Let the Games begin!

[bamamick]

As expected, very light and fluky on the first day, so the results are a mixed bag.

In the Finns Zach had a 5th or a 6th in the first race and a 2nd in the second race.
In the Ynglings Sally had a 14th and a 2nd.

Looks like the Americans (Johnny and Charlie) and the Dutch did measure in their controversial 'code zero' upwing 'gennakers'. They will use these upwind and downwind, so we will see what happens. Supposedly this is only going to work if the wind stay light so it's a huge gamble.

Mickey Lake

[rbgarr]

Mick- Is there any online or TV viewing of the actual racing, or just results?

[bamamick]

I have been told that there is on-demand video on line via msnbc or nbc, but I haven't opened it up yet. I am sure that I will get to it this weekend, though.

Mickey Lake

[C. Ross]

The on-demand video clips are short but cool. http://www.nbcolympics.com/sailing/index.html?forcereload=true

There is some live videostreaming scheduled for tomorrow.

[StevenBauer]

I caught the tail end last night. Seems pretty cool. You can watch events live streaming online.


Steven

[bamamick]

Good lord, the article on the web site makes it sound as if everyone is gunning for Ben Ainslie. Maybe they are but it is not in any kind of negative way. Almost all of these guys train with a training partner. Unfortunately for Zach (and for Sally in the Ynglings), there's not an American who can step in and dedicate all of their time to training with him. Darrell Peck is about the best guy we've got whose not on the team right now and I believe that he actually has a real job.

The article makes it sound as if Zach and Jonas are some sort of evil conspirators. Ridiculous. I know that John Dane has spent a lot of time practicing with Swedish Star guy Freddy Loof. Doesn't mean that they are going to pay someone to pop Robert Scheidt on the kneecap with a pry bar.

Mickey Lake

[StevenBauer]

It looks like the next live streaming sailing coverage is from 1am to 2:30am(eastern time). Maybe if I take a little nap I can stay up that late. :)


Steven

[PaulC]

We watched a 59 minute clip of the womens sail race today on the NBC page. It is kind of neat with no announcer and just boat and wave noises. It takes a bit of drilling to get down to them, but they are there.

We also watched the single and double sculls in the rowing group. Again no announcer and just the boat and river noise.

[StevenBauer]

Anyone watching the 49er races live? GBR leading at the first mark in the second race. :)


Steven

[StevenBauer]

AUT at mark two.

[StevenBauer]

Mark 3: AUT, AUS, GBR

[StevenBauer]

Race 2 results: AUS, AUT, GBR, DEN, BRA

[Hwyl]

Stevie Morrison who sails a 49er for the U.K. is the son of Phil Morrison http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Morrison_(yachts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Morrison_%28yachts)) , who is a heck of a sailor and a great designer. Stevie was a champion in International Cadets.

Sort of interesting that the junior Morrison is sailing a boat designed by the junior Bethwaite

[bamamick]

Results after two days of sailing:

USA

Finn-1st
49er-13th
Yngling-4th

Zach is sailing a masterfully consistant series with three 2nds in the bag. Ben is just behind but he's won two races already.

Of course the UK team is the one to watch with some people saying that a medal sweep is possible. I don't believe that but we will see. Right now their scores are:

Finn-2nd
49er-1st
Yngling-1st

Very impressive, eh? It's amazing what gazillions of pounds of lotto and corporate sponsorship can do for a sailing team.

Chris Cook from Canada is 3rd in the Finns right now. Very good showing for North American Finn sailors so far.

Mickey Lake

[Hwyl]

Of course the UK team is the one to watch with some people saying that a medal sweep is possible. I don't believe that but we will see. Right now their scores are:

Finn-2nd
49er-1st
Yngling-1st

Very impressive, eh? It's amazing what gazillions of pounds of lotto and corporate sponsorship can do for a sailing team.



The results of a half way decent national authority, which the U.S. sorely lacks, not to mention a lot of hard work over the last 40 years. We could also talk about respect for women sailors, which iois also missing in action in the U.S.

[bamamick]

A discussion that could last a lifetime were we so inclined. I know a couple of the guys sailing for the US in this thing personally and I know what the USOC has fronted them as far as money goes. The USSA does not really give them anything financially. In all probability the GYA (Gulf Yachting Association) Olympic Fund gives them more money than either of the national organizations do, plus they get help hosting fund raisers and things here locally through the GYA and the Southern YC in New Orleans.

People who don't follow Olympic sailing may not know that Zach Railey is about the only American who sails Finns anywhere other than North America. Sally Barkow and her team are the only Yngling team in this country who compete on a high level and are more or less the only American team PERIOD in this class (they did not even hold a Trials for Ynglings). 470's, 49er's, the boards, the Tornado. Of all of the classes in the Olympics only the Lasers, the Finns, and the Star class even have decent sized fleets sailing in North America. The 470's had to have their Trials with both the men's and women's fleets sailing together just to give people the feeling of sailing in a decent-sized fleet (about 10 boatsd iirc).

Personally I believe that ANY medal that the US Olympic sailing team brings home from any of these Games in recent memory was way more a testimony to the skills, determination, and hard work of these few individuals than anything that our national authority did to help them. As I said when all the controversy about the mandatory membership thing was brewing, I don't mind one bit paying dues to USSA if they would do something towards building a national sailing program. I wouldn't mind near as much making it mandatory if they would invest funding into an Olympic sailing program. As things stand right now I really don't know how the folks we've got wearing red, white, and blue in Qingdao are doing it. I am very proud of them, but I don't know how they do it.

Mickey Lake

[bamamick]

Results after the third day's racing:

Finn: GBR, USA, FRA. CAN is 4th. Zach's hanging in there.
49er: AUS, DEN, ITA. GBR is 9th, USA is 13th (still).
Yngling: GBR, NED, AUS. USA is 4th (still :)).
470M: FRA, ESP, POR. GBR 10th, USA 23rd.
470W: NED, AUS, ESP. GBR 9th, USA 15th.
BoardsM: ISR, HKG, CHN. GBR 9th, USA22nd.
BoardsW: CHN, AUS, GBR. USA26th (of 28!).

Big day for the Aussies. Terrible day for the USA in the boards and 470's. I had hoped that the ladies 470 team would do well in this regatta, but it's only the first day and a lot can happen in one of these things.

The reason that I track the GBR scores is that I am just so fascinated with the depth of talent on that team. Seven events and every one of their sailors is in the top ten right now. Powerful.

Wouldn't it be something if China wins more sailing medals than the US (historically, the US has won more medals in sailing than any other country, by quite a bit actually)?

Mickey Lake

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

China has won women's boardsailing before...(well, Hong Kong has).

I am seldom polite about the RYA, but I have to admit that they have done a first class job with the Olympic classes in Britain, on, really, not a lot of Lottery money.

[elf]

Personally I believe that ANY medal that the US Olympic sailing team brings home from any of these Games in recent memory was way more a testimony to the skills, determination, and hard work of these few individuals than anything that our national authority did to help them.

Mickey Lake

It's the essence of the American Way, Mickey. They master the skills of locating and courting supporters, selling themselves and running a business as part of their campaign.

After all, why should the public invest in them? Sailing's not a big advertising dollar maker, has no place on TV, no place in high school sports, never appears in the Newport Daily News except as a very occassional local event of curiosity, involves a large investment in equipment just to begin, and it's got a long reputation of being a sport for the rich.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Thinking more on your comments on the UK team, Mickey, its fair to say that sailing has a lot of "depth" in this country. Although the era of mass dinghy sailing is long, long gone - to the point that the generation who started in Jack Holt dinghies (built from kits by the Bell Woodworking Company) sailing on reservoirs have long since traded their dinghies for Westerly Centaurs, gone on to bigger boats and are now selling those as they retire, there are still a lot of small sailing clubs with a dinghy fleet. Take my own club - our handicap open week was last week and we had Mirrors, Toppers, Streakers and Lasers plus a fast and slow handicap class come to the line - never less than ten boats in a start, sometimes twenty.

http://www.debenyachtclub.co.uk/


The club has an excellent youth training programme, which takes ten young members in each of a "starting to sail" group and "starting to race" and "intermediate racing" groups every spring. None of this is done with RYA money but RYA materials such as the course books (which are bought and paid for) are used and the RYA "presence" is there, so to speak. At the next level up the RYA will arrange for coaching by someone from the national squad, etc... and this happens a few times each year.

I would say this is pretty typical of hundreds of clubs in Britain.

The number of people keen enough to trail to an Open meeting is much less - even very popular classes like the Firefly struggle to make 60 boats at an Open, which is far, far down on my youth when 140 or so would turn up for many classes.

[bamamick]

A C-B, all you have to do is look at how much hell was raised by the sailing community in the United States when USSA was talking about making membership mandatory to helm in any sanctioned event (whether a USSA level event or any class recognized by USSA. For example, since the Dragons are recognized we'd all have to pay up to helm any sanctioned event.) and you will see how most people feel about our national authority. Since I have only ever lived and raced in the US I really don't know what is offered by other national authorities, but here it seems that USSA is not highly thought of. And I am a member of USSA.

elf, I suppose that you are right and that is why many people feel as if sailing may be out as a sport after Weymouth, or at the least greatly reduced. BUT, it's not out yet, and you would think that the USOC would try and come up with some sort of development plan with the USSA to make sure that we have a representative team. Sally Barkow had no one to train with in North America so she had to go to Europe. American dollars don't go far at all in Europe. Why did she have no one to train with? Because the #2 team ran out of funds and had to fold. Sally had to work 1.65 times as hard to come up with the same amount of training money, more or less. It stinks.

I will say it again, the guys who make it from the US are outstanding in that they not only have to train and sail as hard as their friends from Europe, and yes, even Canada, but they have to do an amazing job of coming up with the money to do it all. My hat is off to them.

Mickey Lake

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Boats without sails. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/canoeing/7554256.stm)

Top half of Walsh's run looks really scrappy.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Mickey, I rather think, based on what you've said, that the unsung hero behind our sailing team is this man:

http://www.royal.gov.uk/files/images/RFnew_DoE_introduction.jpg

who, as President of the RYA, "kick started" it from being a rather stuffy elitist body interested only in protest hearings into a much more democratic organisation, into training and recruiting into the sport.

He was also the founder President of the WWF, who, when asked what to do if offered turtle soup at a dinner, replied, "Refuse it. If your host presses it on you, pour it on the carpet!" :D

[John Meachen]

I suppose I could check on the state of play in the Tornado or Star fleets,but I can't really be bothered.As Mickey has alluded,if you spend all your time practising sailing one of the Olympic classes you ought to be pretty good at it.Quite what tangible benefits flow to your country of residence as a consequence?

[bamamick]

John, they haven't started as of yet. They staggered the starts so as to not wear out their resources.

I am not sure how to define the trickle down effect of Olympic sailing, but I can tell you that there is one heck of a lot of difference in the level of competence in an Olympic class fleet than there is in a non-Olympic. Now, I don't mean classes like the 5o5 or I14, because they may as well be Olympic because of their history and the amount of time that they have spent at the upper edges of the sport, but the things that we learn from people who literally dedicate their lives to this stuff makes us all better sailors.

Simple examples x2: the first Harken blocks and the first sails made by Lowell North were used by the US team at the 1968 Games in Mexico (on the medal winning Dragon and Star). Would these innovations have taken place in one of the scow or west coast classes eventually? Sure they would have, but they WERE developed to give the guys using them an edge in the Games. The innovations that come from America's Cup racing in big boats come from the Olympic classes for the smaller boats.

Quite obviously I think that this is a big deal. On a personal note, I qualified for the Star trials for Savannah by finishing second in the Gulf Coast championships. I cast around for some sponsorship to get myself some sails and to have my keel, skeg, and rudder faired out professionally, but couldn't find much interest. Eventually I didn't go. They had limited the number of people to 20 boats because of the venue so I guess that 19 went. The guy who won the Gulf Coast's (whose son has represented the US four times now in another class, and another son had a good shot at it in Stars but had to quit to raise a family) did go and finished next to last. I am pretty sure that I would have finished last had I gone. I really wish that I had gone, though. It was a mistake not to have gone for it.

Andrew, same dude had a Dragon, eh? :) As I recall, Princess Anne sailed a 470 at one time didn't she?

Mickey Lake

[Hwyl]

Mickey, I rather think, based on what you've said, that the unsung hero behind our sailing team is this man:

I'd disagree. Jim Saltonstall told me nearly 30 years ago, that the UK had no hope in the Olympics, he predicted that Spain Would do well. That must have been the 1980 Olympics he was talking about. He went on to outline the kind of training program he thought was needed.

I was a brash 20 something back then and thought I was a hot Laser sailor, I also though Jim was completely wrong about his program. We went out to race and Jim pleasantly and politely wiped the floor with me in my home waters. The program in place now very much resembles what Jim talked about in Portdinorwic all those years ago.

http://www.sailing.org/24434.php

http://www.sailing.org/images/news/08_YW_Saltonstall_360.jpg

[The Bigfella]

Hmm - a bit of controversy in the Tornado class - ex-Aussie dual Olympic medalist Mitch Booth (it seems he's now Dutch) has developed a rather interesting flat gennaker that lots of folks want banned.

As for the trickle-down effect, the one race I did as crew for an Olympic medalist (Scot Anderson - who got Tornado bronze in '84 - along with consecutive world championships) taught me an awful lot. It made me consider chucking in my career at the time.

[rooster]

So their not dealing with this any more?:)


http://pic70.picturetrail.com/VOL1836/10964315/19495062/329874578.jpg (http://javascript<b></b>:openWin2('http://www13.picturetrail.com/members/edit?p=8&imgid=329874578','picture',460,340))

[The Bigfella]

Come to lovely China and sail in a toilet bowl.......

[rooster]

Salad bowl?

[Hwyl]

Apparently they still are dealing with the sludge and the 2 knot current and the light winds.

[bamamick]

Everyone knew that Qingdao was going to be a bad venue for the sailing Games. Of course, most American sailors were very unhappy with Savannah as a venue for the Games when they could have hosted it in so many better places, but the state of Georgia wanted it all and they're the ones who put up the money. Just look forward to Weymouth in 2012. Should be a better set-up all the way round.

Todays' report: Finns, Ynglings, and 49ers had a layday.

470M: AUS, FRA, ESP. GBR 5th, USA 23rd
470W: AUS, ESP, NED. GBR 8th, USA 13th
LaserM: NZL, ITA, ARG. GBR 6th, USA 13th
LaserW: USA, BEL, FRA. GBR 9th
BoardsM: ISR, HKG, NZL. GBR 5th, USA 24th
BoardsW: CHN, ESP, AUS. GBR 5th, USA 26th

The Lasers made their appearance for the first time and of course Anna had a good day. Anna and Paige Railey (Zach's sister!) are two of the best in the world and we are in good shape for the immediate future in women's Lasers. Andrew Campbell is our men's Laser he is really good. 13th in that fleet isn't bad at all and he will probably move up.

Just look at those scores for the Brits! Damn it. I hate it to seem that I am obsessed, but hey, I am obsessed. A truly incredible performance. And for good measure, Anna Tunnicliffe (the US women's Laser rep) was born in England and only moved to the US when she was nine! She could have easily represented the UK in this thing if she had wanted to.

I don't think that the Tornados and Stars start until Friday. The US isn't favored to medal in either class, but these are the guys that I know and they all grew up or did a lot of sailing on very light air Lake Ponchartrain. Both teams are very experienced and it wouldn't surprise me if they surprised everyone else at this regatta. They are capable.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

I don't think we are disagreeing, Gareth - I said "unsung" - Jim is hardly that - his contribution is very well known - and I certainly agree that he deserves enormous credit. It is almost impossible now to imagine what a fuddy duddy lot the RYA were before Prince Philip got to them.

Mickey - yes, Dragon, Flying Fifteen and a lifetime friend of Uffa Fox (who once put a whoopee cushion on the Queen's chair at dinner...) Princess Anne now sails a Rustler 37.

I agree with you - there is a great deal of value in a good Olympic campaign in this sport. There is almost none in an AC challenge.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

A handy website, Mickey:

http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/?article=142913

The Woodenboat connection is that the editor of Yachts and Yachting is Gael Pawson, daughter of Des and Lix Pawson aka Footrope Knots.

[bamamick]

Today's update:

49er: AUS, DEN, ITA. USA 5th GBR 8th
470M: AUS, FRA, GBR. USA17th
470W: NED, AUS, ESP. GBR 11th USA 14th
Finn: GBR, USA, FRA.
LaserM: ITA, POR, ARG. GBR 7th USA 8th
LaserW: USA, CRO, LTU. GBR 5th
Yngling: GBR, NED, USA.

So, a very good day for the Team USA. Wadlow won all three races in the 49er! McNay and Campbell made moves in the 470M and the LaserM respectively, Sally edged up into the medal group in the Yngling, and Zach and Anna held on in the Finn and LaserW. A good day. If they can all do that again then this thing will look a lot better before it's done.

This will be my last update until next week. I am off to New York to pick up my ancient Finn and to sail in a regatta. I hope that everything works out for whomever it is that you are rooting for.

Mickey Lake

[bamamick]

Andrew, I added that to my favorites page. Thank you.

Another thing to note: Penny Clark of the UK has a 2-22-1 in the LaserW class. Once they get into the drop race she will be leading comfortably if she keeps on that way.

Mickey Lake

[Hwyl]

A no wind day today. We may be suffering the same fate here in NH/Maine. So I won't complain about the venue.

[The Bigfella]

We've got 30 knots down here.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

No wind, again.

(This is unlikely to be a problem at Weymouth in 2012!)

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Only two gold medals - Finn and Yngling - for Britain. There was a time when we would have been delighted with that, but not these days.

As the only real contender, Zach Railey was in a difficult position, as Ben Ainslie could always cover him out.

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

...

As the only real contender, Zach Railey was in a difficult position, as Ben Ainslie could always cover him out.

Which is what he was trying to do in yesterdays light-airs fiasco - but today was a different affair altogether.

[The Bigfella]

I believe Oz has the 470 men's sewn up ahead of the final race and a good lead in the women's. Fifth in the 49ers - after having been in the gold medal position in the final race and then going arse up in the slop three times (at least).

A win to our Tornado crew today too.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Yes, you've got the 470, I think.

Bronze in the 49er for us, still good prospect in the Laser.

Who on earth is going to get on the podium in the Star? That looks like a really open competition!

[Hwyl]

A picture from Sailing Anarchy

http://www.sailinganarchy.com/fringe/2008/finn%20light%20olympics.jpg

[The Bigfella]

Nice. I must get myself one of those sea-side apartments.

[skuthorp]

Plenty of wind and seas for the 49'ers yesterday. Looked very hairy and untidy. You know it's tough when crews of that standard are falling about!

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

I know Qingdao; those aren't apartments, that's the CBD.

A little to the North are some very nice waterside houses that were silly cheap when built ten years ago - they are not cheap now!

The climate and the area generally is a bit like Greece.

I've never seen smog or fog in Qingdao and I suspect that the digital camera may have been digitally adjusted - either that or its very deep focus.

[The Bigfella]

From the games website:

With disqualification the only thing standing in the way of gold for Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page of Australia (http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/BIO/NOC/AUS.shtml) in the Men's 470 (Two Person Dinghy), the pair put an exclamation mark on their victory by finishing first in the medal race. Wilmot and Page took over first place after the third race and never looked back, building an insurmountable 22 point lead before the final race and winning with 44 points overall.

[The Bigfella]

... and the results are unofficial still - but the Aussie women had a 9th in their last race - which gives them the 470 Women's Gold Medal.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

GB got silver in mens 470's. We ought to let you Australians have something, I suppose...;)

[The Bigfella]

GB got silver in mens 470's. We ought to let you Australians have something, I suppose...;)

I think we might have more to come .... It was good to see Wilmot get his gold at last. His sister goes out with a guy who used to work for me. If he's got half her class, he has to be a good guy.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Whose prospects do you fancy?

[The Bigfella]

The Tornado. Bundock and Ashby. They came 2nd in the 7th race today - which dropped them from first to second after Spain (on the same points)

[bamamick]

I'm back!

I don't really know what's going on since I haven't seen a television or internet in four days or so, but I was able to keep up with the Finn stuff since I was sailing a Finn event and everyone was interested.

So far, medals have been awarded in the following classes:

470M: AUS, GBR, FRA. USA 13th
470W: AUS, NED, BRA. USA 12th
49er: DEN, ESP, GER. USA 6th GBR 9th
Finn: GBR, USA, FRA.
Yngling: GBR, NED, GRE. USA 7th

The following classes have yet to finish. Results up to this point:

LaserM: GBR, SWE, POR. USA 25th
LaserW: USA, LTU, CHN. GBR 10th
BoardM: NZL, GBR, FRA. USA 26th
BoardW: ITA, CHN, ESP. USA 26th
Star: SWE, GBR, FRA. USA 12th
Tornado: ESP, AUS, GRE. GBR 12th USA 14th

Great Britain stands at two golds and one silver, Australia has two golds, Holland has two silvers, and France has two bronzes. I think that the biggest surprises for the United States were Zach's silver and Sally's 7th place finish. Anything can happen in these events and those are two shining examples. Also of note was Tim Wadlow's solid finish in the 49er. He is pretty solid, which is difficult in a class with so few people sailing them here in North America.

The final races will shake up the leaderboard except for the top spot overall. The UK sailing team should walk away from Qingdao with at least six medals. Not the ten that some predicted, but in such an unpredictable venue it is an outstanding accomplishment. Other teams who will leave having done well are Spain, who has really fielded a solid team over the past few cycles, France, Greece, and of course Australia. The US team will leave China with two medals, and one of those was a bit of a shocker. We are a long way from the days of the Los Angeles Games, and I am not sure if we will ever have a team to rival Australia or the good European teams again, or at least not for awhile.

Two names that you don't see here (except for one exception) do surprise me: Canada and New Zealand. Chris Cook had a very solid 5th in the Finns, and the New Zealander is leading the Men's board and will no doubt medal, but these teams are usually more productive. The comment that I kept hearing from guys this weekend who had actually been to Qingdao and knew the venue was that one word kept being said over and over: crapshoot. Hard to believe that given the consistancy of some of the teams, but I do think that it's safe to say that there will be a big sigh of relief for many to get back on the plane and head home when this Games is over.

Mickey Lake

[Alex Craig-Bennett]

Mickey, why was Zach Railey's silver surprising? I would have called that "unsurprising"!

[Alex Craig-Bennett]

The Tornado. Bundock and Ashby. They came 2nd in the 7th race today - which dropped them from first to second after Spain (on the same points)

Yes, have to agree.

The one that I cannot call at all is the Star.

[bamamick]

Alex, nice to meet you. No, I think that most Americans are surprised by Zach's wonderful performance. Of course, just about any of those guys could win a medal in the right circumstances, Zach just sailed the most consistant international regatta of his life. Guys like Dan Slater of New Zealand, the Norwegian, the Dane, the Croatian, the Slovenian. Any of these would have been favored to win a medal over Zach. That being said, as a Finn owner and an American I must say that I am very proud and happy for Zach. I hope that he sticks with it because he is still very young.

The Star? Robert Scheidt is in 10th iirc. That tells you how tough that fleet is. Any major Star regatta is a dog fight.

Mickey Lake

[Alex Craig-Bennett]

I think Ben Ansley wants to compete in Weymouth in 2012.

[bamamick]

Whew! I just got through reading a note from someone who was saying that the word around Qingdao is that the Star would not participate in 2016, and that the IOC wanted one of the men's dinghies eliminated, so here we go. Of course, as I was pointing out this weekend to a female Finnster, the Finn is an 'open' dinghy, not a 'men's' dinghy. It is simply classified as the 'heavyweight open dinghy' so that someone the size of a grownup can sail in the Olympics :).

Sounds to me that the IOC is intent on taking the tactical boats out of the Games in favor of flash and speed. Fine. Then why was the catamaran discipline eliminated? You know what? In the end the Finn has had a half century of Olympic glory and nothing anyone does now can change that. It's still an awesome boat and it will always be a boat that attracts people to it. Same with the Star. The Dragon and the Dutchman have both done very well post-Olympic and whatever happens in the future I am confident that there will continue to be good racing in both the Star and the Finn classes.

I will say this, though: I have a 40 year old Finn sitting in my yard right now. Does anyone believe that there will be a 40 year old 49er sailing at any point when that time comes? Maybe that has nothing to do with anything, but it seems to me that it should.

Oh yeah, Ben should come back and try for that 4th gold at home. He will always be a legend no matter what he does now, but wouldn't it be awesome to walk with Paul Elvstrom?

Mickey Lake

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Mickey, I really don't know how the IOC decide on classes; the only case that I know a bit about is the choice of the singlehanded dinghy back in 1948 where there was heavy manufacturer lobbying by Fairey Marine, who, as a plane maker, knew how to do it.

I suspect that the interest in flash and speed comes from television companies, who must have a lot of lobbying power with the IOC.

The argument against the keelboats has always been the cost. Personally I wanted the Dragon to stay in, and in my dreams I would bring back the 8 metres.

I would rather lose the Laser than the Finn, but if the IOC want flash and speed why not bring in the assymetric Canoe? Now there is a truly interesting and challenging boat with tremendous TV potential!

[bamamick]

I think that the cost to the host country is certainly one point, and the overall costs of the campaign for the competing nations have to be a factor. Thing is, there is this urban legend that I couldn't tell you if it were true or not, but most Americans believe the IOC to be heavily influenced by the members from western Europe, and if that is the case then why would any of the above be true?

According to all of my friends the Laser will stay Olympic for the bare fact that the company will continue to foot the bill for everything, just like they used to do with the Finns. Quite honestly, I expect the Laser to wind up being the last boat eliminated from the entire Games. In this day and age where the hosts will spend 40 billion dollars and probably a billion just on the opening ceremonies, sailing is a high cost, low return sport.

In my own opinion, if you just wanted something really cool as an Olympic boat with a reasonable size, I would make the 'modern' 5.5 metre Olympic again, and then come up with some sort of nationality rule for the designers and builders. Whew! What a free-for-all that would be. Of course, that is hardly a democratic idea and wouldn't fly for a moment, but I think that it would promote some awesome design and top quality competition for those of us who still think that there is nothing obscene about someone having ballast bolted to their boat.

Mickey Lake

[Hwyl]

foiling moth?

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Good thought, Gareth!

[Hwyl]

I don't want to get into the "which class" controversy. I do like the Laser however and will pause to congratulate Paul Goodison on getting the Gold in that class. (Wearing my British hat here)

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44937000/jpg/_44937550_goodison_wet512x288.jpg

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

I watched the scene that lead to Gareth's photo unfold - through tears of laughter - wonderful stuff.

The FoilMoth is a great suggestion - but you'd fear a light day.


2.4 - disabled and able bodied alike in the same races.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

A textbook example of why sailing is un-telegenic. "Why is the winner at the back?"

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

From today's Torygraph:

http://i535.photobucket.com/albums/ee352/acraigbennett/Matt20Telegraph20Cartoon20Sailing20.jpg?

[The Bigfella]

Nary a Kiwi in sight and they've won a gold in the RS:X

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Our Tornado crew look a bit feeble. Might do Ok in the Star.

[bamamick]

I'd say so! Ian Percy is tied for first going to the medal race! He and Freddy Loof will fight it out.

Our guys from the Gulf Coast had a, shall we say, miserable, series? John Dane wound up 11th in the Stars, and Johnny Lovell was last in the Tornados, which considering that Johnny won the silver in Athens is a bit of a surprise. Johnny, Randy Smythe, and the other guys who have sailed Tornados through the years have represented the US very well. I have been on a catamaran in a race exactly once (I helmed a Hobie 18 and finished 33rd of 55. I hated it), but I respect that those guys have a lot of skills that the rest of us can learn from.

Mickey Lake

[The Bigfella]

Tornado medal race starts in 45 minutes - and the good news is that there is a bit of breeze. 10-12 knots should see the Aussies fly. I hope. Bundock has IIRC 6 world championships in the Tornado. It would be nice to see him get gold.

[The Bigfella]

Bugger - a Silver to Australia in the Tornados. Gold to Spain and Bronze to Argentina.

It was telecast here - which was good. The Aussies tried something different at the start - they needed to beat Spain by 2 - but it didn't pay off.

Dunno how the Germans managed to capsize in a 13 knot breeze?

Mickey - you mention Randy Smythe. I raced against him at an Australian Championship back around 1980 or 81.

[StevenBauer]

Those Spaniards were doing some crazy celebrating. :) Stars next.


Steven

[The Bigfella]

Sweden are one place ahead of the Poms after the first mark.

[The Bigfella]

Wow - what did Sweden do? They went from 3rd to 9th - and lost the Gold in the process. Well done Poms.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Bad luck there for the Aussies.

Star was open - no opportunity for match racing.

(Interesting - the British boat finished in the top ten in every class.)

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

An enthralling race.

About half way down the second run a commentator said;
"and his crew Bart Simpson",!!!

Turns out that this is a nickname, but just for a moment...

[The Bigfella]

Hmm - two gear problems on the Aussie Tornado in the last race apparently - they lost the traveller control just before the start - which sounds like crew error to me, and the mast rotation control lever failed, allowing the mast to over-rotate. I know they are different masts now - but the way we used to do it was with a plate on the bottom of the mast - which was fairly robust.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

...but I thought over-rotation was the whole idea.. (Firefly sailor betrays his ignorance ;) )

[The Bigfella]

...but I thought over-rotation was the whole idea.. (Firefly sailor betrays his ignorance ;) )

Depends dunnit....

When I was racing Tornados, we were using an IYE wing mast.

Different settings up and down wind and according to wind stregth. All these years later, I can't remember the settings, but I do recall issuing some rude words to my crew (wife) in the Bridge to Bridge race when I looked up after a tack to see my spreaders poking through my brand new main. She hadn't let the mast rotation off. We won the race anyhow.

[bamamick]

...and so it ends. The Qingdao Games are over and it's time to finish up these reports. Congratulations go to Ian Percy for his huge win in the Stars and to the Spanish team for their win in Tornados.

Final medal results are as follows:

49er: DEN, ESP, GER
470M: AUS, GBR, FRA
470W: AUS, NED, BRA
Finn: GBR, USA, FRA
LaserM: GBR, SLO, ITA
LaserW: USA, LTU, CHN
BoardsM: NZL, FRA, ISR
BoardsW: CHN, ITA, GBR
Tornado: ESP, AUS, ARG
Star: GBR, BRA, SWE
Yngling: GBR, NED, GRE

As I said earlier, the Brits took home the haul of six medals and there was no one close to their performance as a team. There may have never been a team this deep, and I still don't understand why the world doesn't try and emulate what they are doing. Other strong teams were the Aussies, the Spanish, and the French. The US team won two medals but had only four top ten performances and that has to be a concern for those of us love this stuff.

Well, I've got work to do. Weymouth in four years for no doubt what will be a totally different event. The US Finn class has developed a 'team' concept of our own to try and allow more good young sailors to train and work together over this next four years. It'll be interesting to see how this shapes up and what result comes from it.

Mickey Lake

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Thanks for the thread, Mickey.

[Hwyl]

Thanks for the thread, Mickey.

Yes thank you very much.

[bamamick]

You are quite welcome.

Loud whispers that Weymouth will be the swan song for the Finn. If so it's been a great run, and with the way things are going now I have no fear at all for the health of the class itself, but rest assured that the Finn will not go down without a fight. It'll be an interesting four years.

I've just been out stripping the rigging from my ancient Finn. A lot of history in a 40 year old racing boat.

Mickey Lake

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

So, just the Laser as the singlehander? Pity. The complexity of sail shape in the Finn is baffling, but fascinating.

And no catamaran?

And no Star?

[bamamick]

Andrew, for Weymouth there will be a Star class. As far as I know the way it will play out is:

Men's two handed dinghy (470)
Women's two handed dinghy (470)
Men's board (?)
Women's board (?)
Open two handed dinghy (49er?)
Open heavyweight singlehanded dinghy (Finn)
Men's two handed keelboat (Star)
Women's match racing keelboat
Women's singlehanded dinghy (?)
Men's singlehanded dinghy (?)

The biggest differences here are of course the lack of a catamaran class, and the fact that the women's keelboat discipline will be in a match race format.

2016 is the big question mark, and many believe that there will be radical changes in the Olympic sailing races during that event. There seems to be some pressure to eliminate more boats and sailors, and as I said, we know that the Finn is in danger of losing it's status, and of course the battle in 2012 was really between keeping the Star or keeping the Tornado, not the Finn as a lot of people thought. All of this seems rather sad to me. If these changes are made it seems that sailing is in danger of becoming one of those sports that people watch and do not participate in. Very few people past the age of 30 will ever sail a Laser or a 49er competitively. I realize that the Games are supposed to represent the fittest and most physically able of our sport, but I have always thought that it was cool that the tactical and strategic aspects of the game were just as important.

Mickey Lake

[Hwyl]

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/09RdfD87Mc0Ia/610x.jpg

[bamamick]

The thrill of victory! The 'three blondes' look rather happy in that photo, don't they? I vaguely remember what that's like :).

I wish I had the day off to work on my Finn! I will get some time in on it tomorrow, hopefully. I think that the Games usually has that effect on me. Even those of us with antique equipment and less than stellar skills feel a part of it and share in the pride of being a member of one of these classes. We feel it in the Dragons as well even though our part in this contest ended in Kiel in 1972.

I know that the conditions were less than perfect, but since when does that matter in sailing? This has been a interesting two weeks and fun to have track of. One final time, hail Brittania, and congratulations to everyone who sailed and competed in Qingdao.

I can't wait for Weymouth.

Mickey Lake