Smooth Sailing
Sailing
News By A Sailor For Sailors!
In
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Unsportsmanlike Behaviour By E-Mail
A Smooth Sailing reader suggested that we publish the
following editorial from ISAF’s newsletter, Making Waves. It was written by ISAF, President Paul
Henderson, who has born the brunt of a lot of criticism lately after ISAF very
suddenly decided that in next years Olympic Regatta there will be no discards.
This decision has infuriated sailors and caused widespread debate around the
world. Most recently I see that the 505 class is suddenly wondering whether it
should not follow suit and remove discards from their World Championship
events. Heated comments are flying around on their mailing list as sailors
discuss the various merits and demerits of this. the consensus however seems to
be that most would like to see things stay the way they are. I think that the
Olympic sailors might well agree. It is just a pity that no one seemed to
consult them before this decision was made.
“THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS
There
has been a lively debate on ISAF's decision to have No Drop Race allowed for
the Olympic Games in Athens. Some say it changes the game too close to the
Olympics and does not allow the sailors to adapt.
Others say it is the coaches and sailors who have changed the intent of the
Game and the No Drop rule allows the Game to be played the way it was meant to
be played and bring it back into the intended box. If that is true then it is
never too late so to do.
Everytime ISAF endorses a new defensive rule the coaches and sailors endeavour
to use the change to gain a positive advantage. After ISAF dropped the Star for
2000, the IOC allowed ISAF to return the Star with an 11th event provided it
was done at no more cost to Sydney. ISAF was able to accomplish this by
allowing the coaches with their own boats to tow their teams to the start.
Simple solution saving Sydney over $1 million and keeping the Star which
allowed ISAF to use the 11th event for the Women in Athens.
But what happened? The wealthy teams drove a truck through this crack and
loaded their coach boats with sophisticated and expensive electronics so as to
give their teams an advantage.
ISAF had to act and now there are very strict controls which had to be made
even more restrictive after the Cadiz experience. Olympics are for
"Talent" not "Technology". Olympics are for sailors and not
for classes or coaches.
ISAF over the years has instituted new rules so as to be fair to the sailors
and endeavour to stop endless protests. This includes being allowed to hit
marks and do a 360 or get caught on Port Tack and do a 720. Rule 42 even gives
a warning before being disqualified. One well known sailor instructed new
sailors to look for the judges’ boat and play by Rule 42 if seen and to do
everything when they did not see the judges. Result is if caught do their turns
and if caught twice the sailor could drop the race. No harm done except berate
the ISAF Judges.
OCS is the most misunderstood rule. No one is disqualified for OCS. They are
disqualified for not returning and starting properly after OCS.
Since there are so few boats in the Olympic Regatta the chances of requiring a
Black Flag are minimal. ISAF will appoint two top international PRO's on each
course calling the line. If there is a collision which is no fault of the
competitor then YMP points can be implemented also. So ISAF Rules are very
lenient and sailor friendly.
On top of all this there was allowed a Drop Race. What has been the result of
this? The sailors have used it as an offensive weapon and not for what it was
intended. Sailors sail very aggressively ignoring the rules until they get
their Drop. They push the starts and demand redress, take unwarranted risks on
port tack especially at the windward mark and do not do their turns taking
their chances in a protest room and on and on. The Drop Race has become an
offensive weapon.
There is no other sport in the world that has treated their top competitors
this way. The most famous downhill skier of the "Krazy Kanucks" who
had trained all his life for his two minutes of Olympic Glory on the third turn
broke his ski-binding and fell. They did not say: "Oh too bad you can go
get another pair and start over!". or a top rated Triathlete was wiped out
by another bicycle and was out of contention or the famous women's 100m race
where the USA athlete was spiked and fell or the famous rower who broke his
oarlock. No redress or start again or YMP. That is sport.
Sailing gives the sailor every benefit of the doubt with all the chances to be
fair. The Drop Race allowed the sailor to ignore the rules until caught and
then sail closer to the way the game was meant to be played. With No Drop the
sailor must sail more conservatively and within the rules from the start of the
regatta.
The debate has focussed on a few issues which should be addressed such as the
point scoring if the Time Limit kicks in and also the need to inform sailors as
soon as possible if they are OCS.
But these are adjustments and do not require a Drop Race to fix. The argument
that a breakdown is not covered now is true, but many would argue that it is a
major part of sailing to make sure your equipment does not break. This is the
only real change that the No drop causes. I would like to add that most broken
masts in the Star are caused by "Pilot Error" and not by faulty
equipment. A skipper's "Death Roll" downwind when immersing the
whisker pole is usually bad for the mast.
The other major issue is the coaches and sailors pushing the measurement rules.
The Olympic Regatta is for "One-Designs". The definition of One
Design clearly put is: "If it is not in the rule it is illegal!!"
Hopefully the ISAF measurement team in Athens will meticulously measure all
boats and any deviation from the rule or intent of the rule will be dealt with
harshly. This means any changes to the hull that was not as delivered from the
ISAF licensed builder will be declared illegal. There has been an interesting
situation with the Mistral as the manufacturers said that the New Boards were
as fast as the old ones and therefore both should be allowed so as the less
affluent nations need not buy new equipment.
The interesting thing in Cadiz was that all the wealthy nations had old boards
because they are faster and the less affluent had the new ones. In fact when
one of the wealthy nation's old board delaminated they flew another old board
in. ISAF has now, on an urgent submission, said only new boards can be used and
still the complaints from developed MNA's that they cannot use their old
customized boards. ISAF will make the playing field in Athens level for all.
The Mistral Class fully supports this move by ISAF.
I will always find it hard to accept that ISAF is accused of not knowing what
is happening. The truth is that many ISAF delegates do know what is going on
and it is just that the sailors do not want ot accept that.
I watched a soccer match last night between Manchester United and Chelsea and
everytime the referee made a call or flashed a Yellow Card there was the most
incredible tirade by the footballer pleading that he did nothing wrong and
accusing the referee of bias. Good analogy methinks.
The instantaneous replays showed the player pulling on the opponents shirt or
tripping or using their hands illegally. ISAF's advice is to play the Sailing
Game within the rules and you will have no problems whatsoever in Athens and it
is ISAF's mandate to make sure that all competitors do just that.
Good Luck to all Olympic hopefuls, as Athens will be a great success. “
An updated version of the Miura, the Miura II is currently
under construction. The Muira was originally designed by Oswald Berkemeyer’s
and has been redesigned to make it an even better boat than it already is.
Amongst other things the new design features a lifting keel with a bulb on the
bottom and a new mainsail with a surprisingly large head on it. Pictures of the
new Muira II have been posted on the class web site at www.capewindjammers.com.
According to a report from the New Zealand Herald, New
Zealand Olympic 49er helmsman and Team New Zealand America's Cup sailor Dan
Slater faces suspension or a complete ban from the sport after being found
guilty of Unsportsmanlike Behavior. It is understood Slater, who is campaigning a Laser
for the Athens Olympics, e-mailed sailors competing in the Laser Worlds in
Cadiz, Spain, to gang up on another New Zealand sailor, believed to be fellow
Laser sailor Andrew Murdoch, to reduce his Olympic qualifying prospects.
Murdoch finished seventh and qualified New Zealand a spot in Athens. If Murdoch
had finished fifth or better he would have gained automatic selection to New
Zealand’s Olympic Team, which it appears is what Slater wanted to avoid. Slater
will find out his fate just before Christmas. For more information go to www.nzherald.co.nz.
Virbac, the Open 60, that visited South Africa earlier this
year and recently won the Transatlantic Jaques Vabre Race, was dismasted
yesterday during the Defi Atlantique Race. At the time of the incident Virbac
wasn’t enjoying quite the same success that she had in the previous race and
was lying in only 4th place. The reason for the dismasting is
unclear at this stage although according to a report on the internet the
skipper, JP Dick, knew that he had a problem and had the sails down at the
time. Open 60 skippers are determined types though and Dick is not letting a
broken mast stop him from finishing this race. He is putting a jury rig
together using the boom as the mast and should be up and running again soon.
While Virbac’ speed will obviously be compromised she should still be able to
finish the race. The Defi Atlantique is a qualifying race for next years Vendee
Globe so one can understand Dick’s eagerness to finish. In order to qualify for
the Vendee Virbac needs to finish the Defi Atlantique within 10 days of the
first Open 60. For more information on
the race and Virbac go to www.jpdick.com.
The Sailing
On TV Schedule for the
next week is as follows:
|
Monday 15 December |
Watersports World |
Supersport 1 |
21:00 |
Our Notices of Race page on the Smooth Sailing has all the NOR’s available to us. If you
have a regatta coming up and would like to make the NOR available online then
e-mail it to hethcot@iafrica.com and it will be posted and
listed in this newsletter. To get your copy simply click on the name of the
regatta you are interested in below:
|
Regatta |
Venue |
Dates |
|
Point, Royal Natal & Zululand
Yacht Clubs and Club Naval, Maputo |
December 2003 to July 2004 |
|
|
Royal Natal Yacht Club Christmas Regatta - Flying
Fifteen Nationals & Hobie KZN Champs |
Royal Natal Yacht Club |
13 to 16 December |
|
Stillbaai Yacht Club |
13 to 16 December |
|
|
Royal Cape Yacht Club |
13 to 17 December |
|
|
Stutterheim Aquatic Club |
13 to 20 December |
|
|
Henley Midmar Yacht Club |
13 to 16 December |
|
|
Henley Midmar Yacht Club |
27 to 30 December |
|
|
Theewaters Sports Club |
27 to 30 December |
|
|
Theewaters Sports Club |
27 to 31 December |
|
|
Pretoria Sailing Club |
24 & 25 January |
|
|
Port Owen Yacht Club |
25 January |
|
|
Lake Denys Yacht Club |
30 January to 1 February 2004 |
|
|
Glendee Yacht Club |
1 & 2 February |
|
|
HMYC 9-Hour Endurance Race |
Henley Midmar Yacht Club |
21 February |
|
Milnerton Aquatic Club |
28 & 29 February |
|
|
Point Yacht Club |
20 to 22 March |
|
|
Hoedjiesbaai Beach, Saldahna Bay |
9 to 12 April |
|
|
Algoa Bay Yacht Club |
24 to 30 April |
The Classifieds has been updated on the Smooth Sailing web site. Take a surf past to see what is for sale or sought after in the wanted column. To place an ad, e-mail the details to andrew@smoothsailing.co.za.
FOR SALE
Hardly used
With Radial Rig
R15 000-00
Road Trailer
Price
Negotiable
Contact: John
Pilcher
Phone: 031-765
3442
E-Mail: jprdesigns@iafrica.com
R150-00
Woman's
Olympic Class
Contact:
Avril Sellars
E-Mail: Sellars-avril.sellars@tiscali.co.za
On high-speed
galvanized trailer.
Excellent Condition
R8 000-00
Contact: Mark Reardon
Phone: 031 705 7212 or
031 702 3185
Cell: 073 306 1489
E-Mail: reardomw@hotmail.com
Sail # 186
Fully Equiped & in
excellent condition
One of the newest
Holidays
Sail Wardrobe: No.1,
Working Jib, Spinnaker, Roller Furler
Mailsail with slab
reefing
Mariner 5hp Long Shaft
Outboard
Cabin fittings
include: 2 burner gas cooker with grill
Fridge, radio-tape,
porta potti
Moored at Midmar
R80 000-00
Contact: Mike Denholm
Cell: 083 556 4182
Phone: 031-767 4182
E-Mail: tessmike@mweb.co.za
WANTED
Contact: Heinz Venter
Contact: Mark
Summerton
Phone: 033 3411265
Cell: 083 309 1073
Andrew Heathcote
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 783 8805
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