Wednesday, July 23, 2008

the extent to which sailors will go ...

A heart-to-heart conversation with multihull evangelist John Green, of the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, revealed that you can't always trust a sailor, particularly when it comes to the drive to win.
With just two in-shore course boats having rounded and therefore eligible to win, John Green pulled out all the stops in his bid to beat his multihull rival, Hi5. As the 17:30 time approached when the race would be called, John went so far as dropping his sails (yes, his sails) and installing the sail covers, in the hopes that the Hi5 skipper would fall for this ploy and turn on his engine before the deadline. But, a sailor himself and obviously savvy to the tricks, Sigi Stiemer was having none of it, and ended up winning the Rosedale Rock Race, with Sauterelle finishing in second place. Phew! We'd hate to see such underhanded attempts to win rewarded!
Source: John Green F9A "Sauterelle"