A response to Anarchist David’s latest article…
“Why didn’t they question our boat before, because they didn’t know it as fast, that’s why”
A fair response from Sam Haynes to all this except it wasn’t from him. It was from Warren Jones in 1983 in response to the New York Yacht Club’s demand that Australia 2 be remeasured because (they claimed) her rating certificate wasn’t in order. (Source: The Challenge – Golden Dolphin Productions)
So you see this witch hunt is not new or original at all, it has been done before and the club, in this case, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (or one of Celestial’s competitors) had the opportunity to call her rating into question before the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race started which they all declined to do.
Thing is they all knew she was fast in any case only losing out in the last race due to a technical infraction.
It is not just the integrity of Celestial’s crew being called into question but also the skill & professionalism of the official measurer, the national NMA and the rating system itself. Indeed, by inference, any boat that re-rates shortly before a big event.
The boat (Celestial) has now had her rig pulled and keel and rudder removed. It’s called maintenance. Celestial as in the past had reported problems at the top of her rig which, at least in part cost her victory in 2021 and a sufficiently high number of boats have had problems with their rudders in the race to have that checked out too along with keel mountings
Yes, just one rating certificate is required but a measurement process is not a 5-minute job. It can take half a day so that “one form” which additionally according to IRC Rule 8.5 has been “audited and if necessary verified by measurement” by IRC Racing or an appointed measurer. No mystery or subterfuge there. If one reads the IRC Rules an interested party can request a rating review. Perhaps those “two of the other top three skippers” rumored to have ‘misgivings’ about Celestial’s rating might like to go on record about that, we are a self-policing sport after all. At least one of the top three skippers will be comfortable when he meets Sam Haynes the next time. ”It wasn’t me Sam, honest!” Well done, more people are drawn into the situation.
Any (declined) expectation to be fed the name of the measurer? Well, that is an arrangement between the owner and rating authority. It is so easy to cast aspersions in someone’s direction with little or no evidence and why drag someone else into the mix.
Sam Haynes is a long-standing member of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. He has sufficient respect from his fellow members to be elected a Flag Officer of that club, the Vice-Commodore. He was previously club treasurer and presumably an elected committee member initially. Such commitment of time and energy to a club does rather suggest his healthy attitude to our sport. I would be surprised and dismayed if a flag officer of a prestigious yacht club would show such disrespect for his club especially in its premier event.
In modern civilized countries the common law concept of innocent until proven guilty serves well and I am somewhat uncomfortable by the apparent attempt to turn that concept on its head.
Alistair Murray was quite clear I his comment that proper measurement protocol was followed.
Doxxing is distasteful, whoever the victim is. Show us some real hard evidence, please.
Alistair Skinner aka Shanghai Sailor