Why Do We Call It Grand Prix Sailing?

Mr. X

Looking at the results of the ISAF World Championships for the Olympic classes there were some names that stood out in the results. These were names that were clearly recognizable to me probably because I have seen them in the magazines and watched them in the Americas Cup or the Volvo Ocean Race. You know who they are, the top "pro" guys, the "grand prix" guys you know the names. The interesting part was that these guys were not in the medals; in fact many of them were sailing terribly. The question is; are the big name pro sailors the worlds most talented? Looking at the results from the ISAF Worlds the answer would have to be no. I picked out a few examples listed below, but there are more. This leads to the question; how did they become the "big name pro" guys? It could be a classic case of it's not what you know but who you know. Or maybe the guys at the top of the fleet don't want to be involved in"grand prix" sailing, which begs the question; Why do we call it "grand prix sailing"?

• Richard Clark [Illbruck] 18th in the Finn.
• Paul Cayard and Phil Trinter [Oracle] 8th in the Star
• Torben Grael [Prada] 32nd in the Star
• Mark Mendelblatt [One World] 6th in the Laser
• Morgan Larson [One World] 33rd in the 49er
• Kevin Hall [One World] 27th in the Finn
• Ben Ainslie [One World] 1st in the Finn.

Ben bailed early on the AC sailing and it looks like he made a good decision.

It's no wonder more "pro" sailors don't have the balls to race in the Olympic classes, it's bad for business.

09/29/2003