri van der Aat - a madforsailing interview

The man who has changed the face of racing as we know it.

The two biggest changes at this year's SPA regatta concern the scoring system and the courses. In place of the well-established low points system, van der Aat has introduced a 'Formula 1' style of scoring with only the top 15 finishers recording points. His justification is quite clear. "If you have more points you win. That is clear to everybody."
Van der Aat also sees other benefits. "If you have the 15 point [system] we believe that the second half of the fleet has to fight to get into the points. If you have some points then obviously you are somebody - you have done something really well. The discard is no longer applicable. At any one time everyone will know what the score is." There are advantages from a race management point of view too. "Protests between number 30 and 40 are useless," points out van der Aat claiming proudly, "we had a full schedule of races yesterday and there were only six protests."

There are advantages for competitors too: "Because we now sail three races per day, if I am in the back of the fleet I have less time to recover for the next race. If I am in the back of the fleet I can decide not to finish and make adjustments to my boat, have a rest or whatever." But there are disadvantages. Van der Aat cites reckless sailing as the biggest risk. "If I am at the back I can pump or do whatever else I want to do". He is also concerned that some youngsters may not score points. "People say they may get demotivated".

Van der Aat is clear that the whole system as currently envisaged only works with split fleets where the weaker crews get a chance to score points once they are in the Silver Fleet. "Our experience is that less than 10% will make no points. Once you get into the silver fleet you will make points.

Read page three for van der Aat's ideas on harbour-mouth finishes and the electronic future of sailing.