What's the point of communicating?
Since time immemorial, sailors have tried to transmit information from their boats. First, they used flags to communicate with other boats visible on the horizon. Radio then marked a turning point, enabling oral messages between boats, and then long-wave amateur radio. Satellite telephones followed, and today the best-equipped boats, such as those in major ocean races, use the Internet almost as if they were at home.
But what to do with so much bandwidth? The ability to send a distress message is priceless and beyond discussion. Access to the most reliable and accurate weather data is an undeniable element of security. But what next?
The new "Crémer Le Turquais affair" surrounding suspicions of assistance in the 2020 Vendée Globe, made up of anonymous denunciations and WhatsApp communication images, is not looking good for the sailing world. The official jury will decide whether the rules have been respected. As an observer, we'll be content to note the inflation of communication, even if the dives into vendée Globe archives and the Alain Gautier arrival hoax show that skidding is nothing new! When you can trade with land almost as if you were at home, what are you looking for at sea?
Isolation always in demand?
The success of old-fashioned racing is perhaps indicative of a kind of nostalgia for a time when communication was more limited, even if videos and on-board messages are still the order of the day. Old-fashioned, but not too old-fashioned...
A fascination with lighthouses and the retreat of their keepers may be another clue. When he landed at Kéréon, the Lighthouses and Beacons employee knew he was cutting himself off from the world in a hostile environment. The tumult of the sea is louder than the media!
But back to the amateur yachtsman, it's often for a change of pace that he casts off. So if the mode of transport counts, with a kite like the Steeler 50 whether you're sailing in the traditional way, or even motoring, it may well be the disconnection that makes the difference. The communication cursor of the future has yet to be invented, but surfing forward is no longer the only prospect!
