{"id":13147,"date":"2026-10-18T04:10:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T11:10:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/windpilot.com\/blog\/en\/?page_id=13147"},"modified":"2026-10-18T04:11:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T11:11:15","slug":"inside-part-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/windpilot.com\/blog\/en\/golden-globe-race\/ggr-2026\/inside-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside part 2."},"content":{"rendered":"

MARKETING, DECISIONS, MISTAKES AND CONSEQUENCES\u2028<\/strong>
\n\"\"A third GGR!<\/strong> The Australian impresario who came up with the idea of inviting would-be retro sailing heroes to descend on Les Sables d’Olonne every four years and then hurtle (!) off to discover their fate on the oceans is at it again. The event should have been the ultimate road test for mechanical steering slaves: the skippers are there, of course, but the helm is emphatically not their department \u2013 at least not when the cameras are on scene to document the heroes in action. Not everything though has proceeded quite as envisaged! <\/p>\n

Putting the cart before the horse<\/strong>
\n\"\"Major marketing decisions always have serious implications for the manufacturers making them. The gulf between expectations of a windvane self-steering system in flotilla events and the service it has to perform in the Golden Globe Race could hardly be any wider, and the number and visibility of auxiliary rudder units in something like the ARC tells us nothing at all about how well they actually work on larger\/heavier vessels.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"The laws of physics cannot be circumvented<\/strong>, not even with cold hard cash or offerings to the gods. They can in some instances be usefully manipulated, to a limited extent, with mechanisms such as levers, but auxiliary rudder systems (Windpilot produced 8,300 Atlantik Mk II\/III\/IV auxiliary rudder systems and Pacific Plus double rudder systems) will only ever be able to provide properly effective self-steering for boats up to about 36-38 ft in length. Their steering quality must inevitably suffer on larger\/heavier craft because, lacking the benefits of the servo effect, they simply cannot generate the necessary power. Eventually the line is crossed, control is lost and somebody’s power nap ends in a frantic scramble to restore order.\u2028
\n\"\"Ignoring this inconvenient reality, as a manufacturer might well be tempted to do, will not make it go away. Arranging things so that a particular product is present in conspicuously large numbers at flotilla events can certainly help muddy the waters though, especially with uncritical media reporting that allows dubious assumptions to develop and proliferate unchallenged. It is easy to see how a sailor might unthinkingly fit such a system on much too large a boat only to find performance at sea disappointing or worse. As the realisation sinks in, will the fact that the unit “at least” includes an emergency rudder provide some succour? That emergency rudder, remember, represents a condition of entry.<\/p>\n

There are competing priorities all over the place and not all sailors contemplating bluewater adventures will have the self-awareness to recognise when they genuinely understand why and to what end they are being sold a windvane self-steering system and when that understanding yet eludes them. It takes a brave soul, moreover, to revisit that decision once money has changed hands and the system has rooted itself to the transom: it’s there, it can be seen to be there, and exactly how it got there is a can of worms best left unopened! <\/p>\n

John Curry<\/strong> set out his stall to target this segment of the market and his sales certainly picked up as a result. None of which exempts him from the principles that govern our business or the trade-offs they inevitably entail. How to reach potential customers, how to judge the likely effect on the bottom line of investment in publicity, boat shows, advertising and sponsoring, how to ensure the overall program has the capacity to build a favourable reputation for the brand within the community… These are just some of the unavoidable questions to be tackled. Electing to rely on direct marketing based on word of mouth eliminates many of the trade-offs inherent in traditional marketing, but while paid-for marketing is available to all (budget willing), word of mouth only works if their experiences with the product inspire the sailors using it to talk it up loudly and widely.
\nThe size of boat chosen\/permitted for the GGR happens (fortunately for
\nJohn Curry) to suit the Hydrovane, but this ultimate road test, which includes a prolonged spell in the Southern Ocean, shines a particularly bright spotlight on key design factors that can have weighty and possibly unwelcome implications for a brand.<\/p>\n

The Hydrovane design, yacht construction, transom strength, materials and transom reinforcement
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Muddying the waters? Not at all: every manufacturer has to face the facts and own the consequences of their decisions \u2013 consequences the market makes plain through the sailors who experience them at sea and report on them. For every business trying to sell windvane self-steering systems there comes a moment of truth. The Golden Globe Race has become the ultimate test, putting strengths and weaknesses on display for all to see and creating a minefield for manufacturer and organiser alike.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don “banned” me from LSO<\/strong>. So obviously I made sure to be seen there. Much as it pained me (and pains me still), I even breached my own longstanding principles and presented all of my systems for the GGR free of charge rather than selling them. Apparently they call it “sponsorship”.<\/p>\n

The Royal Road<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n