New man at the top - part 2

We continue our interview with RORC's new Commodore, David Aisher

This article follows on from part 1 here ...

So with a hugely successful box rule like the TP52 and the Offshore Racing Council jumping on the bandwagon with their 26, 33 and 42ft box rule boats, what need is there for a Grand Prix rule?

Firstly there are arguments against box rules, expense being one. The TP52 for example may be a box rule but the tolerances are so small that it might as well be a one design. Aside from having to hire a roster of professional crew, getting the performance edge in this fleet costs a great deal. This is almost certain to be true of the ORC boats too. Then there is the shelf life - while the TP52 is state of the art today, unless the box rule can be modified (this can often lead to deep divisions in the class), will it still be state of the art in five or even 10 years time?

But one of RORC's most compelling arguments is that you also cannot race these boats against one another without an all-encompassing rule and that at a multi-class regatta with box rule boats you won't get an overall winner. For races such as the Fastnet they could not score against each other.

This is the crux of RORC's position at the moment. Yes, there are highly successful box rule boats that seem to have struck a cord with owners, but a rule, a Grand Prix Rule, is required a) specifically for race boats, b) to encompass the latest flavours of box rule boats and c) to sit on top of and take the pressure off IRC, leaving that to the genuine cruiser-racers or non-dedicated race boats and those not attempting to exploit the most from a supposedly invisible rule.

"So we are looking at how we allow those boats to race together or separately," continues Aisher. "I personally believe there is an area in the sport for people to be able to build and design boats to the size that they want and race together with boats bigger and smaller, bearing in minds the differences in boat speeds. Having a pure box rule that says it has to be 42ft and then not having a rule that can encompass that is not the way to go. I have seen one design racing and fleet racing and part of the sport of fleet racing, is that you pick the boat of the size you want and you know that there will be days when you have your day and that adds another dimension to the sport."

Aisher cites the example of Eamon Conneely's TP52 Patches, when she was racing in the UK last year under IRC. "She had a very good crew and some days they got it right and some days they didn’t. But she was able to race and score within the fleet and she has had new construction methods that made it a different boat altogether. It takes a while to understand how they are working to be able to rate them right which is why the [IRC] rule is always being adjusted . "

Aisher also maintains that the IMS rule also led to extreme, on occasion unseaworthy boats. "Those boats used to fall over in 12 knots of breeze. It was daft. How those boats got into that position I don’t know, but they did and they have now managed to put it in the right place."

So where exactly does the Grand Prix Rule stand today? Much of the work carried about by RORC on this was spearheaded by previous Commodore, Chris Little. Since elevated to the rank of RORC Admiral, Little is still involved with the process.

The fundamental reason why US Sailing split away from the Rule Working Party (as their representative Jim Teeters told us back in May 2004) was over disagreement as to how one measures boats. US Sailing were advocating the IMS system, while RORC were pushing for a theoretic numeric system. Aisher argues that these issues are now more or less history. "With modern techniques and computers, understanding about how boats work is better and I think fundamentally the basis on how which we are able to rate boats and work out how well they are going to do - those arguments have diminished ."

Certainly if you look at how accurate modelling of boats and predicting their performance solely within the virtual world, is getting in the America's Cup then one might wander whether physical measurement is indeed necessary these days.

So will the new Grand Prix Rule simply be IRM under a different name? "I think fundamentally what we had with IRM was the basis of a very good Grand Prix rule," says Aisher. "But it did fail to leave the Solent and I think that was down to how the club approached it at the time and that is an argument which everyone understands today. So I think this has formed the basis of what we have tried to develop as a Grand Prix Rule, but we are looking for input from all the important countries in the world." France, who have close connections with RORC are on side via Vice-Commodore Gery Trenteseaux and Jean-Philippe Chomette who sits on the main committee, as are the Australians, faced with a similar problems with the Rolex Sydney Hobart and their other mixed fleet races.

"We keep the others informed as to what we are doing and still solicite their input and ideas," continues Aisher. "The Americans who stepped out are aware of what we are doing. At the moment they are taking up IRC in large numbers. They are finding the normal teething problems but nothing that fundamentally is blowing a hole in any concepts about the IRC."

Aisher acknowledges that for a new rule to not go down the same UK-only route of IRM it has to be adopted internationally - to survive events need the rule and the rule needs the events.

Interestingly with RORC's one time premier event, the Admirals Cup at present not happening, but their Rolex Commodores' Cup getting ever stronger following, is also perhaps an indication of RORC returning to its roots Aisher believes. "We need to review and understand whether it works as it has worked in the past and with the changing of fleets and boat technology, what it set out to be, perhaps the Commodores' Cup has become today. In the start it was very much a Corinthian thing and I believe once it became too professional it started to run into problems. So the Commodores' Cup has stepped in to fulfil that. So this year we have kept the professional level down again, and meanwhile we are constantly reviewing what the Admirals Cup will or could be, but we have no decision yet."

Despite the advent of the box rules which one might think would focus attention on particular genre of boat, Aisher does believe that having some sort of Grand Prix Rule will help the future of the Admiral's Cup. Then for example the Admiral's Cup big boat could be equally a TP52 as a boat like the Ker 55 Aera or his new 46 footer.


All change at the Club

In line with Aisher observations earlier about members generally having less time to run clubs such as RORC, so a management overhaul is in hand at the club. At present the full time staff at the club are led by General Manager Peter Wykeham-Martin and Racing Manager Janet Grosvenor. Both are long standing RORC members and they have recognised the need for change and have put forward the proposals. The main shift is to focus on the Club's prime role - racing and with the arrival of a new CEO, Peter Wykeham-Martin will be the first to handover and Janet Grossvenor will have a less time consuming rol.

Aisher points out that while it is tempting to approach this from a mere business point of view, not necessary the same approach is required for a club. "The club was formed to get likeminded people to go racing and as a club is a different entity from a business. If it was a business you’d say ‘clear the decks’, we have shareholders and we want this thing to make money, we want to get these sponsors and we want these high fliers in to take it into the next century. In a way that is the right sort of way to go if the club is to remain in the forefront of sailing. But it is not part of the remit of the club. So you have to be careful - so evolution, not revolution."

So while changes will be taking place, they will take place slowly - ie the new management figure is unlikely to take office until the end of the season - and they should be mindful of the membership, three of whom for example joined as long ago as 1931 - one being Olin Stephens. "We are in the forefront of racing internationally because of our members and a lot of people with race boats. So we need to use their expertise and solicit where it is going to go and we don’t want to disenfranchise a lot of people very quickly," says Aisher.

Other than taking on the new manager, there are little other changes afoot, maintains Aisher. There was some discussion about doing away with the committee, but in Aisher's mind this is a valuable experienced group and how else can you introduce people to the workings of the club? "It is the same in business - you get people who come on to the board before you find your chairman. We have a very good committee."

Having gained the Commodore's position at the end of November, Aisher's tenure is scheduled to last for three years. "Talking to my pre-decessors, they all said ‘my God, I didn’t think it would take this much time’. But they all did it in different ways - some based in London, some aren’t, some do everything on the phone, some don’t want to know about this aspect, etc. So you make of it what you will in terms of time. But there is a lot going on. It is like quite a large company effectively. You need a good strong team in the middle which is what we are trying to create who can take the pressure off the Commodore who will nonetheless be part of the decision making."

We wish David Aisher the best of luck in his role and look forward to seeing what progress has been made by the end of this next three year cycle.

Meanwhile the Commodore awaits his new boat. With Pom [son of Bill] Green and John Higham's new yard Composite Marine building the IRC 46 out in Thailand, so this new all-carbon fibre boat will also benefit from America's Cup build know-how. To date the hull is laminated and the boat is scheduled to reach the UK early in the summer when she will be campaigned in the RORC program possibly including the club's Round Britian Race this year.