I agree with Mary from the perspective of actually racing and watching. I have only raced several times- Juana's regatta with one distance race (I sucked) but the next day there was 3 triangle races which were relatively short, close to shore, didn't require any serious amount of thought about the next mark (in the sense of knowing, while watching, that the boats were going there next). I had a great time doing the "simple" races that day because there wasn't such a distance between boats- so I guess my point is that maybe what would look better on TV would also, obviously, make it more interesting for someone to do. I can understand why someone wouldn't be too interested in watching the RTI which I did (but sure is interesting to look at the number of times you tacked or gybed from the GPS points)
In dumbing it down for Bubba and Cleatus- fast reaches and an occasional pitchpole might do it for them (seems like everyone on the forum likes seeing that stuff too

AHA! And that is exactly what will keep the beginner interested and coming back. A short course where the leaders are still in site. Maybe one can learn a bit more about the rules and boatspeed. And if the cereberal part of the game is too daunting they may give up. Bubba and Cleatus win few, if any, drag races unless they seriously study boat speed. If properly put in front of the couch potato it will draw attention. As stated earlier, with the proper commentator and explanations even "boring" F1 can be entertaining to watch...you know I might be able to afford a sailboat.

Dave,
I'm not talking about dumbing it down. I'm talking about rearranging the way we set up our race courses so the fast reaching leg is as close as possible to shore, with a reaching start and reaching finish for excitement purposes. The rest of the course would be pretty much normal with upwind and downwind legs.

I like the idea of short course racing close to shore however modern spi cats/mono's are optimised for upwind/downwind racing. Most cats are flying hulls all round the course these days.

The problem with reaching marks is once somebody gets in front, it is *very* difficult to overtake unless the boat in front makes a big mistake. Windward-returns still provide great action plus a bit of suspence - did he get in front or not - we have to wait a min to find out!

I am not a fan of reaching starts either. They don't make for fair racing (1 boat usually winds up with a huge advantage if he pushes the other boats to follow the rules) and in many cases can be plain dangerous.

Michael

I don't like the idea of "crash & burn" as a boat owner. The right boats mixed with windward/return short course racing can provide excellent material and still be done in a (relatively) safe way. Modern spi launching/retrieving systems only help in this respect as the boats aren't spending 1/2 the leg putting up/dropping sails.

The idea of close to shore racing to cut costs for coverage is also a good one however I think we will alway struggle as the best coverage of sailing I have seen has always had shots from a helicopter.

Michael

One thing for sure is that "crash and burn racing" will sure clean up 5yr and older boats that are suseptible to loading up the rig and hulls.It would make Hobie, Nacra, and the like happy to broom up all them dead boats . Problem is I like my dead boat! Hope to be on the course more next year BG. M6.0

Right! That's what we need. Don't you watch motocross?

Sailing IS exciting to watch IF there are camera's on the boats and the race is being filmed from other sources such as chase boats (rubber duckies), and from a helicopter etc. There was a videoed racing series here in Australia of the 18' skiffs filmed in just such a way and it had a very large following of sailers and also with the majority of the audience being "non sailers" who watched it because
1 when it could be seen "up close and in your face" it was exciting.
2 The comentory made the rules and the boat positions understandable by every one.
3 when it is seen close up it is very spectacular.
Watch sailing from another boat in a close race and it is fast, exciting and "spectacular", watch it from a few miles away and it is just plain slow with not much apparently happening. If car racing was filmed from three miles away from the action with no zoom, and the spectators couldn't get any closer than that distance to it, and with a commentary that left a lot to be desired, how big a following do you think it would attract? Treat sailing in the same visual way on TV, as car racing and it would soon gather a large spectator following.

what is a reaching start?

I would largely agree with that.

Jobson did a great job with the Olympic coverage this year and I don’t think it could have been made much more exciting. Maybe some overlays with right of way and speeds might have been nice. It is not the most exciting sport, especially to someone who does not understand what is going. Jobson did great job explaining what was going on, but it was probably hard to appreciate (especially in the light winds).

I think it is important that all us who enjoy watching the events to watch them, but I am not sure what we will gain from the coverage. Will it draw anyone to the sport? I am not sure. This would probably be done better by training new crew or taking people out for a ride. It would defiantly be done better will a drag race (reach) in heavy winds. “Wow can you believe how the German T team went 30mph on TV? Sailing is definitely not like watching paint dry, it is exciting.”

The one thing sailing does have going for it is rooting interest. A lot of people will watch a sport just to root for their country. And that may be our only hope.

Matt

When the start line is set sunch that the first mark of the course is a reach from the line, this will also mean that the start line will not be facing into the wind.



How so? I don't see me taking part in c+b Racing if I am paying for the broken bits, I would not ave the sponser budget for them to pay either!. I would think that people taking part in such races would only be able to get 3rd party cover and so it's going to get expensive!

The 18teen series is very well done..
It does show how hard the skiffies work.....

If the TV coverage was available then this is the way to go.. However the Olympics has so many sports all competing to get air time and production expenses, I doubt if it will happen universally.. Each country has its TV channels all competing for media room space and land links.. The producers play according to national interests.. So in Au it will always be swimming before sailing... I guess in the States it will be track before sailing..

The other issue is the venues can only hold so many team members.. So the Olympic committee restrict the sports to X number and this in turn restricts the numbers of team.Dont forget one has team managers, physios doctors & bean counters.

Finally voting blocks control the type of boats not what is exciting.. How else can one explain the Star & Finn being in the regatta? They had a perfect opportunity to get high quality solo boat in the Contender but the voting block made sure it didnt happen.. The Star should have gone years ago..

Personally I dont like the SMOD focus of the Olympic push.. So I dont care if Sailing stays in..

Scooby I think if the racing became more on the edge and especially newbie friendly you might get more of the older boats out on the course that change there rigging every few years or more and are'nt so persnikity on the upkeep ( Oh wait a minute that's me!)( I would'nt want to scare anyone away from me so I will also say I d'ont let the boat turn into crap either) .There would be a mix of boats,there would be boats barely alive.The only way to go through a part or a boat for that matter is to use them. Hopefully I will use up the boats I have and maybe then if I have learned enough to be more consistant on the water would I buy a new boat. Until that time I'll slug it out with what I have. I guess if you start young in this sport/activety you are more likely to go through 2nd and 3rd hand boat stages earlier and then you settle for nothing less than new should you stay in the sport...................Next years Dragrace I think we are going to set a mark in the deep area in front of the shoreline that the current carves out so you've got to go through wave sets for the crowd.

You are joking.

If people cannot get insurance, they will not race. If boats are getting crashed people will not get insurance. People will not travel 1000's of miles and spend 10,000's of GBP / USD or what ever to just turn up with some shed boats. People will still want to bring top kit (juust 5 - 10 times as much) to the Olly regatta.

Would you take your new boat out sailing if there was 1 in 10 chance of it being written off ? I would not.

Who is going to pay for this expensive (boat breaking) sailing. Not the IOC.

Thank you Mr. Barrett
Here's the link, please click on and watch the promo video, turn your sound up, as Darryl said it is done well. http://www.f1sail.com/
Crash and burn doesn't necessarily have to mean you lose control in front of me and I, so hell bent for the finish line, drive over your bows. A nice violent pitchpole or capsize of "one" boat can be good entertainment. The leeward bow catching the back of a wave is "our" couch potatoes equivalent of the luge or bobsled clipping the wall. Helo shots, chase boat shots, a camera on the spi pole for each bow, a radar/gps speed, just tell Mr. Potato Head what to watch for and they're all over it (instant replay?) and how about Rick & Mary as color commentators?

Forget crash and burn. Ever see anyone hit by anouther catamaran? I have seen the results of a crew taking a bow in the face. I takes a lot of surgery to put you back together. To make crash and burn work we would have to dress like motocross racers.

As for making the course more spectator friendly, reach legs near the shore work and leeward marks in close for spinnaker boats. For spectators, watching the spinnaker take down at mouth of a harbor is perfect.

As I write this I realized the IOC should talk to the people who put on evening races for bars. Not mid-week races at a Yacht Club but the ones that are a spectator draw for a bar on the water. They have been making races more spectator friendly for years. They don't do it every 4 years, they do 20-30 weeks a year and get direct feedback., when they don't do it right.

Hmm, "bar" racing sounds interesting. Is there anything special they do to make it more entertaining? Carl?

That's what I'm talking about -- bar racing and Formula 40 and Volvo Extreme -- all done close to shore and in spectator-friendly formats.

I think the Olympics are neither good or bad for sailing. I think sailing deserved a place in the olympics, but I would loose any sleep over it when it is kicked out. I don't have much taste for track events either, I find them boring beyond compare, but it is what channels are showing us 24X7 during olympic events.

The rebel in me says, lets forget about the Olympics and ISAF and just do it our selfs. Helicopters needed for air-real (pun intend) coverage, BS !. For years now journalists and what not are using model planes and model blimbs with lightweight camera equipement as replacement for full size helicopters. With todays miniture equipment I've seen pure amateurs like Hakan, UK spitfire /Stealth sailors and Rocklegde engineer putting out 10 times better footage then any professional crew. Not to mention the French cat sailing DVD crew.

I we want to do it right we have to do it ourselfs. Lets put sailing back in the avantgarde seat !

Wouter