Summer Rio 2016 - Sailing

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Subtitles on Seven just said that the Australians are racing for gold in the "Macra 17s". :rolleyes:
 
Demosthenes said:
Yup. Burton's not even top 10 so it was a massive upset.
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It wasn't a massive upset. Burton was one of the favourites going in. He was ranked number 1 himself up until late March this year. and had been on and off since 2012. If you do more regattas than someone else you will get more points and be ranked higher. So it's not always a true indication.

He also only just missed an Olympic berth in 2012 and as we know, Slingsby got the spot and won gold.
 
Demosthenes said:
Yeah, I'm an Etchells and Dragon sailor so I'm biased towards keelboats.

I have mixed feelings about dinghy racing but at least the sailing isn't all cats and sailboards - yet, anyway.
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Nearly all successful competition sailors learn to sail in dinghies from a very young age - that is where you learn boat-handling, tuning and tactical skills. I used to sail the ex-Olympic classes Flying Dutchman (the last dinghy class I sailed before I went to keelboats) and Dragons. The Dragons with 3 crew meant you didn't have to be a gorilla to sail them (unlike the Star Class [very technical boat to tune], Etchells, and the Finn dinghy). But I have never sailed on a wetter boat than the Dragon - it is not that hard to sink those mothers in big seas.

Even when I was off-shore racing in 35' to 60' keelboats I kept a Laser (well before it was an Olympic class) to race around the cans - just to get back to grass roots. Lasers are a lot of fun.
 

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Yeah, I grew up on VJs, VSs and Lasers. They are fun but I feel like they are being used to squeeze keelboats out of the Olympics because they all get lumped in together as monohulls.
 
Demosthenes said:
Basically Burton was maneuvering to lock Stipanovic out and give him a bad start. Starting in sailing is tricky because of right-of-way rules, and having to time your approach on the right vector to ensure you hit the line at exactly the right time whilst travelling full speed. So it's pretty easy to work out what approach a given boat needs to take to the line. If you want to **** up another guy's race it's not hard (as long as you don't mind ******* yourself up too).

Burton was counting on the Croat getting aggressive and trying to get past when he shouldn't - which he did, got into a position where he had no room to manouvre and collided with Burton. That meant a penalty turn, and gave Burton the opportunity to get ahead.

It was a ballsy move by Burton, but it came off beautifully.
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Also, there is usually a bias (the right end or the wrong end) to the lay of the startline, depending on tide and wind (windshift trends) and proximity of the land. If you go against the trend you might get less congestion but you want to make sure you have the boat speed to avoid some severe downsides. Some guys/gals are natural aces at the start.

Mistakes at the start in dinghies usually do not have serious consequences - but in keelboats they can result in some major structural damage. Just shootin' the breeze, but I recall in one race where we set up a jockey pole prelim to hoisting the kite on a tight reach, everyone was calling Up, Up, and we all got squeezed, so that in the swell (this was off Honolulu) our jockey pole dipped under the rail of the leeward boat and started to pluck the aluminum rail posts out of their deck like toothpicks.

Heh. Happy days....
 
deltablues said:
I recall in one race where we set up a jockey pole prelim to hoisting the kite on a tight reach, everyone was calling Up, Up, and we all got squeezed, so that in the swell (this was off Honolulu) our jockey pole dipped under the rail of the leeward boat
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You could be making all of this stuff up and I'd have no idea whether you're bullshitting or not.

I'm impressed at your dedication to sailing, I hope the Australian government and public follow suit so our sailors get the recognition they deserve. It looks like a seriously tough sport judging from the endless replays of Tom Burton the past few hours.
 
Forward Press said:
You could be making all of this stuff up and I'd have no idea whether you're bullshitting or not.

I'm impressed at your dedication to sailing, I hope the Australian government and public follow suit so our sailors get the recognition they deserve. It looks like a seriously tough sport judging from the endless replays of Tom Burton the past few hours.
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Kind of a snippy comment, bud. Fact is, I started competitive sailing at age 6. Been on family boats since a baby. And I have lots of stories, like most yachties do. Whether you believe me or not is your privilege.

Sailing at Olympic level takes enormous time and dedication. I've sailed against Olympians in nationals and have seen what they can do. Always in awe of sailing folk who are Olympic medal winners.
 
deltablues said:
Kind of a snippy comment, bud. Fact is, I started competitive sailing at age 6. Been on family boats since a baby. And I have lots of stories, like most yachties do. Whether you believe me or not is your privilege.

Sailing at Olympic level takes enormous time and dedication. I've sailed against Olympians in nationals and have seen what they can do. Always in awe of sailing folk who are Olympic medal winners.
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im pretty sure he was just trying illustrate his own lack of knowledge rather than question your insight or experience.

...anyway, im in the same boat (see what i did there) when it comes to sailing knowledge but im enjoying the posts from the guys that know their stuff.
that gold medal is a whole lot more enjoyable with a basic understanding of what actually happened.
 
PoopingHindi said:
im pretty sure he was just trying illustrate his own lack of knowledge rather than question your insight or experience.

...anyway, im in the same boat (see what i did there) when it comes to sailing knowledge but im enjoying the posts from the guys that know their stuff.
that gold medal is a whole lot more enjoyable with a basic understanding of what actually happened.
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Hah, yes, I guess I'm getting old and grumpy.

I should go sailing and chill :D
 
PoopingHindi said:
im pretty sure he was just trying illustrate his own lack of knowledge rather than question your insight or experience.

...anyway, im in the same boat (see what i did there) when it comes to sailing knowledge but im enjoying the posts from the guys that know their stuff.
that gold medal is a whole lot more enjoyable with a basic understanding of what actually happened.
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Yeah, this. Like I said, impressed. Not meant to be an insult at all, deltablues, far from it. Enjoy your insight when most of us don't have a clue.
 

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Also due to the hydrodynamics of the hull, and the aerodynamics of the sail acting as a wing. The more vertical the mast, the more that the force is being directed forward (rather than down).
 
If the PM has any say in the s**t fight for funding between the AOC and the ASC and blame shifting, then based on Malcolm's welcome home speech and talks to Olympians in the Qantas hangar yesterday, sailing might get a decent injection of funds over the next 4 yers.
 
imadodgyumpire said:
It was John Bertrand's cunning plan all along!

Nobody wants to answer my question?
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I will talk about 3 classes I know a little about because when I lived in Sydney my best mate who moved up from Adelaide a year before I did, did some sailing for a few years on the harbour before retiring for a few years and then went back, lasted a year and decided to buy a motor boat to take the family out.

The Laser which Tom Burton won gold in is a stock standard boat across all competitors, and you get in social or local competition sailing so as he said in his interviews its a true test of sailing skills, unlike the America's cup where its who's got the most $$$ and best technology.

The 49ers are a cut down version of the 18 foot skiffs you see racing on Sydney Harbour. They are pretty genric set up like the Laser boats but crews are allowed minor modifications.

The 470's are strict genric one design style boats that you find pretty much the same class at Olympics and at the local sailing club around the world. They used to be an open class in world champs and Olympics before being split into men and women classes in the 1990's.
 
Your description doesn't surprise REH. Without knowing sailing. I suspected it was the case all along.

I ask because I pondered what if motor racing was in the Olympics? In theory, it's a completely stupid idea and would be the source of huge derision. Possibly even against what the Olympics are all about.

But if there's sailing, cycling and bobsleigh in the winter. Motor racing could be included. Most people only know motor racing through Formula 1. But that's the America's Cup equivalent.

If there was motor racing in the Olympics. The only categories that I think could be included would be what's called Formula Ford or Formula Vee. Those cars are pretty much bobsleighs with an engine and wheels.
 
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