The Great Rule 69/Snowflake debate rages on. This dude, who just registered today, makes some good points. The first class assholes in this sport do indeed need to be bitch-slapped, but the problem with the reading of the current rule is that virtually anything can now be construed as a Rule 69 violation.
And that opens the doors for the vindictive haters and the pussies in this sport to whine like the little butt-hurt snowflakes they are. And now, any perceived slight against their delicate sensibilities can be used to get your ass thrown right the fuck out…
There are too many dicks in our sport who think they are untouchable. Despite what that guy who made the front page may be whining about, more of them need to be brought to account, not less.
Recently, during the “Junior gold cup”, a member at RBYC went on an extended drunken and profanity-laden rant directed at a junior sailor who had come up to the patio to get a glass of water and committed the heinous crime of having bare feet. This was not in the club itself, merely at the outside bar; not that being inside would somehow justify the vitriol directed at a kid sailing an Opti who was a guest at the club at the time. To review: more f-bombs than a Tarantino movie, directed at a kid (the future of the sport – ya know, that thing we’re always whining about), for not wearing shoes, outside, in a spot that’s 5 feet from where wearing no shoes would be no problem.
This member’s past antics include unleashing a tirade at an invitational race week guest so insane that the guest’s reaction was “fuck this, I’m out” and he abandoned the regatta and flew back to England. The visitor’s transgression was to pull his Etchells into the wrong slip after a day’s racing, he was supposed to be one over.
There is far, far more of course, but we don’t have all day. The individual in question is perhaps 50. Somebody that should know better, not some pickled old bar fixture who was actually there when the Star was designed and will be dead in a couple years anyway. This latest offense is believed to be the the first time he’s ever faced any consequences – a couple months ban from the club premises and “probation” for a bit after that. So harsh… poor thing! No, fucker should be gone. The individual in questions has, or rather had, some “special” connections to the club, which is perhaps why he’s been untouchable until now.
A large portion of the sailing world needs to just calm down. We’re playing with very expensive toys that could very easily hurt or possibly kill someone in the wrong circumstances. We all know a guy who has, or has threatened to, put the wheel/tiller over to “teach that fucker a lesson”. Or watched some mid-packer knowingly invent rules, shouting and foaming at the mouth to intimidate a newbie boat back into their proper place. Or maybe seen the guy that had a crappy day out in some race/series of absolutely no consequence aggressively using the rules to dig himself out of DFL to finish DFL-1, when coming in 2nd last would have been that new perpetually DFL boat’s highlight of the season. Or boats with some pretty questionable optimizations. Or, you get the idea.
People get to run around without consequence, alienating others and leading to many of them walking away and thinking “I have way better things to do than deal with this bullshit. Seems fun, but the people are crazy and I’ve already got enough drama”. This is what things like 69 are for (well, maybe not my 3rd example). Instead, everyone gets worried about “the consequences of that sort of thing” and we end up with assholes chasing off the future, be it kids or newbies, simply because they can and that’s how assholes work.
Oddly enough, those whining about the snowflakes are often snowflakier than the alleged flakes, which is always amusing.
Posting anonymously because the island is small and retribution is always a consideration. Jump in to comment.
