Keep Your Pros on the Dock

[BrightAyes]

The problem is not the pro-bros. The problem is the owners who hire the pro-bros. The only way to stop the behavior, and its ill-effects on the sport, is to outlaw it. Local clubs would be a good start. Clubs could publish their racing bylaws that included a statement "Professional Category 3 sailors are not allowed to race upon any boat competing in a club-sponsored event". That simple.

The One Design class can do the same as well. Coaches can coach all they want right up to the start. Once the race begins, the "No_pro" rule should kick in.

Pros can earn their day-rate in OTW training before or after the regatta. They can provide dockside debriefs, videos, advice, et., just not onboard a competing vessel during competition.

 

[timotheysski]

Jokes on you, if I can convince an unsuspecting J70 owner that he should pay me to trim main for Wednesday night racing, I'm all for it.

(Jokes aside I agree)

 

['Bacco]

" The only way to get better at sailing is to sail against those better than you." - My old sailing coach.

 

[Livia]

In most places, sailing is a boom sport and industry and there has never been so much money spent by new entrants to the sport.
Even last week the local club here had 57 boats for a pursuit beer can race and about 20 of these where newish European production boats that cost plenty.
What is definitely dying is ocean racing and weekend keelboat racing when compared to the rest of the sport.
Same club has 5 keelboats on a weekend.
There is no conversion rate from one to the other either.
So is the so called pros or the boy racer fuckwits who think they are pros who should go out and play by themselves.
The better question are the so called pros discouraging new entrants from saving keelboat racing.

 

[apophenia]

There is so much whining in this sport, you'd think it was based in Napa.

I didn't realize that when they made us read Harrison Bergeron in junior high school, they were trying to prepare us for sailing.

 

[FlyingCircus2]

Sounds like you need a new class. Buy this thing and come sail with me:

1997 Hobie Magic 25 — For Sale — Sailboat Guide

Discover your dream boat

sailboat.guide

It has double the sail area of a j 70. It makes them look like the geriatrics division.

 

[mgs]

What about the sailmaker who sails his own boat and has an employee or two sail with him?

 

[M@AYC]

The problem is not the pro-bros. The problem is the owners who hire the pro-bros. The only way to stop the behavior, and its ill-effects on the sport, is to outlaw it. Local clubs would be a good start. Clubs could publish their racing bylaws that included a statement "Professional Category 3 sailors are not allowed to race upon any boat competing in a club-sponsored event". That simple.

The One Design class can do the same as well. Coaches can coach all they want right up to the start. Once the race begins, the "No_pro" rule should kick in.

Pros can earn their day-rate in OTW training before or after the regatta. They can provide dockside debriefs, videos, advice, et., just not onboard a competing vessel during competition.

No. dumb idea.

 

[crashtack]

...why not go sail in a corinthian class? Or, i don't know, just get better?

 

[pudge]

Are they paying you for your daily rants? I hope so.

 

[JohnMB]

Clubs could publish their racing bylaws that included a statement "Professional Category 3 sailors are not allowed to race upon any boat competing in a club-sponsored event". That simple.

The One Design class can do the same as well. Coaches can coach all they want right up to the start. Once the race begins, the "No_pro" rule should kick in.

You are absolutely correct clubs and classes can prevent pros from competing in their races, it is entirely their choice.
Who exactly are you trying to persuade here? Have you asked yourself why clubs and classes dont?

 

[BrightAyes]

Sounds like you need a new class. Buy this thing and come sail with me:

1997 Hobie Magic 25 — For Sale — Sailboat Guide

Discover your dream boat

sailboat.guide

It has double the sail area of a j 70. It makes them look like the geriatrics division.

Tempting. I would need SEVERAL pros onboard to make it sail to its handicap though!

 

[BrightAyes]

...why not go sail in a corinthian class? Or, i don't know, just get better?

lol. that's a damn good question! maybe because pros have infested even the lowest level of racing at the lowest level of sailing?

 

[TUBBY]

" The only way to get better at sailing is to sail against those better than you." - My old sailing coach.

Nearly right, there is also one better, sail WITH those better than you!

Has worked well for me for decades, but then it's not hard to find sailors better than me.

 

[quickrelease]

The worst are those (pathetic ) pro's who very happy to be the " big fish in a little sea". They buy a one design Jboat (with the idiotic class rules loop hole that pro's who are 100% owners can helm their boats against amateur drivers) and win just about all the local regattas to further their own commercial interests (sails, bottom prep, etc). Let's these pro's pick on some one their own size, and get off our race courses.

Why does every other "leisure" or weekend sport, individual or team, (golf, tennis, bowling, triathlon, marathons, soccer, baseball, basketball, etc) have separate leagues for weekend warriors and for those who play the game 7 days week? pro's can and should complete with pro's to see how good they really are and leave the warrior stuff to us amateurs.

IMO, A level playing field is the best way to keep one design sailing fun and competitive.

 

[crashtack]

lol. that's a damn good question! maybe because pros have infested even the lowest level of racing at the lowest level of sailing?

Pros are infesting Corinthian classes? huh?
Also not seeing any pros in any meaningful degree in dinghy classes aside from maybe 505s, so idk what your 'lowest level of sailing' is referring to.

IMO, A level playing field is the best way to keep one design sailing fun and competitive.

Let's stop pretending here. When the average bar to enter one-design fleets (even lasers!) in the US is $10k-100k up front and ~$3k-10k annually, and speed is (in 95% of cases) directly correlated with money spent, not sure how there can even be any discussion of a 'level playing field' in sailing

 

[Norcal]

Get Off My Lawn!

 

[Marty Gingras]

OK. Am I missing something, or did the OP forget to tell us something about the boat. Like, the NAME, the MAKE, the MODEL?

We raced yesterday and even crushed the fleet in first to finish although are handicap took us down couple notches

The problem is not the pro-bros. The problem is the owners who hire the pro-bros.

Isn't there is a used-boat advertisement you can piss all over rather than continuing to reiterate that you are a poor winner and a poor loser?

 

[Somebody Else]

When I was a teenager, the best sailor in our harbor was 100% amateur.
He was my dad's age and sailing in multiple very competitive classes. He had amateur crew and pretty much the pick of the harbor because everyone wanted to sail with him.

When he was a teenager he was an intercollegiate all-American. He excelled in Intl-14, Aussie 18. Soling, etc.

The fact that he was in a good financial situation and could spend all his time tweaking his boats, keeping his sail inventory fresh, sailing multiple days a week, and traveling to all the best regattas didn't hurt.

Come to think of it, there's a guy in Santa Cruz that is a lot like that. Tech entrepreneur.

How can I avoid them winning all the trophies? What rules need to be made to level that playing field?

 

[jhc]

Get Off My Lawn!

Yeah, let's get congress to pass a law to get gov'mnt off our backs!

Or, we could set up skippers with kids for caddies, to hold their beer.

Or, make the buy in sooo big only the mega rich can sail! Oh, wait we already do that...
Then, blame the "pros". "They are ruining our sport!"

Let's give US sailing money so they can have a platform to do all this!

...and shift the focus away from the US olympic sailing debacle.