Sailing Green: Times Past – Times Present

FBYC History....

Jere Dennison

A few historical observations about the current mania for going “green.” It seems today that every human activity must be wrapped in the mantle of environmental empathy with “green” being the applicable politically-correct speak. But just what is “green” as it applies to our beloved sport, sailing?

In fact, I contend that sailing is one of the “greenest” sporting endeavors that has ever existed. For untold centuries, sailors have been going “green,” especially obvious when retreating to the lee rail for a bit of chumming during heavy weather and high seas. (Fearing they are going to die, but more afraid that they won’t.) But, beyond that dreaded malady, sailors can rely primarily on gloriously free (and as yet untaxed) wind to power their craft around planet earth without a single pit stop at a marina to blow past credit card limits at the fuel pump. And the sailing “carbon footprint?”…it’s so small that even Al Gore can’t find it with an electron microscope.

Well yes, some misguided souls will say that our fiberglass hulls, carbon-fiber spars, and synthetic sails require for their production the noxious chemicals from those nasty fossil fuel molecules. However, I say we are at worst “carbon-neutral” because we save millions of photosynthesizing trees from being harvested to support the creation of our sleek, handsome vessels. And think of the Egyptian cotton that can be used to clothe the world’s needy children because it is no longer needed for sailcloth. These facts are just not arguable and cannot be ignored. It is only fair that the owners of gas-guzzling stinkpotters be required to buy “carbon credits” from the sailing community if they insist on polluting our fair planet with their nauseating exhaust fumes. Call your Congressman to get the political ball rolling on this important environmental and (wink-wink) financial issue.

What lessons have we learned from the past? During our last energy crisis during the 1970s, sailboats were in high demand when fuel was scarce and fuel costs soaring. Dealerships sprung up overnight to handle the increased production of many sailboat builders which no longer exist: Cal, Columbia, O’Day, Irwin, Pearson, Venture, Ranger, Erickson, Bristol, Coronado, Grampian, Morgan, and Islander to name a few. Even several FBYC club members got into the act to ride the wave of sailing’s exploding popularity. Bev and Susan Crump, Drew Sinnickson, and Hobbs Goodwin established Bay Sailing Inc. which operated out of Norton’s Marina. In addition to a brokerage business, lines carried included Cal, Ranger, O’Day, and the new upstart Hunter. Eventually, the business was devolved to Norton’s Yacht Sales, now run by members Ken and Carolyn Norton Schmalenberger, and has become one of the largest Hunter dealerships in the nation.

But still sailing has not regained that exalted status once enjoyed during that earlier energy crisis. What happened in intervening years was a precipitous drop in fuel costs relative to the cost of living, and this may have attracted boaters into energy-hogging power barges. Maybe going “green” in combination with the non-relenting elevated cost of fuel will usher in a new golden age of sail.

Perhaps a change in terminology is needed to accelerate this reversal. In the old days, we called our cruising sailboats, Auxiliary Sailing Vessels. A simple etymological tweak here could aid our cause immensely. Let’s start referring to our yachts as Wind/Diesel Hybrid Vessels, and expand our sport exponentially in harmony with the current environmental movement. ~(\,~