Olympic Sailing for the spectators<\/h2>\r\nSpectator sailing and the medal race system has been a source of debate since the day it was announced as the new configuration for Olympic sailing<\/a>. Introduced for the 2008 Beijing Games to make sailing more appealing to a wider audience while making the sport of winning medals more dramatic, we were told that this was required to secure sailing\u2019s future as an Olympic sport. Carry on as it was and the threat was that sailing could lose its place in the Games.\r\n\r\nSo, when it comes to attracting a bigger audience, making sailing look cool and securing the sport\u2019s future in the biggest show on earth, has the exercise worked? I\u2019m not sure it has.\r\n\r\nYes, there have been some developments that may have helped draw a bigger audience. The fact that half the Olympic classes are now on foils brings the sport bang up to date. As we\u2019ve seen in the America\u2019s Cup, doing 30 knots in a single figure breeze is pretty impressive and gets people asking how it\u2019s possible before they even think of asking how the racing works. But how long does this interest last?\r\n\r\nI\u2019m all in favour of foiling developments and believe strongly that this discipline is here to stay. But in my opinion the relative lack of movement, when compared to traditional classes like the 470 or the ILCA, makes it harder to relate to and therefore less appealing in the long run.\r\n\r\nBut that\u2019s not my beef. Compromising the sport for the sake of spectators is. Bringing the medal race course close to shore where the breeze is often lighter and more flukey makes delays more likely and TV broadcasters less likely to commit to putting sailing on screen. And when they do show it, often it\u2019s not at its best.\r\n\r\nIt seems odd that with helicopters, drones, trackers and superb race course overlays to hand, if ever there was a time that we could put the racing where it was best placed to deliver a spectacle, it is now. Instead, we bring it close to the shore in front of a tiny spectator crowd where the conditions risk compromising the racing.\r\n\r\nArticle continues below...<\/em>\r\n\r\n[collection]\r\nA scoring system reshuffle?<\/h2>\r\nI\u2019m also not convinced the Olympic medal scoring system always brings the best talent to the top. World Sailing\u2019s own description of the medal race format goes like this: \u2018the double points on offer mean there is usually jeopardy heading into that final race. As a result, it provides all the drama as gold medals swap hands, podium positions disappear and calculators are kept at the ready.\u2019\r\n\r\nIs that really what makes racing exciting and engaging? I thought it was skill, tactics and tenacity. I don\u2019t watch the track and field events to see people fall over \u2013 I want to see them succeed, break records and deliver outstanding performances. And I don\u2019t want to watch with a calculator.\r\n\r\nSetting national pride to one side, Emma Wilson\u2019s result in the womens\u2019 iQFoil medal race after a dominant performance beforehand is a good example. Yes, misjudging a layline cost her dearly, but so too did not being out on the course beforehand. Minimising the number of races before the grand final might work for running, but it\u2019s a distinct disadvantage on the water.\r\n\r\nAn accumulated points buffer saved the Dutch team in the 49erFX when they made a serious error at the finish, so why not for Wilson? An all or nothing points system doesn\u2019t do justice to a sport that can be influenced by uncontrollable variations in the weather. Plus, how can our sport be understood by viewers who are new to it when we have such different ways of deciding a medal for no obvious reason?\r\n\r\nI wholeheartedly congratulate everyone who won a medal and it made for some great racing, but I\u2019m not sure this Olympic cycle did our sport many favours in the long run.\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/keyassets.timeincuk.net\/inspirewp\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/05\/YW_JUNE19_-COVER-1-152x200.jpg\")
<\/a>If you enjoyed this\u2026.<\/h2>\r\n\r\nYachting World is the world's leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.<\/em><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nBuild your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers<\/a> and save at least 30% off the cover price.<\/em><\/div><\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n
","excerpt":{"rendered":"If you ride an e-bike you\u2019ll be used to being called a cheat. You\u2019ll also be familiar with the way opinion has polarised in the cycling world on their benefits versus downfalls, particularly where there has been criticism from walkers who blame e-powered mountain bike riders for ripping up the countryside. But what a game-changer they are, allowing you to explore further afield while making it more fun for those who\u2019d otherwise be at the back of the pack. Now, think about what might happen if sailing went down a similar route? If we thought that the foiling debate had stirred things up, just wait until the issue of powered race boats gets under the sailing public\u2019s skin. Because the next hot topic that the racing world looks set to grapple with is arguably even bigger. How much power can you use aboard a boat before it strays beyond the definition of sailing? Should electrical assistance be allowed at all? Some will doubtless argue that we shouldn\u2019t even be talking about how much, as any assistance from power while racing is wrong. Years ago, I remember being told by a fellow crew member about a rather unethical racing owner who was trying to convince the skipper and crew that running the engine in gear during a drifter of a race \u2018just for a little bit\u2019 was completely okay. He argued that it was fine as it would only be for a short distance and he promised he would switch it off as soon as they reached the little bit of wind that was currently out of their reach. Article continues below… For years, \u2018just a little bit\u2019 became the running joke aboard our boat when we were faced with the same lack of breeze or adverse tide. Clearly, turning the motor on is a ridiculous thought in sailing races. Or is it? Last year SailGP revealed it was experimenting with an electric propulsion system that could provide a performance boost for teams to get their F50 cats back up onto their foils in light winds. On the face of it, a clever idea to help to keep the racing close and fair to all when the breeze is fickle and patchy. When you look at the self-imposed tight two-day racing schedule and a small race course placed close to the shore to entertain the spectators in the stands it\u2019s easy to understand why SailGP finds itself struggling with light shifty breezes so often. Add to this venues that don\u2019t always provide clear breeze and it\u2019s clear that developing bigger wing sails and lower drag foils have been a big plus for the racing. Yet, while the F50s will fly in ludicrously light winds, when they do fall off the foils the races often become a lottery. So, a little boost from some small, lightweight electric motors would keep the racing alive through the sticky patches. Controversial? Yes. But if the AC75s hadn\u2019t been allowed to be towed up onto their …Continue reading »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":463,"featured_media":139805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[969],"tags":[2133,1633],"review_manufacturer":[],"acf":[],"introduction":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158422"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/463"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158422"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":158497,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158422\/revisions\/158497"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158422"},{"taxonomy":"review_manufacturer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review_manufacturer?post=158422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\r\n\r\n
<\/a>If you enjoyed this\u2026.<\/h2>\r\n\r\nYachting World is the world's leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.<\/em><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nBuild your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers<\/a> and save at least 30% off the cover price.<\/em><\/div><\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n
","excerpt":{"rendered":"If you ride an e-bike you\u2019ll be used to being called a cheat. You\u2019ll also be familiar with the way opinion has polarised in the cycling world on their benefits versus downfalls, particularly where there has been criticism from walkers who blame e-powered mountain bike riders for ripping up the countryside. But what a game-changer they are, allowing you to explore further afield while making it more fun for those who\u2019d otherwise be at the back of the pack. Now, think about what might happen if sailing went down a similar route? If we thought that the foiling debate had stirred things up, just wait until the issue of powered race boats gets under the sailing public\u2019s skin. Because the next hot topic that the racing world looks set to grapple with is arguably even bigger. How much power can you use aboard a boat before it strays beyond the definition of sailing? Should electrical assistance be allowed at all? Some will doubtless argue that we shouldn\u2019t even be talking about how much, as any assistance from power while racing is wrong. Years ago, I remember being told by a fellow crew member about a rather unethical racing owner who was trying to convince the skipper and crew that running the engine in gear during a drifter of a race \u2018just for a little bit\u2019 was completely okay. He argued that it was fine as it would only be for a short distance and he promised he would switch it off as soon as they reached the little bit of wind that was currently out of their reach. Article continues below… For years, \u2018just a little bit\u2019 became the running joke aboard our boat when we were faced with the same lack of breeze or adverse tide. Clearly, turning the motor on is a ridiculous thought in sailing races. Or is it? Last year SailGP revealed it was experimenting with an electric propulsion system that could provide a performance boost for teams to get their F50 cats back up onto their foils in light winds. On the face of it, a clever idea to help to keep the racing close and fair to all when the breeze is fickle and patchy. When you look at the self-imposed tight two-day racing schedule and a small race course placed close to the shore to entertain the spectators in the stands it\u2019s easy to understand why SailGP finds itself struggling with light shifty breezes so often. Add to this venues that don\u2019t always provide clear breeze and it\u2019s clear that developing bigger wing sails and lower drag foils have been a big plus for the racing. Yet, while the F50s will fly in ludicrously light winds, when they do fall off the foils the races often become a lottery. So, a little boost from some small, lightweight electric motors would keep the racing alive through the sticky patches. Controversial? Yes. But if the AC75s hadn\u2019t been allowed to be towed up onto their …Continue reading »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":463,"featured_media":139805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[969],"tags":[2133,1633],"review_manufacturer":[],"acf":[],"introduction":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158422"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/463"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158422"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":158497,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158422\/revisions\/158497"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158422"},{"taxonomy":"review_manufacturer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review_manufacturer?post=158422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
","excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you ride an e-bike you\u2019ll be used to being called a cheat. You\u2019ll also be familiar with the way opinion has polarised in the cycling world on their benefits versus downfalls, particularly where there has been criticism from walkers who blame e-powered mountain bike riders for ripping up the countryside. But what a game-changer they are, allowing you to explore further afield while making it more fun for those who\u2019d otherwise be at the back of the pack. Now, think about what might happen if sailing went down a similar route? If we thought that the foiling debate had stirred things up, just wait until the issue of powered race boats gets under the sailing public\u2019s skin. Because the next hot topic that the racing world looks set to grapple with is arguably even bigger. How much power can you use aboard a boat before it strays beyond the definition of sailing? Should electrical assistance be allowed at all? Some will doubtless argue that we shouldn\u2019t even be talking about how much, as any assistance from power while racing is wrong. Years ago, I remember being told by a fellow crew member about a rather unethical racing owner who was trying to convince the skipper and crew that running the engine in gear during a drifter of a race \u2018just for a little bit\u2019 was completely okay. He argued that it was fine as it would only be for a short distance and he promised he would switch it off as soon as they reached the little bit of wind that was currently out of their reach. Article continues below… For years, \u2018just a little bit\u2019 became the running joke aboard our boat when we were faced with the same lack of breeze or adverse tide. Clearly, turning the motor on is a ridiculous thought in sailing races. Or is it? Last year SailGP revealed it was experimenting with an electric propulsion system that could provide a performance boost for teams to get their F50 cats back up onto their foils in light winds. On the face of it, a clever idea to help to keep the racing close and fair to all when the breeze is fickle and patchy. When you look at the self-imposed tight two-day racing schedule and a small race course placed close to the shore to entertain the spectators in the stands it\u2019s easy to understand why SailGP finds itself struggling with light shifty breezes so often. Add to this venues that don\u2019t always provide clear breeze and it\u2019s clear that developing bigger wing sails and lower drag foils have been a big plus for the racing. Yet, while the F50s will fly in ludicrously light winds, when they do fall off the foils the races often become a lottery. So, a little boost from some small, lightweight electric motors would keep the racing alive through the sticky patches. Controversial? Yes. But if the AC75s hadn\u2019t been allowed to be towed up onto their …Continue reading »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":463,"featured_media":139805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[969],"tags":[2133,1633],"review_manufacturer":[],"acf":[],"introduction":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158422"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/463"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158422"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":158497,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158422\/revisions\/158497"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158422"},{"taxonomy":"review_manufacturer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review_manufacturer?post=158422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}