A Joke !

This year to date (end of 2006/ beginning of 2007 - now 2008 ) we still have not received the racing calendar. (not unusual) The people who actually do the racing, voted 10/4 in favour of the sensible handicapping system (IRC), whilst those who do not race offshore yachts, but seem entitled to a vote anyway, voted for the Micky Mouse (ORC) system, so yet again as much as possible has been done to scupper the seasons racing...  Unbelievable.!

CYPRUS joins ORC for IMS and ORC CLUB

In a letter dated 16 May 2005, the President of Cyprus Yachting Association, Mr Panayiotis Kontides, has announced that The Executive Council of CYA has decided to apply the IMS and ORC CLUB as their official rating systems for offshore events. 
Measurement of yachts has already started with support from ORC measurer Konstantina Sfakianaki (Greece). An ORC Rating office in Cyprus will be opened shortly.

I think that this situation is ridiculous - those who do the racing do not have as much say as those who sit around in yacht clubs, drinking and talking about racing! or those who race optimists and lasers deciding the fate of the offshore yachts.
Ah well.,,, the world seems to be the same in all walks of life. And as for the rating office ! One captain I was talking to forced the lifting 'committee' to put the boat they were weighing back in the water because 'the experts' were about to drop her out of the slings. (She was tipped at an angle of almost \ ) Their experience was such that they didn't realise that a yacht with a long keel needs different length slings at each end where a fin keel can use 2 the same length.... he will not be racing this year.

And so, the same problem we have always had -  certain people are more interested in their own aggrandisement than the good of the sport in Cyprus. That is something Andrew Clunis fought his whole life, he loved the sport. Sailing was his passion and his love. He built his first boat in Larnaca aged 10. He loved Larnaca Bay and although he sailed far and wide including the Atlantic to the US and when sailing from the UK took the old ships route, he thought that Larnaca Bay was the best place in the world for sailing and perfect for racing. Those who loved the sport of sailing in the big boats will miss him, not only for the enthusiasm he displayed but also for his sportsmanship. His life was cut short just as he was about to realise a dream of captaining the first offshore team sent to an international offshore race.

Clunies Cup

This year we will again not be holding a race in commemoration of Andrew Ross Clunis.
He was a founder member of Bonatha Yacht Club and was very active in the Cyprus yachting scene. He won again and again with his yachts - Parang - Water Music - Brigand of Changi and Witchaway, and on any other yachts that he captained.

His wife wanted to put up a huge solid silver perpetual challenge cup (and 2 smaller for 2nd and 3rd) to be run on the Channel handicap (the new IRC rules ) of which Andrew was an ardent supporter.  She had hoped it would be held in October 2002 and met a deadline to import the cups from the UK. When she took them to the club to discuss the arrangements and the handicap, she was told that she had to have the race on the Greek system - she said that the race was to be Channel/IRC. They would not accept (even though Andrew had previously measured all the boats specifically for this season and on the RORC website it states that in Cyprus the rep is Philip Psiloinis philip.psiloinis@cyta.com.cy  Larnaca Cyprus Offshore Yacht Club, ) and did not even have the decency to have a meeting about it.  It was too late to organise anything then, but one year we do want to sponsor the race.

Please all who knew him, or those of you who would like a good fair race in a wonderful bay (Larnaca ) some when in September / October - some year - let us know here when would be the most convenient for you. We need your support.

Developments 4th September 2008

The Klounis Memorial Cup

I received a phone call today from a sailing man, who had heard that I did not know anything about the Klounis Memorial Cup which is to be held on Sunday the 7th September. My first question, of course, was " Which handicap system will they be using?" H exclaimed "Well it doesn't matter which system, they won't let me win, even if I " "win" I interjected, questioningly.

Well yes, he said. I have had some experience of this state of affairs, I remember many years ago, a Dutch, or Swiss perhaps person entered one of the races. Our little group thought the more the merrier, but we were all totally shocked when, having won his class by a huge amount, he was disqualified on a ridiculous technicality. I don't remember what is was exactly, but I do remember that it was so ridiculous as to be laughable, something like "being a foreigner and winning the race" and laugh he did, I remember him exiting through the gates of the marina, smiling and laughing and saying that he knew in his own heart that he had won. We all felt terribly embarrassed and I remember Andrew 'arguing the toss' on his behalf quite vigorously. The technicality was something that would never have been brought up had he not won and so taking his money under false pretences, was the charge of the day, as sportsmanship was something Andrew felt very strongly about.

He felt almost as strongly about the handicapping system. The way he described it was thus.

The channel handicap or now the IRC is about 'may the best man or team win. The ORC is about, may he who cheats the rule best this year win. The IRC is about sailing your boat,  whatever that boat may be, as it would be fair to someone with a fat coracle, a family cruising boat or an out and out racer. Whoever sailed that boat to the optimum on the day would be the winner. Levelling the playing field is what it should be about. The ORC on the other hand is an esoteric rule which is constantly encouraging designers to design winning monsters. That is why we have keels which fall of, fat un sea kindly lumps which bounce on the water and reams of people acting as human ballast rushing from side to side as though they were in a dinghy scrum.