Chapter 7
Charting a new post Paralympics course.
With no more Paralympic sailing, funding from Government to the MNAs dried up so the sport quickly organised its reinstatement campaign with Paris 2024 the next target. One positive was disbanding the IFDS and the establishment by World Sailing of an in-house ParaWorld Sailing Committee (PWSC), and an evaluation of the disciplines and classes to be used in a future Paralympic program .
We put forward our 303 as it was the best boat to bring in new sailors and nations, and our Liberty as it was the best boat for the actual Games. Other contenders were the rejigged 16ft RS Venture with a ballasted centreboard, roto moulded Windrider Trimaran and from New Zealand the 14ft Weta Trimaran.
The Weta was interesting as it’s a performance fun boat that regularly capsizes and pitch poles, but here it was suggested as safe with a quadriplegic on the helm which was nothing short of a nonsense. The Weta was actually built alongside our boats at Batam so I rang Patto to see what he thought, and get some inside information from within the Weta campaign. It turned out the Roger Kitchen the Weta designer and owner wasn’t involved, the driver was a patriotic guy who worked for Yachting New Zealand.
“What, is his name Andrew Clouston by any chance” was my question. “Yes that sounds familiar” said Patto. Well we’ll well, here’s one of the members of the PWSC’s Paralympic Class Evaluation Committee putting forward and writing the submission for his favoured boat, when his role was supposed to be an unbiased judge.
Another contradiction was the RS Venture as one prerequisite for a class was to have at least 500 boats sailing with an expectation of second hand boats, but the ballast keel version of the Venture was still evolving. Our Liberty didn’t comply with the 500 rule either, but at least it was in production and a World Sailing Recognised Class.
Two evaluation trials were arranged, the first on Lake Garda in Italy followed by Medemblik in NED about 6 weeks later. That suited us as our 2016 Hansa Combined Classes World Championships was at Medemblik, timed to follow a week behind the Para World Sailing Worlds, it being the last such event for the old Paralympic classes, including our SKUD. Sandwiched in between these two Worlds would be the second evaluation event.
We had arranged to ship 6 new Liberty to NED to be charter boats to pad out the Liberty fleet, so Akko brought 2, and 2 new 303 over to Garda by trailer. Zoltan and Eva drove across from Hungary to add weight to our case, while I made a lightning trip from Australia by air.
Extraordinarily Mike Wood our old friend who back in 2004 had created the phoney Sailability International website adorned with doctored images of sunk 303 and Liberty with just the mast tip poking from the water was leading the Weta evaluation team. Back in 2004 he was promoting the Martin 16 against our Liberty for selection in the 2008 Qingdao Games, so this was deja vu, and another comedy of errors.
Lake Garda went OK, apart from Batam accidentally moving the mast step forward 10mm which raked the mainmast aft, which caused excessive weather helm. So here we were trying to demonstrate how good we and our boats were, but in a breeze it was a battle to steer a course, which caused Betsy Alison chair of the PWSC to dress me down with “Chris, why do these boats have such heavy weather helm”, which pretty well knocked the Liberty out of contention. Geoff flew across from Batam to NED to correct the mast step before the next trials and our Worlds, but the damage was done.
It would be another 10 years till Betsy got back in a Liberty and had what has been described as an epiphany, like a religious conversion when she awoke to the fact that our Liberty is indeed the best boat for a future Paralympics.
The highlight of Garda was Mike Wood’s reaction when I gave him the multi page dossier Jackie had prepared of all the garbage he had served up back in 2004. He levelled eyes with me and said “your a nasty little man”. Before we left Garda I gave Chris Kitchen a copy of Mike’s scandalous dossier to take home to his father, the Weta owner.
Then the highlight of Medemblik was the morning Mike was to leave from the beach resort in Spain he now called home, someone broke into his house, took his keys and pinched his van. So he didn’t make it to the trials in Medemblik, which meant they couldn’t demonstrate the fixed seat that was supposed to somehow protect a quadriplegic when the boat nose dived and pitch poled in a breeze.
After the trials the whole World Sailing circus who had managed their Worlds and the trials packed up and retreated to their home across the channel. Not one of the World Sailing staff could stay to observe our Worlds.
But that’s the usual scenario, a bit like when the poles of two magnets come close they repel each other, because the direction of the line of force is opposite. The mainstream’s binary disabled sailing, and our non binary sailing for everyone should be on the same wavelength, ie, providing opportunities for disabled people to sail, but we aren’t as we seem to repel those binary mainstreamers. It’s an interesting phenomenon worth studying why this should be.
Could it be that mind, being a binary machine is governed by the binary laws of magnetis, or am I looking to deeply and it’s just they are conservatives while we are disrupters, the outsiders pushing for change. Now the former is an interesting concept, but going nowhere as it’s probably beyond the capacity of rational thinkers to follow.
The outcome of the trials saw the 303 selected as the non technical class for men and women’s singles, the incumbent 2.4m Norlin Mklll reselected as the single person technical class, and the 2 person RS Venture Connect. The Venture Connect, interestingly renamed coincidentally to sync with World Sailing’s “Project Connect” program which the RS International Marketing manager used to manage when we worked for World Sailing. That’s one of the little advantages that comes with being English in the incestuous England / RYA domiciled World Sailing world.
But onwards and upwards, our 2016 Worlds was a great success. It was run on a tiny budget by Akko our Hansa distributor, his soon to be wife Liza, Hendri and partner Rivka, and a young lady paid to look after media and publicity. They were backed by an army of Dutch friends and relatives who pitched tents and camped on the Medemblik Marina grounds. To be part of it was one of the truely uplifting highlights of my life.
***
We had staged our first Worlds cheekily in Whitby on Lake Ontario in Canada in 2007/8, then in 2010 Rutland Water in central England, 2012 was Middle Harbour Yacht Club in Sydney where it blew 30 knots and produced great video. 2014 was scheduled for BAADS in San Francisco but was cancelled as it was destined to fail.
So we needed to take control and make a splash in 2016 as the word was it was better to cancel and have no Worlds, which Akko and friends did in spades, rather than go backwards with a bad one. Next was Hiroshima in 2018, an enormous success which brought our program before JASF and into its mainstream.
Then 2020, again in the US but abandoned due to extraordinary, only possible in America events. The first debacle was Newport Beach so we tried again in LA, but that also failed. We’d also been asked by World Sailing to move our World’s cycle to uneven numbered years, so as we’d lost 2020 we needed to act quickly and find a venue for a 2021 Worlds, in the middle of the Covid pandemic.
Palermo in Sicily could do it, this time incorporating the Para World 303 Men’s and Women’s singles for classified disabled sailors. But as few of the IHCA executive could be there, with no IHCA Technical Delegate to keep things on track it was overrun and became a disabled sailing event.
As I write this I’m on an Emirates flight from Dubai to Lisbon, then a 3 hour drive south to Portemao for the 2023 Hansa Combined World Championships. It looks to be a milestone event with huge fleets, 93 x 303 Singles and 85 doubles, half of them from France who are sending 84 doubles sailors. One of the factors which contribute these big numbers is the 303 being a Para World Sailing Class. But France isn’t trapped in that binary world, that’s not the entire focus of La Voile Ensemble which is both the Hansa Class Association and the umbrella organisation for over 70 inclusive sailing clubs across France.
That’s captured in the short speech I gave in announcing the winner of the 2023 Excellence in Inclusive Sailing Award:
“What began in France as “HandiVoile” , the short form for “Handicap Sailing” has grown to include all levels of wheelchair users, people with intellectual and mental disabilities, vision impaired, deaf people, European, Asian, and African people, equal numbers of men as women”.
“But it has now evolved to include all their caters and their able bodied friends, all sailing together. Sailing Together— what a great example of inclusion that is. In French it’s “La Voile Ensemble”, Sailing Together, what a beautiful name for an Inclusive Class Association”.
“Apart from that, just on the strength of numbers, with nearly 100 sailors here at our worlds, La Voile Ensemble has to deserve this years inclusion award.”.
“So Gilles, President of La Voile Ensemble please come forward to accept this award”
The future projection is Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club in Sydney 2025, then in 2027 possibly the new sailing venue in Marseille built for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
***
The proposal World Sailing put forward in 2020 to the IPC for future Paralympic events was ;
The RS Venture was 10 boats crewed by a mixed male female team, one team per nation, so that’s 20 medals. This is called the 2 Person technical class as it has a spinnaker.
The 2.4 was the Single Person technical class,10 male and 10 female who qualified independently, not as a national team, so . this was also 20 medals.
While the Liberty was the Single Person non-technical class, 15 boats for male,15 for female making up 15 national teams, so 30 medals.
In total then Para World Sailing had applied to the IPC for 70 medals which was similar to the 80 from previous games. So the Liberty was the winner, and rightly so as it opened the door to the less powerful sailing nations. I imagine the agenda for RS would be to whittle away at the Liberties 30 medals, to argue for maximum slots for their Venture Connect.
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The first Para World Sailing World Championships for the new line up of classes was at the 2017 Kieler Wokker, in English Kiel Week, in Germany, one of the 8 annual WS regattas for Olympic and Invited classes. Akko negotiated our contribution, a container load of 24 boats half of them new which we supplied. Several European nations brought their own boats, so it was a sizeable fleet.
To encourage new sailors and nations PWS boosted numbers with a PDP, the ParaWorld Development Program which covered travel, accommodation, charter boat and coaching for disabled sailors from new nations. So we had sailors from nations including Latvia and Turkey.
The event management on and off the water was run with German precision, and for that I remember it fondly. But true to form, or as per the norm, the World Sailing contribution had its usual flavour with an undercurrent of superiority which always left us feeling unloved.
I’ll list some of the highlights here :
The German race management guys gave me accurate data for each race with wind strengths, distance from starting line to the windward mark, and how many minutes it took each boat to get there. For years I’d been asking the class Association for this info, as so often the first race of a light wind series is abandoned because the Race Officer made the first windward leg too long. The Class info provided only a target time for a race, and it infuriated me that we couldn’t correlate wind strength to distance in meters. Why couldn’t we recommend say 5 knots of wind : 250 meters to windward mark. So easy, but in 2023 we still haven’t done it.
I got wind that Clytie from the Philippines was on her way but would be late, had no money and her phone’s battery was dying. We rang her on my phone while she was in transit in Singapore. We gave simple instructions to get herself on the plane to Hamburg and get some sleep, a ticket would be waiting for her at the Kiel bus desk by the exit from Hamburg airport.
We talked again when she landed in Hamburg so knew she was on the bus. Carwile, an incomplete quadriplegic from California had hired a car so we drove into town and waited for her at the Kiel bus depot. We only had an hour to find Clytie and get her to the event registration desk before they closed, but we made it, paid her entry fee and she just made it into the opening ceremony procession as flag bearer for the Philippines.
But she had nowhere to stay and the World Sailing guys said she was too late, they had finished the coaching so she wasn’t part of the PDP so couldn’t stay at their lodgings. Really, you dickheads, you are desperate for female competitors, well here’s one from a developing nation, so surely there’s a couch or floor space she can sleep on. And I doubt she eats much so why not feed her as well. Of course in the end they did all that, so maybe dickhead
is too strong, we can change that to wanker instead.
In another encounter I was asked by a WS office boy who was writing a report on the event why the 303 capsized so easily. I explained that there’s a lot of difference between a capsize and a knockdown. It’s not possible to capsize a 303 by wind alone, that as the boat heels it spills the wind as the keel swings out its increasing righting force counters the decreasing pressure of the wind. So could he please tone down his report.
Of all the classified sailors Sonar sailors who were now without a boat to sail only Jens Kroker, the German Sonar helmsman came across to race in a 303. From the SKUD fleet though came the Polish team led by Gregory their coach.
The next Para World Sailing event using the 303 was Sheboygan on Lake Michigan in Wisconsin USA. Here we took a different approach and sent 24 x 303 in our own 40ft container we had purchased in Sydney and shipped to Batam loaded with stock to build our boats, and a sample rack onto which would be strapped 4 x 303 complete. So Batam we’re to produce 5 more racks and prepare 24 boats, load the container and get ready for shipping.
When the container arrived by barge and entered the Port of Singapore it was reported that our container was missing crucial ID numbers and was likely to get stuck in its next port of call, Long Beach in California. If we were lucky it would make its way into the US rail system to rattle across to Chicago where it would be transferred to a truck for its final leg to Sheboygan.
This then was a pending disaster. Imagine if it didn’t make it. All those sailors, the PWS and WS officials, the Sheboygan Yacht Club who were hosting the event all prepared and assembled at great personal and corporate expense. Imagine for us the political damage. Plus our containers next scheduled stop was Antigua in the Caribbean, then on to Valparaiso in Chile, then back to Long Beach to wait for the scheduled 2020 Hansa Worlds at Newport Beach. This was a seat of the pants adventure. You had to have blind faith this was going to work, to believe in miracles as nothing short of that was going to save us.
Akko booked our Air B&B accomodation in Sheboygan, I arrived first and after unpacking my stuff walked the mile or 2 down to the venue. It was about 21.00 and the staff were closing up the restaurant and bar, but I wasn’t looking for conversation, just get a picture of what we were facing here presuming it all came together. Of course I presumed it would, the Joker wasn’t going to blow us away here, or could it be that this was indeed the beginning of the end of our remarkable good luck as Jackie and I always joked about. We didn’t care either way, at least we could smugly retire knowing we had already changed the world for the better.
I checked out the yard, the boat ramp and the pontoons and was about to head home, but made a pass through the bar to use their toilet. There was a guy on a barstool talking to the barman who I asked for directions. Who are you he said, you’re got an Aussie accent, are your by any chance Chris Mitchell?. Yes sir I am just came down to reconnoiter the place to get a picture of the issues we might face.
Great he said, I’m Geoff Rudolph who’s putting this thing together, let’s go outside I show you what’s planned and we can make some decisions.
There was a very wide double bay boat ramp that we would be launching the 303’s from so he had planned to line up the RS Ventures along the kerb which gave a load of space for our 303 out in the carpark. No, how about this I said, switch that around, we can park all the 24 x 303’s stern to the kerb on carpet, they will be sheltered behind the sailing school building, and we are right next to the boat ramp. There’s only 6 x RS on trailers so they are better off lined up with plenty of space around them. Done said Geoff, I’ll get a 50 yard roll of artificial grass delivered tomorrow.
***
It was exciting as we followed the container’s unlikely journey through Long Beach, onto a train, to Chicago, then amazingly onto a trailer and heading our way. Geoff had a huge Pettibone crane on loan, standing by to lower it to the ground. The PDP associated with this event was scheduled to begin not on the water, but with an induction to the boat, at least one rigged on the artificial grass in the carpark.
At 10.00 that morning our container rolled in next to the crane and touched down. In minutes the door was opened and the first rack of 4 rolled out into the USA sunlight. Quickly we lined them up and had them rigged by 12.00, the rest followed and by late afternoon we were set up, 24 boats fully rigged ready for action.
They looked magnificent, all our 8 coloured decks, 3 of each colour parked on their bright green artificial grass. They were stunning, we were in a public carpark and passers bye loved them, but it’s always noticeable how the traditional sailors look on disdainfully and ask snide questions like “when are you fitting the taps” inferring they were a row of bathtubs. One morning when we arrived for work there was a local artist, his easel set up at one end of our fleet as he captured the morning glow emanating from our artistic display.
While we were there we set about arranging a proper inspection and certification of our container so it could safely continue its journey. We were in good hands it turned out. GAC, or Gulf Area Company had arranged our shipping. Liz Boldelamar handled the paperwork with Rockit Cargo Incorporated based in LA who are specialists at moving containers and cargo for the entertainment industry, particularly rock and roll bands, so it’s a sign of the Joker’s sense of humour to have them rocking the boat with us.
Not that I should associate the word “sense” with the Joker, as senses are just crude tools used by mind. But that’s the nature of Oneness, there’s very few words to describe it. Sorry, nature doesn’t work either as it’s related to the natural state of matter. But then in a broader sense, as long as we appreciate and acknowledge the difference between mind and soul, I’m sure the Joker doesn’t mind, or give a f- – k what language we use.
The Sheboygan event was a different concept for PWS also as it was a round robin short course affair with many short races and crew changes. So we were moving boats in and out of the water several times each day. But it went like clockwork with Akko working with Betsy to ensure we knew the schedule so we were always one step ahead.
To me there were 3 standout events at Sheboygan:
The first was the container making it in the first place. We’ve since been told it’s virtually impossible for a uncertified SOP, (Shipper Owned Container) to make its way through some of the world’s busiest ports then across the US on a train as the computerised control systems used globally demand the long string of ID numbers and letters that identify a container. But it did, and in hindsight, if you know the capability of the Joker, the master puppeteer to pull strings, it’s only logical that it would all go to plan, just in time, to the minute, to fit in with the fluid plans of the designer of the Sheboygan PDP.
Second is just across the border from Wisconsin is Canada who managed to send a fleet of 2.4 sailors, with Peter Wood acting as their manager. I can remember back to my first trip out of Australia promoting these boats was to visit Keith Hobbs In Ottawa, and I was introduced to Peter who was then interested in being involved with our boats. But I sensed he had a profit motive which I try to avoid. At least it shouldn’t be someone’s primary goal to look after oneself.
The way the joker works is if you value the well being of others ahead of yourself, then if your ready, events in your life might take an extraordinary turn to where mind’s role changes from causing you pain and grief, to resolving the imbalances which you created by your poor choices. It’s these poor choices which caused your pain and grief in the first place. So I thought it was pretty cool for the Joker to have Peter leading the 2.4 sailors, and presumably being involved in the Canada Sailing’s decision not to send any 303 sailors to Sheboygan. It’s like a perfectly logical outcome, if your aware of the greater background to the story. Greater meaning the including both dimensions as if you don’t know the power of the Joker you only get to see part of the story.
Another beautiful touch was there was only one USA sailor in the 303 fleet, even though PWS were trying to impress the IPC with numbers. How could that be, but it was perfect when viewed from outside and has to say something about US Sailing and it’s convoluted journey. Jim Thweat was the only US sailor who got himself there, and independently of US Sailing. Jim’s been supporting and enjoying our boats for a while as he came first in the 303 division in the Hansa (then Access) American Championships in Baltimore back in 2003.
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Our container eventually got inspected and correctly certified and made it’s way onto a ship headed for Antigua in the Caribbean. Now there’s a fascinating place as it’s at the centre of the English slave trade, the significance of which was covered in Chapter 7. But briefly here, much of English, English Royalty, British, UK, GBR business and institutional wealth, power and influence stands on the foundations built at the expense of others.
No nation or individual is immune from bad behaviour and poor choices. Just as most individuals don’t know the rules, how can a government be expected to. But even if they did and lived by them, they wouldn’t be in power for long as their self serving electorate would vote them out of office. But no chance of that happening as a democratic government will always have an eye on the next election so is self serving itself.
So I can’t see how any elected government in a binary world can be flawless, so it’s an oxymoronic conundrum where there’s no solution other than an inevitably corrupt compromise. As Churchill said, “democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others”.
But that’s not to let Britain of the hook as the standout example of dubious behaviour, which is why today the English language is the global standard. English wouldn’t be the global language if the English weren’t the most influential, and they wouldn’t be the most influential if they hadn’t been the most successful at colonising huge swathes of the planet. Unfortunately that means the most effective at what today would be seen as criminal, unethical, immoral behaviour. So if it’s that today, why wasn’t it that 400 years ago when the wholesale raping and pillaging went into overdrive.
I’m ethnically English so can speak from inside the tent, so did you know that we forcibly transported around 4 million African men, women and children across the Atlantic through the Caribbean to be sold as slaves, and nearly a million of them died in pain and were tossed over the side. Through the Caribbean the survivors were traded, Antigua being our headquarters to run this corporate operation. It was condoned, sponsored, financed by shareholders, including our Royal Family. How many of the wealthy aristocracy made their money from this era of foreign trade, though compared to what they/we did in India, growing sugar in the Caribbean is micro business. Like it or not its a pillar of the English Class System.
It’s been an enlightening, thought provoking, contemplative journey where I’ve been taken. Even the next PWS Worlds using the 303 in 2019, in Cadiz in Spain, not far from Gibraltar which the English controlled, where we lodged in Peurto Sherry, where Christopher Columbus sailed from, but named after its principle export, sherry for the gentry of England. The stroll each night down to the river for dinner, the walk takes you past whole street blocks of warehouses with English names as they controlled the sherry trade.
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But back to business in the Caribbean, to Antigua where we sailed in Falmouth Harbour, a short walk to English Harbour where Nelson kept his fleet. It was a bit of a folly really for us to go there, still with its strong English business connections. But if we hadn’t I’d be poorer for missing the experience.
We had arranged this Antigua visit through Bob Bailey who lived on his keelboat half the year and managed the RYA affiliated Sailability Antigua run out of the Sailing Academy, a community sailing NFP established in 2010 by its matriarch Elizabeth Jordon. Our container arrived and was stored across the other side of Falmouth Harbour in a waterfront yard owned be Franklyn Braithwaite the esteemed local sailmaker and commodore of Antigua YC. His workplace was is a prized heritage listed sail loft in historic English Harbour.
I presume Franklyn’s ancestors arrived as slaves, so his life, his past lives would be a fascinating story. This time he’s commodore of Antigua’s Yacht Club, itself an enigma surrounded by a marina hosting the worlds most extravagant oligarch owned Super Yachts. When those yachts all fire up their air conditioners the lights dim across the island.
When I arrived I was picked up at the airport by Bob. Next day I met Alison Sly-Adams who is a busy lady, who along with her husband run several websites like Antigua Nice. She also manages Antigua Week which is the huge globally recognised week of sailing events. Alison listened to my story and asked if I could do a presentation to a group of influential sailing locals, to which of course I said yes. Alison was also the secretary of the Caribbean Sailing Association.
Among those I met on day one was Geoffrey, the aging president of the Antigua Sailing Federation. He would attend my presentation, he would be sailing a 303 in our Accessible Sailing Regatta later in the week, and was planning to sponsor, that’s pay for one of the boats in our container. Bob had arranged for us to leave 4 behind, but we needed to get authority from the Government as the container had arrived on a carnet, duty free, so whatever arrived was also supposed to leave.
But that was easy as Sylvester the head coach at the Sailing Academy made an appointment to see his uncle who was the Antigua Government’s Minister for Industry and Sport. Unable to resist such an opportunity I prepared a proposal that Antigua could rival or trump Barbados who had recently created their Fully Accessible Barbados, or FAB, a national Inclusive Tourism initiative we had heard about. We actually went there to see how our boats could fit into their program.
My presentation to the Tourism Minister was called Access All Antigua, AAA, and featured initiatives to make Falmouth and English Harbour a more accessible and wheelchair friendly place. So we were on a roll. Here was one of the 3 Sailability organisations outside GBR affiliated with the RYA. The other 2 were Dubai which Jackie had started, and Sailability Hebe Haven in HK which we had certainly initiated when Jackie organised our visit back in 2009 when we were busy travelling back and forth to China.
We completed our Antiguan program but leading up to our regatta noticed Geoffrey had gone silent and the doors around us were closing. It was strange, who’s toes had we stood on, I could see there was a power play between Bob and Elizabeth, and while they were both English, she was the boss who lived there in a waterfront cottage. Bob’s home was mobile and not so secure, constantly in motion and only tethered to mother Antigua by his anchor chain. Bob ran the RYA affiliated Sailability program and went home to England for the northern summer.
Sylvester had been great, he wanted to be our Caribbean distributor, and I thought with Alison on board we could use Antigua as a springboard to the Caribbean. But then I began to see the roadblocks in our way. The place is so English it’s roots run very deep, for us to ship there is extremely convoluted and expensive, whereas the place was geared and meshed with Britain.
There was a possibility to ship from Miami as small ship and tug boat company Crowley ran a regular container service in small feeder ships. I’d linked Alison up with Harry Horgan at Shake a Leg Miami. If Harry could get his big cat “Impossible Dream” there for Antigua Week, it could participate in an inclusive division and be the starter boat for our Hansa Inclusive Regatta.
A pipe dream the lot of it. Even Geoffrey vanished and didn’t even enter our Regatta. It was like the background to a paranoid tragicomedy themed movie which I knew well. All the elements of a conspiracy were there, there were invisible forces working against you, but did those central players even realise the roles they were playing in the production.
I could be excused for smelling a conspiracy when it emerged that Dan Jaspers, the International Marketing man at RS, who originally worked for RS managing their in house fleet, then moved to World Sailing to run their Project Connect initiative, then went back to RS to his current more strategic role was the Chairman of the Caribbean Sailing Association’s Development Committee. And the Antigua Yacht Club was in the process of buying 7 new RS Venture Connects.
Soon after our visit Elizabeth retired and Alison took over to run the sailing academy. Covid came and went, then I got an email from Bob saying he was so proud that 2 of his 303 had entered the annual Inclusion Regatta that had morphed from our visit. The 4 x 303’s we left there will probably be unloved and in disrepair, scavenged for parts to keep one or 2 going. If they have new sails they would have been locally made.
What I’d envisioned was a pipe dream, never to be, but the losers aren’t only us, it’s the Antiguan kids and disabled people who’d been so excited sailing amongst our colourful 20 boat fleet. Antigua and the Caribbean were coming into our orbit, but off they went on a tangent, taken away by commercial interests and won’t get to experience the pure love and generosity generated at our Hansa events.
But let’s leave it there as it doesn’t mean there was a conspiracy cooked up by commercial interests in Antigua as the Joker could have engineered the whole thing to keep everyone on course to wherever they were going, and put me in my place, the loser to write these words describing the experience. But having said that, there is no doubt Dan Jaspers would have been busy in the background making sure Hansa didn’t get a foothold in this English domain of his.
As said, the losers are the people of Antigua who had a brief but joyous taste of independently sailing a Hansa. And the people across the Caribbean, the black people, the descendants of slaves who don’t even know what they missed.
But that’s presuming what we offer is an option for everyone, as it could be that much of the population had already cast the die to mould their future. If what we offer is better is irrelevant for those who are headed in the opposite, or another direction. Sounds harsh but they may not have earned the right to something better, if that’s what we represent. I think we do, I know we do as there’s magic in the motion of our little sailboats punching through waves, or gliding along in silence. It’s an opportunity to connect with nature, or beyond if your ready. So it’s “spiritual” dimension is not for everyone, but for those in the Caribbean with the key, sadly it’s not yet to be.
Maybe though the equation stops there and their due is for a lesser experience, to be taken for a ride for example, instead of being in the position to choose, there being more than a subtle difference between those two. It’s the difference between being “taken for a ride” on a 16 ft sailboat, versus the freedom of captaining your own little ship, experiencing the unlimited freedom and joy on the open sea.
It’s an obvious fact that the bigger the boat, the less likely program participants will get to sail solo. But that’s how many program operators like it, as it gives them control, but it deprives some sailors the key to the next step in their lives. Instead the spoils are divided between the coach or companion sailor, and the disadvantaged sailor being taken for a ride
Or could it be that the influence of Britain, and by extension British industry, could override the already earned trajectory to something or somewhere better, ie could their upward momentum be thwarted or temporarily delayed by the imperative’s of marketing and business. But isn’t that the way the binary world works, where those with the power prioritise their own goals over the needs of others, inadvertently depriving them of opportunities for growth. Isn’t that the role of advertising, to sell someone something they didn’t know they wanted. If it’s not the altruists intended way it’s what the practitioners binary world degenerates into.
But it’s not such a simple equation as we haven’t considered the totality of these Caribbean peoples personal journey. They are obviously descendants of slaves, in past lives they themselves were likely slaves, maybe they are among the near million who died at sea and whose bodies were tossed over the side into an unidentifiable watery grave, only to be reborn when a family is reformed in the Caribbean.
There are related questions like what is the relevance of their current religion, where does it fit on the scale of relative truth, how rigid is it, how rigid are they. Paste that over who were they, and what was their religion when they were enslaved. These are questions which could be answered, simply by asking, if an answer is important to know.
Or do you write off those questions as the ravings of a looney. Because in your world view there’s no role for any type of karmic determinism as it’s all down to evolution, survival of the fittest and chance, their bad or good luck, depending on your personal perspective, to be born in the post colonial christian Caribbean.
Read another way, that means they only get to be taken for a ride on a 16ft sailboat, instead of reaching their full potential, being free and independent, because England transported them there and colonised their Caribbean island, so their journey is pragmatically tied to England’s. Thats until they awake and demand their rights and reparations. Which they certainly have the right to do. When they do, if they all do on a global scale it will bankrupt the UK. Maybe that’s the invisible impetus behind decisions like Brexit. The GBR karmic equation playing itself out.
From my perspective the Caribbean is a romantic place which I thought could be brought into our orbit but it looks like that’s not to be, not in my time anyway, so if it is it’s probably over to others to arrange. Which could be based on solid business principles and be more financially successful than my effort chasing a misty eyed vision.
Several times we have ventured into the Lion’s Den, each time meeting resistance and failed. If your going to survive in there in the long term you have to keep up an active presence, or in some places be prepared to play dirty, which we aren’t good at. Our successful programs have always been based on a magnanimous business partner working with a team of loving volunteers, never marketing and hard core business. We haven’t had to compete for market share, it’s not what we do as we have usually been the leaders creating the market. In hindsight, with that understanding you can see why we failed in China, Canada, USA and Caribbean Antigua.
Then there are huge swathes of the globe where we are yet to venture, like South and West Asia, Africa and much of South America. They will probably wait till a passionate local wanting to organise a program comes forward. Which is a very different approach to a business operator identifying a commercial opportunity importing and selling sailboats.
***
The next stop for our container was Valparaiso in Chile which looks like a short straightforward journey but actually it turned out quite complex beginning with a feeder ship carrying the containers from Antigua through the Panama Canal to Balboa City. It was then transferred to a container ship heading south down the South American Pacific coast to Valparaiso.
These container movements were all arranged on a carnet so we had an obligation to export everything, leaving nothing behind. In hindsight it would have been sensible to leave a few boats in Valparaiso as we did in Antigua, but the plan was for them to be used to seed interest In California leading up to our 2020 Worlds.
Our container was “Shipper Owned”, an SOC, which some companies won’t carry, or it will be the first to be bumped off when there is congestion. Our SOC had a blessed journey and made it through to the pacific end of the canal to the port owned and operated by PSA Terminals, which is owned by the Port of Singapore Authority, which is owned by Temasek Holdings, which in turn is owned by the Singapore Government. PSA Terminals is among the world’s leading port operators, with facilities in 26 countries including the port of Antwerp in Belgium.
So here’s a government of a tiny country with a population of only 5 million which owns and operates huge global businesses. The Singapore government and the Singapore story featured earlier in Chapter 8 as Singapore is an alternate democratic system which contrasts the fundamental inadequacy of a Liberal Democracy.
Generally democracy is a binary system which begins with wholesome statements like “government of the people, for the people, by the people” but it inefficiently wastes so much of its energy pursuing populist, or the peoples choice issues, that it leads to its inevitable decline.
Today we witness the growing number of increasingly polarised, increasingly disfunctional democratic nations heading for basket case status. The problem is obvious. If your going to give dickheads a vote you need to discourage the number of dickheads, not empower them.
***
I flew from Sydney to Santiago and was picked up by Tommy to the news that our SOC had been bumped from the ship in Peru. We were using GAC as our logistics coordinator, with Luz Boldelimar as our contact, so the 2 hour drive to Valparaiso was set to an exciting phone conversation between Luz and Tommy in Spanish as she urgently moved our container though the port, onto a truck to a neighbouring wharf and onto a feeder ship departing soon for the port of San Antonio, 90 kilometres south of Valparaiso. It was most impressive seeing Luz was in a different time zone in London.
Tommy had arranged 2 weeks of action taking full advantage of the 16 boats in our container. We had 48 hours till the Politicians and Navy band would assemble for the opening speeches and celebrations. It was 24 hours sailing between ports, so there was no room for error, port blockage, road accidents, or flat tyres. A crane Tommy had arranged to lower the container to the deck arrived, to be followed by our trailer truck just before sunset. Tommy’s team immediately sprang into action and by 22.00 we had all 16 boats rigged and lined up ready for the launch next morning. It was the same seat of your pants miraculous timing as Sheboygan, heart attack provoking, if you didn’t know it was just the Jokers warped way of ensuring you kept the faith.
Next morning the Navy brass band, local and federal politicians, dozens of sailing participants arrived and the speeches began. Each day we would focus on sailing for the numerous community groups. There were morning and afternoon sessions planned for local disability sports groups, an extraordinary day saw mothers taking their disabled children sailing, another was senior citizens from aged care institutions all sailing together. School children, vision and hearing impaired, acquired brain injury, intellectual disability, rehabilitation providers and through it all Tommy’s regular inclusive sailing club members.
We entertained local government executives and staffers, councillors, the mayor, and through it all was Tommy endlessly talking, doing radio and TV interviews. Every day, all day telling the story of inclusion, back to the sea was his message, Sailing for Everyone, sailing for the people, a socialist message from an altruistic entrepreneur.
It was also a battle for survival as there were forces who wanted the land for alternate property developments. Fortunately the waterfront owners were now onside, so the only real foe was on the other side of the shoreline, the Pacific Ocean itself .
As that’s what’s amazing about Tommy’s venue, it’s an impossibility by normal standards as it’s based on a pier projecting straight out into the South Pacific Ocean. Usually there’s a gentle swell undulating under the plastic module pontoons, but when a gale is forecast the 30 meter long ramp is raised and everything lifted from the water to be lashed down on the pier. The scene then changes to wild wind driven green water and spray, 6 to 10 metre pacific rollers with breaking crests storming past where our pontoon had been to crash on the rocky shore to leeward.
It’s an extraordinary project which has attracted a heroic group of sailors. Tommy’s program is actually what you could expect in this hidden gem of Latin America. Valparaiso in Spanish means “Paradise Valley”. It’s also known as the “Jewel of the Pacific”, the second largest city in Chile declared a World Heritage Site in 2003 thanks to its historical importance, its natural beauty complimented by original bohemian architecture, an artistic blend of colour and stone lining its winding streets rising from the narrow coastal strip.
Our challenge is to upgrade these pontoons projecting out into the South Pacific Ocean so we can host a Hansa Combined Classes Americas Regional Championship. ASAP. There will be multiple challenges as it’s a hilly inaccessible city, but it’s people are adventurous and innovative. It’s a worthy destination to host one of our major events, one that will embrace our message and transform itself into a boutique inclusive tourism destination.
After the prize giving and closing ceremony we packed up the boats and loaded the container as it was scheduled for pick up next day. It’s next stop was Long Beach California where 6 months earlier it had first landed in the Americas.
***
This chapter is about the Paralympics, but we seem to be following the progress of these 303’s. The reason for this is these boats began their journey to support World Sailing’s “Back the Bid” project, to encourage the International Paralympic Committee to reinstate sailing as a full medal sport in the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games.
So there were multiple synergies here. Apart from bringing on board new nations and sailors, if we could host our Worlds in Southern California, and establish a Liberty fleet in LA (there was already a very active Liberty fleet on windy San Francisco Bay) we had a chance to convince the LA Organising Committee to request sailing be included in their 2028 sports lineup. A long shot for sure, probably another pipe dream, but if you don’t give it a go how do you get to know if its another folly. But even a folly isn’t necessarily so, as who knows what silver lining lies hidden under its foreboding grey cloud.
As it turned out our attempt at a 2020 Worlds in Newport Beach was indeed a folly. We followed up with an attempt to resurrect these Worlds at Los Angeles Yacht Club, a very prestigious club with blue water history, the centre piece in its foyer being a glass cased model of the most famous “Kialoa”, the world’s first and most successful Maxi ocean racer.
But this too didn’t work out. It was the same USA lyrics but set to a different beat, as we were learning to expect. The place may work for others, but for us it’s one tragicomedy after another, a bit like it’s current political trajectory. When no one from our Worlds Organising Committee can answer your emails, when I’m the one trying to arrange shipping to get the a fleet of boats there, then you have to ask is this going to work.
In the end the City of San Pedro who owned the marina sold the operating rights to a Dallas private equity owner, which killed the event, but that coincided with the arrival of Covid so it was conveniently blamed for the fiasco.
I’ll keep the finale brief as it’s too sad a story. The container of 303’s got moved around and distributed to new clubs and existing programs in the hope, with the promise that this was going to kick start our next attempt to get the USA up and running. In hindsight we could have simply moved the container to Jim Thweat’s place near Sacramento creating a home base to re launch from, but we didn’t. Instead we shipped the near empty container to Paul’s place in Denver, leaving 8 boats in paid storage in LA for 3 years. It was Covid, I couldn’t travel, we had a confused agenda, it was yet again a sad ending.
The USA has been home to some of our greatest disappointments, but if we can continue on with the theatrical theme then thats all these events were, just B Grade movies we helped fund, and paid exorbitantly for tickets to be in the audience.
Our 2020 Hansa Combined Classes Worlds was first planned to be hosted in California’s Orange County, home to Disneyland, first at Newport Beach, with John Wayne the local Airport. When that became larger than life we moved even closer to Hollywood proper at Los Angeles Yacht Club.
That marked the end of the story for the Debby Boys container of 303’s, but not the end of World Sailing’s “Back the Bid” campaign which was still in full swing. We continued to back that program until it too ended with the 30th January 2023 announcement by the IPC that sailing would not be included in the LA 2028 games. So the next Paralympic opportunity will be Brisbane in 2032. As Arnold Schwarzenegger famously said; “we’ll be back” if we can prise the doors open.
***
Here we can continue the timeline following on from the 2019 California cancellations. In July 2019, 3 months before the cancellation of our 2020 California Worlds, and 6 months before Covid, the sailing world was still working optimistically towards LA 2028.
July 2019 was the Para World Sailing World Championships held in Cadiz in Spain, just outside Gibraltar in the Atlantic Ocean. Again we provided a fleet of 20 plus 303, arranged by World Sailing at £1000 per boat. For this we shipped a full 40 foot container of 303 to Nick in Netherlands, which he arranged to be trucked through France to the far south east corner of Spain.
Cadiz is today’s port and marina on the coast, while Peurto Sherry is the historic port up the nearby river from which Christopher Columbus sailed. As per the 2017 and 18 PWS Worlds, the classes raced were the single person 2.4, the 2 person RS Venture, and our single person 303 for both men and women. Here are what I remember as the highlights.
The evening walk down to the old city night market with its restaurants spilling out into the narrow streets, watching the colourful Spanish women taking centre stage, animatedly chatting amongst themselves, while their more staid dark clothed men strolled along in the background. They have probably been working all day and can now relax, while their female partners were catching up with friends and sharing their many common interests. When you don’t drink and don’t have much to say in polite conversation then its a nice distraction to have fantastic things going on around you.
At events like this I stay with Nick, his parents and their Dutch friends at whatever Air B&B they have booked. So I don’t have to make many decisions and can hide in the background behind the foreign language I don’t understand. Until I’m asked a question, which is usually about accessible sailing and it’s history, a subject Ive been immersed in since it’s inception.
***
The event was excellent with constant good wind, but also we had probably the most understanding Race Officer on the planet. Adrian stayed on shore throughout, in radio contact with the start and course rounding mark crews. The start and finish lines were invariably set just outside, or as close as possible to the harbour entrance. This was particularly important as we were using a Round Robin format of short races so the same 20 boats could be shared across 2 fleets of both men and woman sailors.
Para World Sailing were experimenting with different racing formats. The Standard is fleet racing where all the boats cross the starting line in one fleet. The start line is as horizontal, or across the wind as they can get it. If the wind is shifting direction it can cause delays as the team rotate the course.
There are 3 variations of course after the starting line.
A windward – leeward (or sausage) which is up into (or against) the wind, around the windward mark then straight back down to a single buoy, or a gate which is a pair of buoys about 50 to 100m apart, set a bit off to the side of the starting line. The sailors can round either buoy, to the left (or port), or right (starboard) end of that imaginary line. Then it’s back up to the windward mark and around the course 2 or 3 times. The finish line can be back across the start line, or off to the side to a short line with a boat at one end recording the finishing time for each boat. Or the finish line can be up the top of the course off to one side near the windward mark.
A Triangular course (or pizza) starts like the windward/leeward, then up to the windward mark but heads off to the side to the wing mark on a reach, could be square or angled back downwind on a broad reach. After gybing around the wing mark its the opposite reach down to the rounding buoys similar to the Windward/Leeward course. Again it’s around this triangle 2 or more times to the finish, again as per the sausage course.
If there are multiple classes using the same start line a Trapezoid course might be used which is a rectangle which takes a Class fleet off to a windward/leeward course after rounding the windward mark. So after rounding the windward mark it’s a reach either left or right to the wing mark which sets up the offset windward leeward course. Various combinations can be configured so several classes are racing concurrently all using a common start line.
So those are the 3 standard courses used for fleet racing which can also be used for other formats. If there is a limited number of boats there are various forms of Round Robin using numerous short course races with rapid changeovers after 2 or 3 quick races per division. This can divide the competitions into smaller fleets according to performance. There can be a final medal race with double points for the A fleet to determine the final podium winners.
In Sheboygan we had only 20 boats so there were 8 to 10 changeovers per day with a trapezoid layout with left and right windward/leeward courses. Each race had a target time of 20 minutes. It was similar in Cadiz where the advantage was only a single race course was necessary as it was set just outside the harbour entrance. So it was imperative to have very efficient and rapid changeovers between the blocks of short course races.
So these PWS events were a partnership where the Race Management ran the racing as efficiently as possible, while we managed the pontoons and made sure the boats were ready and the changeovers went smoothly.
At Cadiz the RS Ventures and 2.4s were inside the marina proper, which meant they were very secure but it was a convoluted and much longer tow and sail out to their respective racecourse. While we were in an adjacent outer harbour with a seperate entrance which was protected by a distant outer seawall. This wall also protected our course and let us race close to the entrance.
But our line of pontoons we shared with the local sailing school, so we were there at their convenience, and was accessed by launching off the shoreline beach. There was quite a tidal range which exposed a barnacle encrusted wall we needed to float our boats past, which required a long loop of rope turning on a block on the pontoon, the other end tied to an anchor on the beach above high tide. So we could tie a bowline onto the knot joining the rope loop ends and haul the hull out to the pontoon.
The pontoon was also quite ugly for us as any onshore breeze would blow our gunwales under its structural steel edge. Luckily we could scavenge old masts from a dinghy graveyard which we suspended about 300mm above the waterline along the length of pontoon we were allocated. That length was not enough to accommodate our full fleet of 20 boats, so each evening we had to move a few boats back past the barnacled wall to the beach.
We also stretched a rope along the top edge of the pontoon on which we draped a fold of scrap artificial grass we salvaged from the graveyard. This hung down over the tubes to the waterline and prevented our brand new hulls from chafing on the crude industrial metal edged pontoon structure. So we had actually been given an unusable pontoon to work from, which we turned into a first class lawn green faced fully fender’d pontoon.
***
Another bit of junk that had been fortuitously blown into the scrub alongside the marinas storage yard was a 2400mm x 1200mm x 50mm thick sheet of flexible PVC packaging foam. I found it, planks of wood, and odd lengths of PVC water pipe we could use to telescope/join the lengths of mast together so we had an unbroken line of masts to suspend as the key element of our fender system. We then borrowed a few hundred metres of old keelboat sheets that every marina has stashed in a store somewhere. When done we returned all this rope and scrap back to where I found from it.
Except the sheet of PVC foam which made its way back to Poland as Olga’s cushion. Olga is the Polish women’s 303 sailor. She has an ineffective leg which doesn’t bend, so she needs a cushion to elevate the seat so her leg doesn’t project up into the air. Gregory came to me with this problem. She couldn’t use the standard sling seat and her shortened seat had been rejected by the Class Measurer as they hadn’t applied to use it as modified equipment.
She had been given a DSQ (disqualification) for using this seat in Sheboygan without permission, a fate Peter the Polish champion 303 sailor just escaped, as they had made one for him too which got changed over out on the water. Shortened sling seats flatten the seat surface which makes sitting forward a lot easier, so they are illegal. The standard 303 sling seat keeps the sailors weigh down low so is a stability and safety feature.
So just before the practice race we cut this foam, folded it under itself a bit like a sideways J, squashed it flat and sewed its fold in place with a line of 6mm rope. Olga sat in the new elevated seat, OK not bad let’s give it a go. So over came Leo our measurer and Bernard the PWS Classifier and approved the new cushion for Olga’s personal use.
She did well but didn’t win, then 4 years later at our Worlds in Portamao I’m approached by Gregory and he’s holding our cushion. He drops it to the ground and says; “We have been carrying this cushion around the world to events for 4 years. Isn’t it time for us to get approval for Olga to use a sewn sling seat that duplicates the curve of this foam cushion”. Yes why not so we went to our 2 measurers John and Leo. No problem, all Gregory needed to do was fill out an REA form explaining the reasons for the proposed variation, and attach a drawing of it. Actually I was surprised Gregory hadn’t done this 3 years earlier.
For me the event was memorable for those magical solutions, like that cushion, the artificial grass, the tubes, all these things were garbage, their next stop was the rubbish tip, except here they were lying in waiting for their related problems to call them into service. Apart from that the venue was great, the winds were brisk and steady, the temperature was perfect, the evening strolls down to the night market were a delight.
Europeans grow up surrounded by history, going back hundreds, thousands of years. When watching the locals in places like this I wonder could some of these people been seafarers, even crossed the Atlantic among the first Spaniards to “discover” America, or sail with the conquistadors to conquer and pillage South America. How desperate or adventurous must they have been to sail off into the unknown like that? If they are the same people but now in a different body, with a health system to keep them alive, schools to keep the kids busy all day, all sorts of vehicles to move their bodies around, how lucky are they today, how times have changed.
But have they really changed? Well I’d argue not as a lot more people may have a sense of financial security, even more do not, but they all still have much the same aspirations, and share the same love within their families. You only have to watch mother kangaroos and other animals caring for their children, or the males fighting amongst themselves to control the harem to see these are natural impulses that go way back in the evolutionary chain.
We also shouldn’t presume we’re any smarter or wiser than ancient cultures as our brain still has much the same computing power as when we were crudely categorised as “cavemen”, despite today’s formal schooling. And children have always played hop scotch and marbles under different names in the dirt and dust. Are we any closer to realising who we really are? With science explaining near everything, religion and mind muddying the rest, has awareness of the Oneness advanced, or has it gone backwards. So those are my questions as I look on and wonder what destiny has in store for those 21st century families strolling the streets of Peurto Sherry.
***
Our 2020 Worlds had been cancelled and World Sailing had asked us to move our Worlds from even numbered years to uneven. Which meant if we couldn’t get one up somewhere in 2021, our next would be in 2023 which was 5 years between our premier events. In our short life from 2007 we had already missed 2014 and 2020, so I contacted Eddie our distributor in Italy to see if Palermo were up for it. They had expressed their interest earlier, but it was now mid 2019 which meant they had 2 years notice to get prepared. News came back they would be honoured to host it, but little did we all know then that it would be in the tail end of the Covid 19 pandemic.
So our 2021 Hansa Combined Classes World Championships was to be in Palermo, the capital of Sicily in Italy. It was also going to be our first to include the PWS World Championships using the 303 for PWS classified Men’s and Women’s Singles. As it turned out the Class Association would have its hands tied by Covid. So we wouldn’t have a Class appointed Technical Delegate involved in the organisation.
Which meant the PWS manager Massimo Dinge would fulfil both the PWS 303 Worlds TD role, and act as the TD for the Open Hansa Combined Classes World Championships. So this was always going to be a real test to see if the mainstream PWS disabled sailing consciousness would be able to respect the Inclusive, so not disabled focussed, open to all Hansa philosophy.
In the end, to a mainstreamer or outside observer looking on it would have appeared a great success, particularly considering the logistics and travel constraints forced on both organisers and participants by Covid. But from the Hansa perspective it turned out at best a disabled Para Sailing focused event. Or it could be argued it was completely hijacked and turned into a de facto Para World Sailing Paralympic promotional extravaganza.
The actual sailing and race management was slanted towards the former, while the finale, the crescendo, the closing celebration and awards presentation was the latter. It was about 03.00 in Australia and they were live streaming the performance. Jackie and I were watching, more listening on my iPhone. We became more and more alarmed as it proceeded, Jackie was in tears at what our event had degenerated into. All the official speeches were about Para Sailing, it would actually have been in contravention of Paralympic rules as sailing had been expelled from the Paralympics so this was not even a selection event for the next games.
When we saw that the Hansa Open Perpetual Trophies were not even being handed to the winners, that all the award’s seemed to be Para this and Para that, I was on What’s App talking to Tommy and others to make sure our Class trophies were given to the winners after the event.
You can understand how this happens as the event was organised by the Lega Navale Italiana, the Italian Navy League, which is very mainstream and disabled focused. Plus Massimo the PWS manager is Italian, and he was acting as the Class TD . He wasn’t even aware of the Class Race Management Guide so the event was organised around the old IFDS manual.
After the event in a furious email exchange with Massimo where he was defending his and PWS involvement, David Staley had to intervene with one email to me saying “we have spent years building this good relationship between IFDS/PWS and Hansa so pease don’t destroy it over this”. So I backed off.
The sailing wasn’t bad but as usual the first race was abandoned as it was light wind and the course was too long to complete within the time limit. Generally there were light and shifting winds which meant race starts were delayed as the race officials constantly shifted the coarse orientation. These things waste time and sailors can be out there on the water for 3 or more hours with only one race completed.
As the final day approached there was a danger that the 303 Doubles and Liberty may not even complete the 4 races needed to constitute a series, meaning their division would be abandoned. The 303 Singles were safe however as their races had either been prioritised, or just luck had graced them with good sailing conditions. There were thunderstorms and highly variable conditions on the last 2 days, but enough races were squeezed in to complete the event. The 2.3 was never included though as the organisers didn’t see it as important..
Possibly the biggest issue at Palermo was Luis Brito who led the Portuguese team called a meeting of sailors to discuss class governance issues, but the Hansa distributors were excluded, with Nick of NED being asked to leave. The cause of this disgruntlement was fallout from the chaotic way our Worlds venue was selected and the debacle caused by USA 2020 falling over and the need to quickly find a venue for 2021, and be able to announce 2023 at the 2021 closing ceremony.
If there were eager Nations lining up to host our Worlds and the Class Association had an efficient selection process then it would be easy, but it hasn’t been that way.
The IHCA Race Management Guide followed a policy where the Worlds would be held at each even numbered year, ie biennial as in 2016, 18, 20, 22 etc, and rotate around the world from Europe, to Asia Pacific, the Americas then back to Europe. This led to failures in 2014 when San Francisco fell over, and again in 2020 when Newport Beach/LA collapsed.
With Sailing out of the Paralympics WS took over disabled sailing from the IFDS, but no Paralympics meant greatly reduced government funding going to the nations MNAs. The IFDS was a Stichting, a Dutch Foundation where there are rules and regulations which encourage the funding of NFP social benefit organisations. So when the IFDS was disbanded and it’s role taken over by WS a new funding model was needed.
So it was decided to include PWS Worlds regattas within the Olympic Classes events and to fit better into the Olympics cycle. Also we were asked to move our Hansa Worlds to uneven numbered years, and to include within our Worlds the PWS Worlds for the 303 men’s and women’s singles disciplines.
In even numbered years the PWS 303 M&F would be included in the WS Olympic and Invited Classes Regatta. Subsequently, the first of these would be The Hague in 2022, later pushed back to 2023 because of Covid. However the cycle would return to even numbered years after Paris 2024. Sounds confusing but these are logical moves.
So with the collapse of 2020 we needed to find a venue for 2021 to move into the uneven year cycle, and then at the 2021 closing ceremony announce the venue for 2023. So it was important to quickly find that 2023 venue. Portugal had asked to be included in the selection process, they were interested in hosting a future event, but had been told the cycle of Worlds rotated around the globe, which was the case at the time, so they should wait for when it returned to Europe.
In the haste to find a 2023 venue, and as France had been involved in a potential disaster which we averted with a pretty significant rescue mission, we asked France to submit an EOI if they were interested in hosting the event.
Of course I discussed this with Jeremie our new distributor. Did he know of suitable venues who might be interested. It was the Class Association’s role to advise everyone that expressions of interest were being sought. It’s my role to try to drum up interest, working with our distributors who have on the ground intelligence. It’s then up to the Class Association which one they choose.
In this case the Class Association did not advise all interested parties that a 2023 Worlds host was being sought, so France were the only ones to apply. Unfortunately they proposed Meze, but the 2019 Hansa European Championships had been sailed at Meze and it was not a popular choice for a Worlds. The Executive of IHCA duly decided to announce Meze in France as the venue for the 2023 Worlds.
When Luis the manager or spokesperson for the Portugal team at the Palermo Worlds heard about this he was rightly outraged as he had been told by the IHCA Executive back in 2018 that the 2023 Worlds would be in the Asia Pacific. Probably New Zealand. So Luis called for the sailors meeting to demand, among other things, that the decision giving the Worlds to Meze should be rescinded and both France and Portugal could reapply. This was agreed to and the successful bidder would be decided by a majority vote during the IHCA online AGM scheduled about a month away.
Meze duly submitted the Expression of Interest form while Portemao put together a very impressive presentation covering race management, accomodation, potential social calendar, with a line up of sponsors. It was a pretty convincing effort so I emailed my French connections and suggested they submit more info and answer the questions being posed by the sailors reluctant to return to Meze. Unfortunately I didn’t get a response.
I had cast my vote in favour of France and had been actively promoting France as the gateway to bring onboard the many French speaking nations around the world, particularly in Africa and the Pacific. But in the end I felt it was insulting to knock back Portemao after seeing its sincere promise to host a memorable Worlds, when France had made very little effort. It was embarrassing so I sent an email to the Returning Officer to change my vote. The end result was Portemao got to host the 2023 Worlds which we’ll return to later in this chapter.
***
The next Hansa event to include a Para World Sailing World Championship for the 303 M&F Singles was the 2022 Hansa Combined Classes Asia Pacific Regional Championships in Hiroshima. This was an interesting concept as being a Regional Championships it was itself not a Worlds, but it did allow the organisers to spruik both “World Championship” and “Para Sailing”, even hints of “Paralympic” in their marketing.
It was only 4 years earlier that Hiroshima had hosted the 2018 Hansa Combined Classes Worlds which had been an enormous success. The legacy from 2018 was a new equipment storage shed, revamped office and meeting rooms with ramps across to the seawall viewing area, and the completely gutted and rebuilt fully accessible toilet, shower and change room facilities any major sporting organisation would pine for.
So with the 2022 Hansa Regional event on the calendar the Hiroshima Provincial Government owned venue received another major boost with the construction of a new boat storage building. At the opening ceremony for the event there were speeches from the Prime Minister of Japan. The Governor of Hiroshima Province. The Mayor of Hiroshima City, the President of JASF, the President of the Japan NHCA, and Vera the President of IHCA. It’s all a demonstration of how effective our interpretation of Universal Design can be, and how it enables our philosophy of Sailing for Everyone to flourish. All it takes is for the local authorities to be open minded and get behind it, not appose us as is often the case.
In the centrefold of the event brochure was my speech if I’d been able to attend, but travel was still too dangerous as I could catch and bring Covid home. So it was there as “A Message from Chris Mitchell”.
Inclusion is a word with many meanings, from the simplicity of including people of difference, to the complexity of trying to include everyone, and beyond to the ultra simplicity of seeing right past the difference, seeing only a person in need, to whom you may have something to give.
In sailing inclusion can mean disabled people competing against other disabled people. Or people with the same disability competing against each other. Or a power assisted disabled sailor competing against manual control sailors. Or a disabled person and an able bodied person crewing together. It can simply be including disabled people in the sport of sailing.
Apart from disability it can be encouraging gender equity in sailing or including people with other forms of difference or minority.
With Hansa Class events inclusion means everyone is invited, none are excluded as any unusual aspect of a sailors body or mind is irrelevant, because at Hansa we celebrate the diversity of life, where being different is perfectly normal.
Sailed within this Hansa Asia Pacific Open fleet is the Para World Sailing Single Person 303 World Championship for men and women. This division encourages classified disabled sailors who are eligible for a future Paralympic competition.
But this Hansa Championship in Hiroshima goes further as here most of those other examples of inclusion are also included in this multi disciplinary event, which should make this the most inclusive regatta in the history of sailing.
The event went really well, as happens in wholesome environments like this where it seems to defy even weather forecasts and generates its own favourable winds. It was like that for the 2018 Worlds when a typhoon traversed the Pacific, turned north heading towards south western Japan, only to pass through harmlessly to the west of us then curve to the right heading for Korea, leaving us with beautiful but unseasonal sailing breezes for the duration of the event. Or maybe it was just another lucky coincidence.
Hiroshima 2022 was in October, there were still high hopes with some that sailing would be restated, which ended 3 months later when on the 30th January 2023 came the announcement by the IPC that sailing would not be included in the LA 2028 games. So the next opportunity would be Brisbane in 2032. That’s close to our home. Our boats are the mainstay of programs surrounding Brisbane. Is it too far fetched to imagine we could get sailing back in, maybe as a single class demonstration event? It depends who we meet, who we get to talk to, it depends if it’s meant to be.
But the question is why would an Olympic organising committee take on a fight for an extra event which ultimately they have to fund. Brisbane would need a very compelling set of reasons to include sailing against the wishes of the IPC. The only way would be for sailing to underwrite the whole thing. That’s possible as we would provide all the boats, race management can be covered by a Club, the athletes and officials live outside the village. All for a demo which could lead to a full medal event if a slot became available. So unless it’s written in the winds from the ether it’s not going to happen.
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The Hague 2022 was meant to be the first combined World Sailing / Para World Sailing World Championship, but Covid and probably other obstacles pushed it back a year to August 2023.
Because it was a WS/PWS event only our 303 was officially included, but these WS annual regattas are for Olympic and Invited Classes, so because the Liberty was a recommended class should sailing be reinstated in the Paralympics, there was a chance the Liberty could be included. It wouldn’t be for a medaled World Championship like the 303, but still a prestigious international tick for the class. So the PWS classes competing there in 2023 were the 2.4 M&F. The 2P RS with at least 1 female crew, and the 303 Singles for M and F. The Liberty was an outside chance.
The small boat harbour at The Hague is at Scheveningen, a busy, congested place with a narrow entrance and minimal pontoon meterage to berth the PWS classes. There was an early organising trial arranged to see how the various classes handled the North Sea conditions, which from the Hansa perspective was a breeze, though the Dutch girls who sailed out into the open North Sea that day into a brisk breeze wrote in their report that it was very taxing.
But that’s the perspective of European sailors who only ever sail on lakes or other protected waters. Yes it would have been heavy work for any Paraplegic in a 303, or Quadriplegic sailing a Liberty, but those lumpy steep seas with breaking white crests is what our open water sailors are used to.
The 2.4, SV14 and RS Venture didn’t make it to the test event which was probably their wisest decision, so that combined with the venue’s congestion led to the organisers moving the PWS events to the Brassemermeer, a nearby freshwater lake with excellent facilities.
I was excited to see this event on the North Sea as it would have shown up the seaworthy qualities of our boats, and the lesser capability of the RS, 2.4 and SV14 if they had made it, though that was always a long shot. As it turned out Brassemermeer put on an excellent event. Our NED distributor Nick provided 17 x 303 and a few European teams brought their own boats.
This was Betsy Alison’s first outing as a competitive PW classified sailor. Betsy has been 5 times US Sailing’s Rolex Sailor of the year, was coach of the US Sailing Paralympic Team, and Chairperson of the PWS Executive Committee. But Betsy had recently undergone treatment for a variant of cancer and survived to qualify for classification as a minimally disabled sailor. So Betsy, being a world champion match racer in the past easily qualified to represent the USA as their Female 303 sailor, and subsequently won the gold medal.
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Two months after The Hague came the next Hansa event to include PWS World Championship medals. This was the Hansa Combined Classes Worlds in Portemao, Portugal, sailed in October 2023.
There had been the kerfuffle in Palermo in 2019 where Meze in France was about to be named as the venue for the 2023 Worlds, only for that decision to be rescinded and EOI’s invited from any interested party. The party agitating for the recision was Portemao in Portugal, so not surprisingly they submitted their EOI accompanied by a very impressive presentation and were rewarded by narrowly winning the ballot.
Portemao we’re pretty well left on their own after that as post Covid travel was still very expensive and restricted, though it opened up as we closed in on the event. There’s always chatter about how slow the organisers are with releasing the Notice of Race, and later the Sailing Instructions but eventually they come through and any perceived or predicted inconvenience is forgotten. Another regular question and complaint is why is it taking so long to announce charter boat availability. How can I arrange holidays and book accommodation and airline tickets if I don’t have the assurance of a charter boat. The event is going to be a flop and not worth attending if they don’t pull their finger out. But in the end, as if by magic it all falls into place and it’s a fabulous event.
Palermo had shown us that the Class Association needed an Event Management Guide as well as the Race Management Guide which had been in place for years. The RMG needed updating as there were gaping holes like the conduct of the opening and closing ceremonies that needed to be tied down. It was obvious after our perpetual trophies weren’t even handed out in Palermo that these procedures needed to be documented and agreed to, signed off on by the Club accepting the mantle to host the next event.
Also in Palermo they deemed it unnecessary to include a 2.3 fleet, as if the 2.3 was not a member of the class, just because they weren’t popular in Italy. So I got in early and entered, sailing a pink 2.3 named Husong, number AUS 088. We achieved 12 x 2.3 on the starting line most days, with me finishing 6th after completing the 9 race series.
We would have been 13 starters if Allan Jones our stalwart Hansa program organiser and veteran 2.3 sailor who had been coming with me to Portemao had made it. It would have probably been his final overseas trip as he was aging fast. We had booked Allan’s air ticket and arranged accommodation, but unfortunately 3 weeks before departure Allan, aged 83 rang to say he was grounded having fallen and broken his coccyx. Let’s hope Allan makes it to 2025 and the next worlds, scheduled for his home club, RPAYC at Pittwater in Sydney.
The first race was memorable as I didn’t have a time piece or take any notice of the starting procedure instead being busy taking photos while dodging my way through the fleet of 90 x 303s sailing up and down the long start line. After a couple of runs I was hailed by one of the coach boats who asked “are you meant to be racing, the 2.3s started 5 minutes ago”. So I put away the camera and took off after the little fleet, and managed to round up a few boats to finish in the middle.
That didn’t mean I was quick, far from it as I couldn’t get the boat going, it felt dead. I knew that feeling well as in the development stage of any new boat you keep shifting things, moving the mast, angling the keel, raking the mast forward or aft, lengthen the mast, shortening the boom changing the sails aspect ratio. Making incremental changes until bingo, it comes alive and signals its complete.
So in this event my boat was dead, but with another sailor onboard it might have come alive. Akko had sailed this little 2.3 Breeze to a podium finish back in 2019 at this venue in the European championships. So I had no hope of beating the Polish guy who won every race, or Yui who finished with 9 seconds, so I though what’s the point in trying to beat tail enders, better to go behind anyone I crossed tacks with rather than call starboard, and sail wide at all the marks to let my fellow battlers through.
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Unfortunately our new Event Management Guide was not completed in time to be signed off on by Portemao but the advantage of hosting the 2025 Worlds in Sydney is we will be able to tie down and perfect these documents, then see how they shake out in practice, and then they will be in place for future events.
After Hiroshima and before Palermo we realised that a few months after an event the Organising Committee shuts down their website and social media accounts, and their magnificent record is erased from history. So we built a new website, www.hansaworlds.org to preserve the event and leave a legacy. Organising Committees usually have IT sponsors who want to be involved and build and manage the local event website their own way. So all we need to do is pluck the info we want from the ether and preserve it on our official Worlds website for prosperity. We have also created a website to preserve our Regional Championships. It’s www.hansaregionals.org.
The Portemao Worlds was a great event. We had 90 odd French sailors competing plus another hundred in admin support roles, carers and helpers. Teams came from all over Europe, both North and South America and the Asia Pacific. 17 nations in all. With France sending 47 x 303 Doubles teams but only 17 Singles meant we had 30 x 303 to charter to other visiting teams for 303 Singles. Our distributors Steve of GBR and Nick from NED brought some charter 303 for doubles teams, but mainly 2.3 and Liberty. It was a good fleet of 17 Liberty on their starting line, 6 being full servo. We plan to boost the Liberty fleet for future events with 18 new boats, the number which fits in a 40ft container, and have them ready to travel, with as many servo as needed.
Portemao also included the PWS classified sailors so this has now become the norm for Hansa Regional and World Championships, a good outcome for both Hansa and WS. But as was the case in Palermo, the Portemao organisers did not fully understand the significance of the difference between WS/PWS disabled sailing and Hansa’s Open Sailing for Everyone. This was reflected in the presentation of awards which was again not as per the Hansa norm.
That’s not a criticism of the Portemao organisers as the nuances of the class are obviously not easily understood, but are not properly explained either, particularly to organisers where English is not their first language. The class cannot expect generally conservative yacht clubs, particularly those in non English speaking countries to understand our Hansa culture.
This therefore is a criticism of the Class Association which has to better explain our interpretation of inclusion in our manuals. IHCA also needs to appoint and send a Technical Delegate to assist the event organisers in the early planning stages.
With the next worlds in Sydney at RPAYC, one of the finest and most magnanimous yacht clubs in the world, we have the opportunity to bring it all home, perfect all the class documentation and set up for a magnificent future.
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The Portemao awards presentation was preceded by a violent thunderstorm with a downpour of driving rain. As the crowd of around 300 pressed in under the marquis, I was hovering around in the background watching proceedings, getting our ducks in a row. Of concern was they seemed to have forgotten our perpetual trophies as they were yet to appear on the trophy table but the welcoming speeches had already begun.
So John Figgures and I sprang into action. There was no way through the crowd so I found a route around the back of the stage, over the slippery seawall rocks, out of everyone’s sight was good so as not to highlight this hint of misunderstanding and chaos. John found the trophies in the organisers tent where I’d delivered them to, and brought them to me where I waited ready to scamper around the back over the rocks. The trophies arrived just in time as I was scheduled to present the first of them, the Excellence in Inclusion Award which was going to France.
I’d prepared a little speech which Sabrina back in Nowra had translated into French, which Nick had printed in 14 point font, while Nikki Durston who spoke the language beautifully was rehearsing her part, and was standing by ready for the action. That’s what I meant by “getting our ducks in a row”. And it paid off, our message was loud and clear to everyone who understood either French or English.
The Excellence in Inclusion Award said;
“What began in France as Handivoile, a short form for Handicap Sailing, has grown to include all levels of wheelchair users, people with intellectual and mental disability, vision impaired, deaf people, European, Asian and African people, of all ages, and equal numbers of women as men. But it has now evolved to include all their carers and their able bodied friends, all Sailing Together.
Sailing Together. — what a great example of inclusion that is. In French it’s “La Voile Ensemble” , sailing together, what a beautiful name that is for an inclusive class association.
Apart from that, just on the strength of numbers, with nearly 100 sailors here at our Worlds, La Voile Ensemble has to deserve
this years inclusion award.
So Gilles, President of La Voile Ensemble please come forward to accept this award”.
Portemao was a fabulous event for me. It’s an amazing sight and an extraordinary feeling to wander around amongst all those beautiful people who are all there to lend a hand to help someone, or contribute through their own passion for sailing.
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