SNG Race Officers went on strike!

That's how 'classy' Alinghi/SNG's campaign has been all the way through...

Mike

Originally posted by ChrisC Sailing Anarchy now reporting that Harold Bennett has been sacked as Race Director and PRO by CNEV !

Damn, he won't get to run the third race then. Oh hang on...

Well, other than those folk on Internet forums who magically know everything that's going on in the heads of people they've never met its hard to know what was really happening. No doubt something will come out in people's books years later, but coloured by what they'd like to have happened [grin]. And I don't think there's anything wrong with talking to the RC before the flags go up. Goodness knows I've done it enough! Some of our club ROs might say too much!

On the other hand its a matter of public record that the original SIs had wave height restrictions that were struck out by the IJ, and it seems that the conditions were just outside those. We know that the SNG members of the race team didn't want to start in those conditions, and there's actually no reason why the sailors on the boat shouldn't have known that too.

It doesn't seem unlikely that Alinghi weren't expecting a start and were wrong footed and confused when the signals went up. Fact is though a committee boat isn't a democracy: one can speculate that maybe they forget their guys on the boat had no power!

As for Alinghi paying off ISAF: that's another of those net rumours. Frankly I reckon its nonsense. Apart from anything else the facts that the IJ ruled against Alighi and then the race went off should prove it. It seems to have been started by xenophobic trans-atlanteans. The facts are that SNG paid ISAF a fee for the event. Well suprise. Every AC organisers have done that: its required. Also its a fact that the fees and the details of the agreement weren't made public. Well, damn, neither is my employment contract or my salary. It doesn't make a conspiracy! I don't remember any of the previous agreements being made public, nor do I give a damn!

What also seems to be a fact is that SA have retracted the story that sparked this thread off.

None of this takes away the fact that the behaviour of most (not all) of the SNG reps on the commitee boat was disgraceful, and I doubt they've heard the last of it. I don't believe any of them are accredited ISAF race officials though, and if I were them I wouldn't be anticipating getting that accreditation any time soon! As for the crew of their boat: I don't see they did anything wrong in *this* instance. Sure they were naive about the influence of their mates on the RC boat, but I reckon they've paid for that already.

Edited by JimC

Originally posted by Laser 173312 This won’t reflect well on those organisations.

Oh grief, get a sense of proportion mate. It doesn't reflect well on SNG, who they were representing. But its an isolated incident in a very peculiar set of circumstances. Its got stuff all to do with the reputation of those other organisations.