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"25 Years of Sailing" Will Stir Memories "Twenty-five years ago, most sailing yachts were built of fiberglass or aluminum, Ted Turner was at the top of the sport of sailing, and a fledgling cable television network named ESPN was just beginning." So begins the press release for "25 Years Sailing". Presented by Rolex on May 19, at 9 p.m. ET, the one-hour program "celebrates 25 years of history in the sport of sailing and ESPN's coverage of it." And who more appropriate to produce and host the program than Gary Jobson. He has been the face of sailing for ESPN since 1986 but has been a media crusader for sailing since he sailed with Turner in the 1977 America's Cup. He has seen it all, knows all the people, and it should be a great show. When I got this press release it prompted me to harken back 25 years ago and think about our own sailing on the Sound. IOR with little pinchy sterns were the hot boats, the Buchan family ruled the waters, and people were bitching about their PHRF ratings. Hmmm, well the boats have changed and there are some new dominant faces but some things never change. It was interesting to think about the boats then and compare them to what we just saw at Sail Expo in Oakland, California last month. Not too many skinny boats left. Most are extremely beamy, with some looking like a blown up marshmallow with a stick stuck in it. All have amazing room for their size, with all the comforts of home aboard, some in miniature, some full size. The solid, seaworthy dinghies of old have been replaced by fiberglass platforms that look more like paper airplanes than a boat, that fly across the water instead of sailing through it. All in all, however, the new technology has produced some beautiful and highly functional boats; not the elegant swans of old but still very pleasing to the eye, with more refined amenities and performance. The quarter-wave is becoming a thing of the past. I'm looking forward to watching "25 Years of Sailing," and I'm sure, like me, you'll be turning to those next to you, taking your hand out of the popcorn to point and say, "oh, look at that...oh, yeh, that was cool...wow!" And if you can get through the whole show without one "remember that" or "I remember when," I hope someone is there to check if you have a pulse. I look forward to watching the show with my kids. Ski filmmaker Warren Miller had a "looking back" theme to his presentation this year and my teenage son enjoyed seeing all the baggy pants and antiquated equipment. I'm sure it will be no different with the ESPN show. The show will be mostly racing, but should be of interest to all sailors. As Jobson sums it up, "More progress has been made in the last 25 years in the development of sailing than the previous 200. Is it the sailor, the equipment, or both? This look back on 25 year's of sailing history will try and answer that big question." |
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