Upward climb for the cost to compete

by Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt Sailing News
When my team won the 2011 Etchells World Championship in San Diego, no one onboard was paid. We did share a coach with several other teams, but the impact of pro sailing was limited. However, when the Etchells Worlds returns to San Diego in 2026, it will be a significantly more expensive trophy to win.

A lot has changed in 15 years, but the shift began well before that. In this 2006 report by Gary Jobson for Sailing World, he shares how the sport was adjusting back then:

“It will be a long time before I start paying somebody to steer my boat,” declared George Uznis,” skipper of Retaliation, during a heated race against a team of professional sailors. The owner of Uznis’s rival IMS racer sat quietly on the rail while his paid hands worked the boat around the racecourse. Within two years the owner was gone from competitive sailing. The game was simply not enjoyable.

Many stories of similarly unsatisfied owners have been told over the years, but with the implementation of owner/driver rules in many classes, such stories are becoming rare. At Acura Key West Race Week in January, all of the big-boat one-design classes featured owners steering their boats, and many of them were performing quite well in the difficult conditions. – Full report