Cheating

It happens in all sports…

Swimmers taking steroids, runners taking steroids, gymnasts taking steroids, synchronised swimmers removing their brains before somersaulting underwater for some bazaar reason, fisherman drinking whiskey to stay warm, footballers taking steroids and poker champions with something up their sleeves.

There are even cheat codes, cracks and hacks for the Virtual Skipper program.

Whether we wish to believe it or not, cheating happens in all sports, including sailing.

Back in the early 90’s it was acceptable for women sailors (in lasers/Europe dinghies etc.) to wear weight jackets or belts to assist with hiking, because back then, women were much smaller then men and when competing in the same class, felt they were disadvantaged due to their reduced body mass. Since this was outlawed, women sailors have begun to evolve and some now look as though they would be better suited to the Chinese swimming team or on a rugby field with strapping lads. Sadly, some have sunk to wearing the illegal weight jackets in an effort to gain an advantage over their male competitors; however at the end of the day, the winner is the sailor who was tactically smart throughout the entire race or regatta.

There are other forms of cheating that occur all the time, such as handicapped yachts removing internal fixtures such as stoves, cushion covers, port-a-potties, and anything that will assist in making their vessel lighter for a race. This happens more often than you can imagine, and like the additional weight with dinghies, the removal of extras on a yacht when it is handicapped with this gear still onboard, is considered cheating.

One of the worst cases I have seen is in a youth class here in Australia. This class is extremely popular in New South Wales and Western Australia, and some of this country’s highest ranked sailors have emerged from its hall of fame to go onto yachting greatness.

In a National title back in 1998, a father was seen to be innocently following his son around the course taking notes like a paid coach to discuss with his student at the end of the day. He was there for entire regatta, solo in the rigid inflatable completely aware of his sons every tack, gybe and port/starboard tactic.

However… Unbeknown to the some 120 competitors, both father and son were wearing an earpiece. An electronic device wired together and used as a communication tool in an effort to gain a tactical advantage.

There he was, a father seen puttering around the course looking like a typical (class of boat) Dad, hoping to see his son perform a moment of brilliance, bang the right hand corner and win the race or even the entire championship. Well this lucky father saw just that, however it was not his son’s natural sailing talent that assisted with the win, but rather some blatant cheating surrounding an earpiece and small microphone advising when to tack, duck, gybe, and even monitoring the optimum crew weight distribution.

Welcome to cheating in the 21st Century! It doesn’t get much better than this!

But the thing that gets me is that this was a kid’s regatta – sailing for youth aged 7 to 16!!!

They say that money can’t buy trophies; however in this case, a good couple of hundred dollars sure makes it easy to be in the top five!

This is an extreme case that I have been subjected to. Has anyone else out there in sailing land been at the brunt of a cheater? Has it cost a placing, overall position or even a major title?

There is no place in any sport for cheating. If you keep on losing at whatever you are competing in, maybe it’s time to rethink the chosen sport.

Chess could be a starting point because let’s face it, no one really understands the rules of that game anyway!