Warning: personal opinion/rant to follow; proceed at your own risk.
Hi All,
I have lost all patience with Sailing Anarchy, and I am wondering if there are enough other like-minded members for us to consider pulling our brand from the site. I suppose this question pertains to the boat builder as well, and it's not just about our membership. Of course, anyone who would pull their brand from a website like Sailing Anarchy would have to have some guts and/or confidence that they could be competitive in the marketplace without this advertising channel. Or, perhaps, it's a matter of self-respect.
My beef(s) with Sailing Anarchy:
In essence, Sailing Anarchy is a low-brow personal ranting space for some guy named Alan Block, which somehow gets passed off as real journalism and/or a credible (i.e. objective) information source. In reality, it is neither. What it is, of course, is a successful advertising revenue generator for Mr. Block. Either directly, or indirectly, we are paying Mr. Block to shovel his narrow-minded and ignorant opinions down our throats. Furthermore, we are validating his opinions with the U20 brand.
Mr. Block never hesitates to take the opportunity to profit from the death of a fellow sailor. His recent post covering the death of Mark Masella has drawn a lot of criticism and negative attention (title: "Washed Up"). While this posting was so callous as to draw the ire of many readers, it is hardly the first time that Mr. Block's immaturity and opportunism have been seen.
The regularly-posted "Sailing Chick of the Week" is, by any reasonable assessment, completely degrading. Didn't we, as a society, get rid of this mindset in the 90's? A substantial portion of the video posted as a recap of Charleston Race Week ("professionally" edited) was simply the camera man (Block?) filming the asses if unsuspecting women as they walked by in shorts. This is pathetic. I have no problems with some healthy and horny sailors; but the Sailing Anarchy approach to women is seriously outdated, and by today's standards, is just pathetic and creepy. Mr. Block is closer to being a creepy loaner hiding in an outhouse with a handycam than he is to being the big man on campus (as he probably sees himself).
Mr. Block's approach to discussing the issues of the day is to state his opinion, without substance, without any counter-view, and without any chance for response. At a time when we are dealing with large islands of trash in the Pacific Ocean, Mr. Block takes to his soapbox to oppose a rule that prevents throwing unnecessary objects overboard, appearantly because he can't figure out how to launch his spinnaker without rubber bands. Anyone who disagrees with him is simply called an idiot, with no further explaination or justification. Mr. Block has positioned himself perfectly as a classically-insecure bully. I know nothing of the Fresno Yacht Club, but I know that Mr. Block treats them like a spoiled and bratty child treats a kid with nicer toys: with unsubstantiated, jealous, and pathetic name-calling. Nanna Nanna boo boo.
Sailing Anarchy is a site in which a very immature man, Alan Block, gets paid to disemminate his jouvinile opinions, which seem to be formed from his inability to deal with the world around him. He really is just an over-grown baby. Is this really what we want to use to form our brand? Is this really the voice we want for our community? Why are we giving this clown any of our attention, let alone our money (through paid advertising or through our support of his sponsors)?
Who else is interested in a boycot of Sailing Anarchy? I, for one, am done with the SA website, and will look more favourably on the U20 brand when it stops being a part of the lowest-common denominator.
In the event that you think I've gone a bit far with my opinion, I hope you can convince me that I'm wrong, or we chan choose to repectfully disagree. Either way, thanks for reading.
Kuy
