The 22-year-old however was not only probably the best heavyweight in town yesterday he was also the quietest

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The 22-year-old, however, was not only probably the best heavyweight in town yesterday, he was also the quietest.. Old olympians never say die, they are out on the Solent, scattered among the crews of the 61 yachts competing in the Swan European Championship this week. Old olympians never say die, they are out on the Solent, scattered among the crews of the 61 yachts competing in the Swan European Championship this week. The grandee governors of a sport that is desperately short of leadership and structure should take note. This regatta is a significant indicator of the state of inshore big boat racing in 2001. The crews are part of a globetrotting crowd which assembles for events from Sardinia to Key West.

This is not the hard-edged, professional circuit, but it is the hard core of a sport which is both confident and comfortable only in its middle ground.This is the sector of the sport which is thriving, and, though the Swan group would regard themselves as infinitely superior, there are similar gatherings of Beneteau yachts and, most recently, Oysters, while the Sunsail group has ordered a fleet of 40 brand new 37-footers for a Portsmouth fleet often used for corporate racing. The grassroots players back their enthusiasm with time and money and they have fun. Would that the race managers could match their skills.The Olympic scene, too, is in good health, especially in medal-winning Britain, though the players tend to be separated early from a general domestic scene which suffers from the same unstructured malaise which afflicts competitive sailing in many major countries. Both France and New Zealand have made attempts to make the game accessible to all.

Britain, like the rest of its society, remains club-based and prone to exclusivity. The grand prix end is in disarray, despite successes like Ellen MacArthur on the single-handed scene.The Swans, too, could be considered rather exclusive, if only because a decent bit of kit is going to cost you over £200,000 Yachting is not cheap. But one of the reasons why people turn to this style of racing is because they have had their fingers burned at the grand prix end. So much so that even when a partial cure was offered in the form of racing for yachts all of the same design it came too late to save the Admiral's Cup from crashing on to the rocks of inept direction.Too often both the world governing body, the International Sailing Federation, or the national governing bodies in Britain the Royal Yachting Association have seen their role as being to enable rather than to lead.