Too many of my friends in the sailing community have never worked on RC or helped out to run a regatta, or tried to be on a protest committee. The looks I get when I tell people I'm not sailing, I'm PRO, judging or just working the event, are enough to tell you why there are few younger folks doing it. This term appears regularly for yacht race series and I think in other sporting events. Their son, Willem, was shot in the Caribbean and is now paralyzed from the waist down. Willem, I am sure, will carry on with tenacity and pursue his dreams, and, at the same time, this untimely incident will hopefully remind others in the sailing world of what is important in life, life itself.
Sports are much more than rules and tradition.
Without beating the theme of growth into the ground, sailing does still need to survive. Like them or not, sailing is begging for more Ted Turners, more Tom Blackhallers, more Dennis Connors. Since race results and regatta articles are usually the only publicity an event gets, we must be opportunistic. Crews have long lived in the shadow of their skippers, and I applaud Carol Cronin's continuing efforts to effect change. The Sailing Source explains that this document will be presented to the judge Friday morning.