International 14 Mailing List
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From: Eric Arens (jfa@sunspot.ssl.berkeley.edu)
Date: Wed 11 Nov 1998 - 23:43:14 GMT
Hello Fourteeners,
The enforcement of the Olympic drug rules is certain now, and it
justifies the decision of Alan Laflin and me not to go to Melbourne.
Alan and I bought a Cuddihy after the last Worlds, and we planned to
sail. However, the advertising on the boats and on bibs that the
sailors would wear, the mandatory interviews on TV, and the drug
testing caused us to decide not to go.
Advertising on a boat is an insult. A few hundred dollars from a
sponsor pales in comparison to the roughly $20,000 that the owner of
a boat pays.
A 14er does his own thing; a mandatory activity such as an
interview does not fit in.
Performance enhancing drugs are usually used by a full time
athlete to help him transcend his natural performance. No 14er is a
full time sailing professional. Some of the West Coast USA 14ers
used to be laid way way back, and drug tests might have deprived us
of this segment of society.
My views are not just theoretical but are based on past incidents.
Some of these incidents are described below.
Sponsors promise great benefits but deliver little. Mouton Cadet
wine supposedly provided $22,000 for the team races in Toronto in
1985, but more than $3000 was not really evident. The team races
used to be the most prestigious international I14 event. It was an
honor to be on a team, and there were no trophies. In memory of the
great 14ers such as Stuart Morris, Ian Bruce and Stewart Walker, I
objected to the races being called the Mouton Cadet team races. I
was asked to keep my peace. The vying for the sportsmenship trophy
of two Rolex watches at the same regatta was a political game. (My
crew Ron Boehm and I won, so there are no sour grapes. However, no
one has a pleasant recollection of this incident. There should be
no trophy of great monetary value.)
Drugs and politics are brethren, and a situation like the
following should be avoided by the 14 class. I have second cousin
in Sydney who was the Australian pentathlon competitor in the 1988
Olympics. He spoke out forcefully against drugs, so someone spiked
his coffee in Korea and he was disqualified. Whatever the truth is,
Fourteeners do not want the kind of charges and countercharges that
resulted from this incident.
Perhaps the above is a bit blunt, but I am not happy about not
going to Melbourne.
Wishing good luck to everybody at the Worlds,
Eric Arens
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