Here's one Commodore who truly "gets it"....It's Andrew McIrvine of RORC steering like a banshee in the recent RORC Channel Race. Andrew is not only steering the boat like a consummate pro but he's also quietly steering RORC in exactly the right direction. Once upon a time RORC was a mass of sneering politicism with the "awkward squad" firmly in attendance. Now it's a warm and friendly place busy promoting the sport that its members love around the globe. IRC is flourishing, the races they put on are stacked to the gunwhales with talent and enthusiasm and the clubhouse is a welcoming haven in the heart of London. Andrew's regular letter in Seahorse shows just how hard he tries to spread the RORC gospel and I think any club would be more than proud to have him as their Commode.

And when I say he "gets it", he really does. Andrew uses quiet diplomacy to get his point across and in person is as direct as an arrow with a fascinating take on the sport and where it needs to go next.

We need to promote more people like Andy "The Swerve" McIrvine and he gets my vote for the top job at ISAF if he ever went for it...but then again, he's not totally mad!

I don't like what I see happening over the pond with the writ against Sailing Anarchy by Dan Meyers. The mud slinging isn't pretty and the writ is, in my opinion, damaging for the sport as a whole. As everyone knows, I'm a fan of Sailing Anarchy and its Editor. I feel it offers a different slant to the mundane press release websites and even more mundane newspaper and magazine reporting. Nearly every sport has its bloggers and alternative websites - take a look at F1 and there's thousands of fascinating websites and blogs that are utterly scurrilous and way worse than anything I've ever seen published in sailing. Interestingly none of the billionaires that inhabit that world ever bother with injunctions or lawsuits as they have class and rise above the flurry of rumour, inuendo, smear and allegations. I urge Mr Meyers to do the same if he has the class.

There's an interesting situation happening in the British press with our Foreign Secretary William Hague being accused on the internet by a highly respected blogger of being "gay" with a 25 year old aide. Mr Hague is a married man and has issued a hugely detailed and totally unprecedented statement denying the allegations. Has he gone to court? No, he's got class and has simply cleared up the allegations via a statement. He's our freaking Foreign Secretary with all the law and advice of State behind him and he's just made the blogger look stupid and curried favour with the press. As I say, class.

Interestingly in Today Times newspaper in London, Frances Gibb has written a fascinating piece entitled "Law struggles to keep up with bloggers" and he argues:

…”Is the internet and its blogosphere killing our laws? When print or even broadcasting media ruled supreme, a lawyer’s writ had a powerful reach. The courts, too, could grant injunctions – binding on not just one newspaper but every media organisation.  But now the law is struggling to keep pace as stories, or just rumour, surface on the internet, with a global reach in seconds.”

Mark Stephens, a well known media lawyer with Finers Stephens Innocent makes the further point:

“The internet is not a law free zone…but once material is out there, it is very difficult to put it back”.

Frances Gibb also says:

“Rather than trying to make futile attempts to control the media, the law should defer to the “innate good sense of the crowd” – in other words, people will make up their own minds about allegations on the internet.  “You can’t stop debate.”

So bringing this back to the Meyers/Sailing Anarchy writ, what is going to be achieved by a successful outcome either side? If Meyers is successful he shuts down or seriously damages an established website with a dedicated following thereby upsetting a huge number of "voices" who, believe me won't just disappear overnight. They'll jump to the next site and absolutely crucify Myers for ever and a day. Personally I wouldn't want that outcome if I were Mr Meyers.

And if Sailing Anarchy wins, good God, Mr Meyers may as well go and take up another sport as the hounds of hell will be unleashed upon him and the sailing community will shun him forever and a day (if indeed they haven't done already).

Perhaps he doesn't care, but I suggest that he does as otherwise he wouldn't be bringing this writ to court but just be warned of one thing called The Streisand Effect. Look it up on Wikipedia on the consequences of trying to suppress the unsupressable - it's frightening.

Okay as a shot across the bows, we get your point Mr Meyers. Taking this any further and we step into a horrible Harry Potter-ish world where dark forces operate and be under no illusion as to just how connected the sailing world is...

I remember penning the blog about the potential for Mr Meyers and John Risley being courted as potential Alinghi investors/buyers. I used a reliable source who still claims this is true having been at the Key West Regatta back in February 2008. At the end I stated: "By bringing in Dan Meyer and/or John Risley we might finally get some sense back into the Cup and perhaps a little less ego."

That was supportive, in my view, but almost immediately I had a clothing sponsor of this website who was supplying the Numbers Team, email me saying: "Please remove my banner from your site as we just can't continue commercially." Perhaps that was the clothing makers decision but I suspect not...Anyhow, I'm a big boy and we moved on. Today we have no advertising and no commercial benefit of this blog site - sue me, it's my opinion!

Okay so back to Sailing Anarchy and a logical solution. The mud slinging is awful and the war needs to stop. Just like in the Middle East there needs to be dialogue because no-one is going to win. How about this, withdraw the writ and SA promises never to publish anything about Mr Meyers or his sailing campaigns ever again? Simple...If these can do this (see below) then surely we can get a resolution here:

Joining the dots here...First Elvstrom, then Blackaller. Apparently our dearly missed maverick Tom Blackaller (who was actually my childhood sailing hero) said in a 1989 press event the day before the Newport Ensenada race that the AC should be sailed in 100ft cats. I am reliably informed that sitting on the panel at Balboa YC (Newport Beach, CA) was Dave Ullman and a certain Tom Ehman....now what ever happened to Tom Ehman heh? He just disappeared off the face of the planet.....

Gorgeous wife - Check

Awesome boat (6 Metre) - Check

Fantastic business (Harken UK) - Check

Ridiculous Cowboy hat - Check....

Yes folks this is Andy Ash-Vie, the MD of Harken UK, my old boss, a good mate and all round top bloke who taught me a lot when I worked for him back in the day. Things like treating the wide-eyed 13 year old Optimist sailor who just wants a micro block with the same respect, enthusiasm and dedication as the Billy Big Bananas who comes in wanting the latest carbon winch and full deckgear for his 300ft superyacht. Andy's oozes class and is the one man in yachting who I hold in the highest regard.

If you're looking for a fit-out or upgrade this winter then I urge you to give Crash-Vie a call...you'll come away with smooth running blocks, a few quid in your pocket (he loves a deal) and most importantly you'll be enthused to go yachting again....Top man!

I just had to give him a cuddle...below:

I've just signed on the dotted line to do a race that I vowed never to do again...the Nab Tower race. Last time, it was a drift down the Solent before the wind completely crapped out and we sat there for four hours being turned on the tide and generally pulling our hair out in my H-boat.

However, the Stock Exchange Sailing Club is a bit special and I'm delighted to be helming their Hunter 707 (sort of like the one pictured above) on Saturday 11th September. I just want wind...This was me last time trying to put a brave face on as we literally inched around the blooming marker buoy before giving up and motoring back to Cowes:

I received a request from a very loyal reader asking for pictures of "Hurricane" Harry Wheatley who just celebrated his third birthday in the South of France. Can't believe that three years has shot by so fast but here he is at the Charles Stanley sponsored Royal Solent YC Regatta which was held recently in Yarmouth getting down and dirty on the foreshore and giving those crabs stuck in the rockpools hell!

He's the coolest kid...

I can remember when I heard that Paul Elvstrom was campaigning a Tornado to the Olympics with his daughter way back in 1984 and I remember the sailing world silently sniggering in poncy yacht club bars; "he's lost the plot!" But how wrong could we be...fast forward a mere 26 years and it's a multihull frenzy in the yachting world.

Where Elvstrom led others followed.

He's still the greatest of all time...

Is San Francisco now the beating heart of world sailing? It would seem so after these terrific shots came in from the Finn Association as their World Championships gets underway with Ed Wright of the good old United kingdom totally dominating day two with two bullets. After discard he's a mile ahead but doesn't need another poor result like the 18th he posted yesterday in race one.

Amazing what a bit of wind does for the sport heh? Even I can't criticise the fat boys....awesome stuff.

PS: Matt Coutts, Rusty's nephew is currently in 31st place with a best finishing place of 20th in race four. With Uncle Russ onshore advising - no pressure mate!

There's a great interview on The Daily Sail website, which coincidentally I reckon is probably the best value subscription sailing out there, with Iain Percy - you know the double Golder that whispers in Big Ben's ear. Whilst I agree with 99.9% of his very reasoned argument which to be honest is far more eloquent and useful than anything that I could ever write, I take issue with one statement that I reckon is aimed at me after my article on the front page of Sailing Anarchy (the best site on the web) just after the 1851 nonsense Cup in Cowes. Perce states:

"Other groups use serial bloggers to represent their point of view... please don't think that the public in Cowes didn't enjoy the 1851 Cup, it was a good balance of fair competition and spectator enjoyment and that was why it worked."

Well I have to say, if indeed this was aimed at me, that I have never been "used" by a Cup team to promote their interests. I have never been paid or contracted by any team or individual related to a team and just because I fall on one side of the argument that doesn't suit the highly political Team Origin and its hierarchy does not mean that I am somehow in someone else's pocket and being paid to spin a line.

I just call it as I see it - sorry if the truth sometimes hurts.

However if any AC teams or billionaires fancy topping up my bank account, I'm all ears...but I don't expect a call! Haha!

So the announcement of the new Protocol for AC 34 will be announced on Monday 13th September in Valencia (yawn) where Cootsie-Coo (that's him in the picture!) and that mad, cool, crazy dude Vincenzo will announce the year, the new boat and some rules. That's gotta be worth a £400 round trip on Easy Jet plus another £500 in a hotel or alternatively you can get the transcript here, right now:

Russ (In his broad Kiwi tones): "Weelcome everybody, todaaay weee'll annownce the prowgress made in what's been a bizzy evaluation tarm for BMW Oracle Racing but first a video..."

Cue boring, rah rah tumping yankee-doodle video on "how we won it" followed by...

Russ (in his most condescending Kiwi tones): "We're gonna race in 2014 in massive cats with fixed wings"

Cue a slick Bruce Farr video design concept video (yawn)

Russ: "Pretty exciting heh?"

Cue stunned disbelief by the moronic Euro yachting journos who barely understand the term monohull, let alone what on earth Russ is going on about...followed by the most idiotic questions known to mankind in broken English from our continental cousins which surely have just been planted to wind Sir Russ up?

"Meeester Coutts, do you think Valencia will be the venue"

Russ: "Don't be fucking silly mate, I didn't get paid $55 million to not bring Larry's Cup back to SF"

"Meester Coutts, eeees de multihull faster than monohull?"

Russ: "Just slightly mate..."

"Hello Russell, British journalist here from some stupid broadsheet in London (which nobody reads) with a hugely long winded intellectual question: Bearing in mind that no one's got any money and all the syndicates have indicated that they are not interested in multihull racing, do you think you are way out on a limb here and alienating the traditional Cup community? Furthermore could you offer a projection as to how many boats you expect and predict to be on the start line in 2014? Will BMWO be offering any financial assistance to start-up teams? Is it true that the City of San Francisco is dragging its heels in the wake of the financial crisis? Which TV stations are even mildly interested in the Cup both in Europe and the USA? Does BMW Oracle have an unfair advantage of up to 2 years and have stacked the bases in their favour just like every other Defender has done in the history of the Cup? Has Alinghi indicated a challenge? Where are we with an Omani challenge? Is this the end of the Origin challenge in your opinion?"

Russ: "Over to you Vincenzo...."