Is it still one of sport’s great tests?

by Stuart Greenfield, Yacht Racing Performance Coach
I have been involved in yacht racing, one way or another, since 1974, which is long enough to have made a few mistakes, owned a few boats, written a few cheques I probably should not have written, and been lucky enough to sail on programmes far grander than anything I could ever have put together myself.

After fifty years around yacht racing, the question I keep coming back to is this: is it still one of sport’s great tests of courage, competence, and trust, or has it become just another expensive arena for money, ego, and status and does it matter anyway?

I think the question is worth asking because yacht racing exists in a very different world from the one I first knew. Money is different in many ways. Time pressure is everywhere. Crew expectations are different. Technology is different. The old club mentality is changing for the better. France has turned ocean racing into something public, professional, and commercially understood, while in Britain parts of the middle ground feel as if they are quietly thinning out. – Full report