Not all international teams are created equal. Quit being obtuse Mark.

Ah... Dave that is your judgement.... I would judge the INT. N17 fleet shipping their boats around the world to gold cup events as being above the threshold of "competent" YMMV of course.

What could happen is that Organizing authorities figure out that they face real liability issues. They could decide that they don't have sufficient safety boats and personnel on the course and pull the plug on racing N17s.

Alternatively

It takes a PRO with guts and experience to make these calls against the wishes of the Organizing Authority..
I saw Paul Ulibara make this call in Miami at an OCR. He based the call on conditions and the lack of support boats provided by the OA.... I watched the OA sputter in protest. I heard about the euro event where the T Fleet supported PUs call on the water the day before and his subsequent replacement by opting to not leave the dock....

This is a judgement call made by a guy with balls and great judgement ..

Nevertheless... it is ALWAYS BETTER to set the expectations before hand.... So... a policy change is far better then counting on the judgements of OAs and PRO's who have lots of conflicting interests.

Not in the N17 class in Miami. That's what we're talking about, right? The highest placing US sailor was Mike Easton in 21st. Not bad, given his limited experience with the boat, but not good enough for the medal race.


WTheF are you talking about? Most of the "International Fleet" was able to handle the breeze.

Re: the decision to race - PU had some serious balls to go against the Miami OA - and was lucky he had the support of the T sailors. He got invited back only because he really was (is) that good. A move like that by a course RO now would get you a nice "thank-you, your services are no longer needed" note for not being a "team player".

Yup... a conflict of interest ... My point... its best to resolve this before you get on the water.

So.... the current status.. "Team Player" trumps Safety and Excellence in Race Management...

What do people think will happen when somebody dies?

Here are some recent examples!
Answer: The US Coast Guard went nuts on OA race management for "coastal" distance races and now regulate them as OFF SHORE events after the pacific north west accident... Now... the Down the Bay race on the Chesapeake requires offshore gear. IE $$$$ or you break the rules/cheat (grin).

Answer: Severn Sailing has a member's kid die in a 420 racing accident and now they use Hobie Bobs... no spinakers and have deemphasized their two person 420 junior racing program in Annapolis.

Answer: the America's cup OA puts in wind limits to manage the racing after a boat blows up and a pro sailor dies... even tho... it was probably a design flaw at the root of it.

What do you think happens?

(Oh... and this is before the US legal system takes over and assesses liability and then the insurance industry assigns responsibility and $$$)

We do have some experience with this... The Tornado fleet did have an Olympic level sailor die in a turtle capsize after being stuck in the rigging in an ISAF event overseas. The outcome was compartmentalized and forgotten... Will that work in a North American context?

Matt and Ding have made my points with regard to the fleet/design.

Mark, while I disagree with you on the boat design, you make excellent points on the fallout of disasters. I've said it here before, everyone is Mr. Macho about taking their own risks, but as soon as someone dies, it's a race between the family's lawyers filing lawsuits vs. the Coast Guard calling US Sailing HQ. Nothing good happens after that, which is why we (ROs) try so hard to avoid ending up there (aside from wanting our friends/fellow sailors to be safe).

Support boats are a real issue for OA vs. ROs, at all levels of the game. Sad to see it at this level, especially with the history.

Don't get me started on the hypocrisy with the trapeze safety systems/rules.

Mike

Just a twinge dramatic don't you think?

Dramatic...

I don't know about that... (See the Tornado result)

The immense sadness at organizational junior meetings after Olivia died in a 420 accident was profound. I got the impact of all of the decisions made or dismissed or poo pooed and 99.9 percent of the time... they are not important... BUT... for that .1 percent of the time... You really want to know that you thought these issues out... and made a considered judgement.

Take the example of Robbie Daniel paddling about on the race course for 30 minutes before being spotted this year... Does the event have an adequate Safety program in place?

Now consider the usual racing rule... no radio communication gear allowed.. Hmm... That is a policy decision that could kill somebody... Is there an adequate safety program in place?

In Newport this past summer... a 505 team picked up an A cat buddy of mine after 20 minutes swimming/lost at sea??.... Of course the nitwit A Cat PRO... was clueless that one of his sailors was swimming..

The A class had that ridiculous rule as well... St Francis and the A class leadership changed that for their upcoming NA's.

Will it make a difference.... 99.9% of the time... probably not... I think its good judgement to plan for that .1% of the time. And do smart things.

Drama gets your attention... what you do with the facts is about judgement.

When being a good team player trumps safety and race management... I have some issues... and choose to be a PIA.

Mark,

Please provide the A Cat rule that forbids carrying radios, I don't see that in the class rules.

Most classes allow radios to be carried for emergencies, but forbid their use during (and usually before) racing.

Rules or no rules, I'll never get on a boat without a VHF attached to my person. 13.5 hours overnight on the bottom of a turtled cat leaves an impression...

Mike

NACRA 17 news

Guess they did not sail in Clearwater today.

http://global.iwindsurf.com/map#27.464,-82.365,9,1,!98676,1

Jill again,


We hate to brag about Clearwater with it being our home town but Clearwater has just run a school on how to do an event for the N17, 49r and Fx Classes. Everything that was such a dissapointment for these classes with the last event in Miami was made up for by the Clearwater event.

The racing was great, the venue was fabulous....Plenty of parking, hot showers, real toilets with toilet paper (we don't ask for much!), plenty of shelter inside and out. A very aware race committe that kept us all safe with a proper amount of safety boats. Coach boat parking... THEN IT GOT EVEN BETTER ....for less than $200.00 for early registration fee, you got a T shirt, they passed out sandwhiches on the water each day, then at night had food enough to feed an army every day for FREE! Each racer had a crediential pass that got the racers and coaches free transportation along the beach on the Jolly Trolly, free entry into the Clearwater Marine Aquarium where they met Winter, the famous dolphin from the movie Dolphin Tail and Dolphin Tail 2.


Keep in mind, Clearwater Community Sailing Center is a small club with a REALLY BIG heart for getting things done! This year was a warm up for next year when they host the worlds for this group. I think the Classes have chosen wizely. Clearwater has been the best kept sailing secret for years.

Many international teams use the Center already for their training since we have great sailing all year round. You can count our bad sailing days....not many! The water access is great and can offer a variety of conditions between the bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

All I can say is GOOD ON YOU! Clearwater Community Sailing Center....JOB WELL DONE!

Sounds like they did a great job. Must have been very enjoyable. I mean all the extras, and the type of extras, usually really make the event community building. That makes a different kind of difference. Not to be taken lightly.

Thanks Clearwater Community Sailing Center

Sadly, it used to be the norm to provide all the things mentioned. Small orgs, and particularly cat fleets, are used to running regattas this way, other organizations, not so much...

Mike

Thumbs up to CCSC.

Props to SSS (Sarasota Sailing Squadron) as well. Good parking, clubhouse, showers, dockage, good F16 fleet. Great bay sailing.

I support clubs like you mentioned for those reasons. Even if I do have to tolerate PHRF and fuzzy math. I know my $$ is going to a good operation.

it was nice to see all 16 boats on the line and to watch all the spins popping out one after another... fast (FAST) professional tacking was neat to see too

my (non sailing) friend took this pic - he was clueless as to what was going on

http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2015/02/08/mini-olympics-clearwater-north-americans/

Where is JC in all this?
http://www.ussailing.org/athletes-named-to-2015-us-sailing-team-sperry-and-development-team/

Team selection was based on results at the Miami World Cup event. JC didn't have a great week and missed out on selection for this year.

Having talked to a team member, sounds like the Nacra 17s are getting minimal if any funding for this year based on no teams making the gold fleet at the last worlds. Logistics support is helpful, but the lack of monetary support hurts.

The article says the Olympic team was selected from two events: ISAF Worlds in Santander, and the event in Miami. The Development team (USSDT) was selected only from their results in Miami. None of the teams had a "great" showing in Miami, that's for sure. Really tough for folks like JC with so much time invested.

Here is the team for the Nacra 17 (Mixed Two-Person Multihull):

Michael Easton (Bedford, Mass.) and Katie Pettibone (Port Huron, Mich.)

Sarah Newberry (Miami, Fla.) and Matthew Whitehead (Panama City, Fla.)

USSDT: Jeremy Wilmot (Newport, R.I.) and Louisa Chafee (Warwick, R.I.)

All of these folks have obviously spent time, money and effort preparing as well, and deserve our full support.

Mike

The US team selection is about money and marketing and status... Nothing to sneeze at... BUT..
the team that qualifies the USA at the N17 worlds is the hot ticket.

By definition ... they will have been the top US Team and jump to the front of the ISAF USA rankings.

Nothing stops JC, Mendelbrot or Guliari from getting their teams better and jumping to the front of the pack. You can't say that one team has a stranglehold on the slot ... best in the US...based on recent results

Hopefully one of the 6 teams will figure it out and jump into a top 10 slot in the world. This is a similar circumstance as Randy Smyths retirement. I seem to remember about 5 teams fighting before Johnny and Charlie won out.... and it still took 8 years to get a medal. It is a tough road and $$$$.

Briefly speaking to JC while he's in Palma via texts, he seemed to indicate to me that its not the end of the line of his campaign. I'm guessing that these teams aren't set in stone.