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Utter shame on the sport of sailing...

Posted 9 months, 13 days ago

Utter shame on the sport of sailing...
Apparently the precious souls in the D35 class have got their knickers in a twist and assumed the position as Ernie's poodles by acting like spoilt little children in excluding the world's greatest sailor from their pathetic little playground circus. At a lunchtime meeting today a vote was taken under the auspices of an "association" to oust Russell, a man who has competed for three years in the class and even won their coveted Bol d'Or, to effectively ban him from their circuit. Apparently one delegate stood up and proclaimed like a complete prize buffoon that he would 'lower his sails' if Coutts showed up!! I mean how dumb is that? And furthermore, what exactly has changed since last year, the year before and the year before that when this buffoonery class fawned at the prestige of having Coutts lend some credibility to the total joke show? It absolutely beggars belief that the Swiss can be such a thick, dim-witted nation that allows this kind of thing to happen. Sailing is a sport that should be inclusive not exclusive. Imagine trying to explain this to a non sailor or to your kid: "Sorry son, the world's greatest sailor isn't allowed to sail in this race because the class doesn't like the competition." Absolutely daft and stupid...and it's brought utter shame on the sport. I wouldn't be surprised to see a European anti-competition law case after this. Coutts is a sailor and has to earn his living and pay the mortgage, school fees, bills etc just like the rest of us. He derives his living from the sport and just because he is signed up to the Oracle camp doesn't alter this. They are excluding him but on what grounds? We don't like the competition? We don't like the man? This is highly dubious legal ground and could see the association sued to the high hills...it's almost racist, certainly unfair dismissal, I hope the association has got a lot of money. If you were a D35 owner now who was on the peripherary of the argument, wouldn't you be looking to offload the boat - and fast? This will totally kill the class and make them the pariahs of world sailing...it's incredible to witness such stupidity. The association is being played like a puppet by Bertarelli but it's them that will be the losers and Ernie will just walk away. He'll shaft you, mark my words. And I'll tell you another thing. I'll hazard a bet that Larry Ellison is fuming over this right now and if there's one man in the world that you don't want to be on the other side of a playground squabble, it's Larry...If I were Ernesto, I'd be very, very careful. This will be his downfall... Going cheap...     Full Story »

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