Opinion

Matt Allen at the helm of Ichi Ban.Photo Yachting Australia.

Boring administration reforms have direct benefits for all sailors says Matt Allen

Wow! Yachting Western Australia and Yachting Victoria now use the same accounting packages! If, like me, you are initially under-whelmed by that piece of news, please read on. There's something in it for you. The revelation above came out of…

Handicapping the Sydney Hobart is like herding cats – it can't be done

Shortly, the winner of the Tattersalls Trophy, the ultimate prize in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, will be awarded to the winning skipper on Constitution Dock. Along with a Rolex watch. I don't know who it will be, which…

Rumour suggests Iain Murray will be America's Cup regatta director again

OPINION: According to reports on the New Zealand website Stuff and in the Fairfax media, Iain Murray is again in line to be regatta director for the America's Cup World Series and the 35th Match in Bermuda. Stuff's Duncan Johnstone…

Stop the gravy train, ISAF, we want most of you to get off

ISAF turns down technology. By Roger McMillan. After three days at this farce that has been the ISAF World Championships in Santander, I wrote an opinion piece about starting technology (see Related Content). It was prompted by a general recall…

Time to change our thinking on startline procedures

Yesterday was a bad day for the sport of sailing at the ISAF World Championships in Santander. A huge crowd of locals watched boats bobbing around for four hours, to get a single one-hour race finished in the Laser Gold…

Coffee with the umpires – a good way to get future calls right

The Extreme Sailing Series has been responsible for some very good innovations such as stadium racing, where they have brought the contest to within metres of the public. But a small, almost unseen initiative is one that could be worth…

Victorian government hits interstate boaters with stupid gas regulations

When is this country going to grow up and have one set of registration and one set of regulations for all states? Boats, by their very nature, move around a lot. And every time they cross into another regulatory environment…

Should you log a passage plan with authorities?

Almost every week we carry a story of yachts sinking, being abandoned or losing people overboard. There is one from Britain today that made me wonder how many people lodge a passage plan with Marine Rescue before they go offshore….

Our club handicapper is an idiot… or worse

Thank you for inviting me to “vent my Spleen”! In my club, we have a constant problems with the handicapper and his setting of handicaps in mixed fleet yacht racing. We are using PHS handicaps for our regular races, but…

Do you think lifejackets should be compulsory?

Do you think lifejackets should be compulsory at all times? Following the recent tragedy during the Flinders Islet yacht race when two well-known sailing identities, Andrew Short and Sally Gordon, lost their lives, the NSW Government is reviewing its lifejacket…

Should we ignore the America's Cup?

Is the current nonsense which masquerades as an America's Cup match harming the sport? Or will it ultimately be the catalyst for an event which once again turns the world's eyes to the sport of sailing? In an interview with…

Does the handicapper deserve to drink alone?

Generally the club handicapper drinks alone at the bar and is often referred to as ‘The knee-capper' with the critics always outnumbering the sailors who he can honestly call a personal friend. In all fairness the handicapper cannot factor in…

Are there too many different classes sailed at our yacht clubs?

I'm new to sailing – my daughter has just started at the local club – so I might be right off base with this one. But am I right in thinking there are way too many different classes of boat…

Oceans 13? This Dutch teenager is simply too young.

Last week, a Dutch court ordered a 13-year-old girl be put into the care of the social system while consideration was given to her attempt to be the youngest person to sail around the world. She reacted by saying that…