Equal rights for crews!
by Anette Viborg 10 Jun 2015 11:13 BST
10 June 2015
ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyères day 4 © Richard Langdon / Ocean Images
Right now we are at the ISAF World Cup in Weymouth & Portland. The regatta starts today. Our dear friend and Argentinian crew Cecilia Carranza, ARG 2, who won silver at the ISAF World Championship 2014 in the Nacra 17 together with her helm Santiago Lange, is not permitted by the International Jury to race the World Cup in Weymouth & Portland - because her helm Santiago Lange is injured and she needs to change helm.
On our team we like to think that the one helming the boat and the one trimming the sails has just as important jobs as each other; a helm cannot win a regatta without a good crew and a crew cannot win a regatta without a good helm. It is all about teamwork. So what happens when a crew gets injured or in other ways are making troubles for the helmsman? The helm changes his crew and can easily participate in the ISAF World Cup, if he or she is qualified and invited.
We 'ourselves' on the Danish Nacra Team tried this twice over the past couple of months. We changed crews before the ISAF World Cup in Hyeres in April 2015. No questions asked at all. No problem.
But what happens when the case is the other way around? When the helm gets injured can the crew sail the ISAF World Cup with another helm?
We found the answer to our question. The answer is NO.
A crew cannot change the helm if the helm gets injured. Crews and helms are not equal and we think they should be.
Anette Viborg & Allan Nørregaard, Danish Nacra Team