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Wankerville

There are plenty of good sailors in this country. Some, like John Kostecki, carry themselves in a professional manner both on and off the water, and others, like Dennis Conner are, well, socially retarded boors. Then there is Peter Isler. Despite his bland and smarmy television appearances (is that the best TV can do?), Isler is perceived as a pretty nice guy, which is beside the point.  We’ve got another perspective:

 Peter Isler is a wanker.  And virtually every time he lays pen to paper, he proves it.  I’m not speaking of his work for Sailing World, which tends to be pretty reasonable information. It’s when he opines while never disclosing his real agenda that we base our opinion

 He created a couple of preposterous articles for the now defunct Quokka website – one of which touted his  “vision” of sailing in the future. This was called  “If I were King”, in which he basically said that all existing boats should be obsolete (replaced by one designs, as deemed by Isler) and that there should be more women in sailing. Not enough women in sailing? Christ, you can’t look at a magazine without some glowing report about some female sailor or regatta. (Perhaps “Queen for a Day” might have been more appropriate, eh Peter?). 

 Another “expert” piece that he wrote was an attack on the Transpac “Box” rule.

It’s hardly coincidental that the rule that Isler was attacking is the very rule that prohibits the type of boat that Isler is paid to shill for. The boat was something called “Red Hornet” a  DynaYacht 40 which is the canard rudder, canting keel precursor to the Schock 40. Isler could be seen steering the boat in a number of regattas around the country. Think he was doing this for the hell of it? Of course not, he was getting paid to steer a boat that he didn’t own, and was also paid to promote it. You know, the very definition of being a paid ‘professional”.  Of course the boat was entered in a number of PHRF regattas, and Isler was steering. Isn’t that at least a violation of the spirit, if not the letter, of the rules governing professionals participating in PHRF? Oh wait, he’s Peter the Great. Nobody says shit when it’s one of The Big Boys.

 Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think this is called a conflict of interest, but of course in the sailing arena of hero worship guys like Isler are never questioned about their motivations. Never.

 This is also the guy who wrote more nonsense by claiming that pros on boats didn’t make that big of a difference, and therefore their participation in all classes should be unlimited.  Does anybody think this is also just a bit self-serving, coming from a guy who makes his living getting paid to sail?  First of all, it’s perhaps one of the more stupid claims ever made. Pros don’t make a big difference? Really? Remember that the next time you watch an America’s Cup race. Or remember that the next time you get your ass kicked by a boat with pros onboard.  Doesn’t Isler get a huge fee, in the neighborhood of $1,500.00 per day to go racing? If pros don’t make a big difference, how come some a-hole is paying Isler $1,500.00 per day? If I were Isler, I’d shut the fuck up on this subject. Looks pretty suspect from where we sit. But again, nobody questions Peter the Great. Oh yeah, except us.

 Does anybody really care that he was getting paid to sail this goofy thing around to some very mixed results? Not really.  However, I think people should have been outraged that this “leader” of our sport was steering in PHRF. He doesn’t belong there and frankly neither did the boat. Why? Because one of the most basic rules of racing is that moveable ballast is not allowed. But how then, do boats like this get ratings? Isler explained how in his latest indictment which appeared in something called Scuttlebutt. (Why the hell anybody would want to be known as a ‘Butthead is a mystery to me).

The racing rules allow for classes to have modifications by creating “class” rules that allow such things as canting keels, like this, Isler said.  Keep in mind, that there was no “class” of DynaYacht 40’s – there was one boat. But, so what? You simply write some “class” rules and viola! PHRF let’s you in!

Which in our estimation is total bullshit. So what if your “class” has some freakish setup that would otherwise be considered illegal?  Go race “class” then. Bizarre creatures like this don’t belong with  the boats that otherwise comply with understood basic rules. Perhaps then I’ll develop my new  “class” boat, the F.U. 40. I’ll have “class” rules that allow for the engine to be running at full bore while I am racing. I’ll hire Isler to sail it, convince everybody how advanced it is, and PHRF will let me race.  

That Isler is a self-interested, self-motivated sailor who makes his money in this industry is no secret, and few would argue that he is a decent sailor, nor his right to earn said money. But when he writes things like the above, without disclosing his obvious agenda, it gets back to our original claim: Peter Isler is a wanker.