In regards to the equipment used at the college level of sailing I agree with your statement, “the equipment should not be up for interpretation. Top-flight athletic competition should be about the athletes involved.” However, I strongly disagree with your basketball analogy about the height of the rim. A better analogy would be the size, weight and composition of the ball itself. In basketball there are several manufacturers of basketballs. The balls are manufactured to a standard similar to the way one design boats are made. Many professional and collegiate sports sign contracts to use one brand of ball however, that is not a like comparison for two reasons. First, the manufactures of basketballs i.e. Spalding, Wilson and Nike are diverse enough that an exclusive contract is not going to be make or break. Second, Exclusive contracts are all about money and branding. What we need right now in the sailing community is healthy competition. What we don’t need is a bully like LP getting exclusive contracts, it won’t be good for the sport in the long run. I don’t see the problem with using strictly one design boats. Competition is a healthy thing. It keeps prices down and quality up. Given all the controversy surrounding LP and other companies owned by Farzad Rastegar I can’t see how this agreement can have a positive outcome.
Leave a Reply