Not "EXACTLY" Look at the TV time for bike racing. Regular network only does the Tour De France and that only because of Lance, but a lot of the off brand stations give it quite a bit of coverage. Road course racing is just as difficult to cover and produce than a sail boat race. 135 guys riding in a pack for 6 hrs while the anouncers make up stories to keep interest until a couple decide to try and srint to the finish near the end.

We do ourselves a disservice by perpetuationg the theory that sailing is too difficult to cover or understand. Then to compound things the only time it makes it to prime time now is with billionairs and lawyers match racing on boring leaners. It is no wonder people write it off before they even give it a try.

Run some showy fast fleet racing complete with crashes and the associated human interest and even though they do not understand it will attract viewers given time. Right now it is just a catch-22. That does not exist so they do not watch, and they wont produce it becuase they do not watch <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

I think we agree to disagree. Personally, I think people watch NASCAR, bicycling, marathons, swimming etc. because they can relate to those things sort of by osmosis. 99.99999% of everyone has swam, run, biked and driven a car at least once in their life, so it's easier to connect with those sports.

There are probably other reasons why people watch gymnastics and beach volleyball...

Mike

I don't know if anyone else watched it, but the Eventing competition was shown live all five days online (3 days of dressage, 1 cros country and 1 show jumping). The cross country coverage was great but there was not any commentary.

All that stuff is still online at nbcolympics.com Pretty cool sport to watch... nothing like galloping multiple 4' SOLID obsticals at 20-25 mph... even more fun to do!... The horses are serious athletes to be able to do what they do.

...Still does not compare to cat racing.

Amen! Saying anything else is like giving up without trying in my head. We have an excellent product with loads of drama.

I agree; however, the television audience for the Olympics appears to have the attention span of a gnat. The mainstream people don't seem to want to watch any hour-long competition that is a single event (such as one race). A gymnastic competition is different, because there is action all the time, with a different competitor to focus on each time.

I still have no clue what they were thinking when they televised men's indoor volleyball last night. Talk about watching grass grow...

Mike

I personally think can be a very exiting sport to watch when televised well.

Afterall, it is a chess-game combined with stamina. Unlike a track sport the competitors can go different ways, make a visually obvious gamble and won or loose. How about the exitement of a port flyer in a 50 boat fleet. Will he make it or does he have to crash tack at the last moment ?

I've seen the French do ORMA 60 racing with small computer graphics in the lower corner of the screen explaining the dirty wind, right of way and the position tacktics. That can make an upwind duel or downwind high speed approach to the bouy very exiting. They have superimposed circles projected on the screen showing how two boats are different loactions on the water are just as far from the bouy and will meet up there at full speed.

I think sailing can actually have more drama then many other sports, especially more then swimming and track. They just need to televise it right. Why not do it as the Superbowl games with lines drawn on the screen with the commentator explaining how a boat is pinches or scrapped off ?

We just must not do it with only 2 boats on the water where one can dominate from beginning to end. Get in the 3rd, 4th and other boats forcing the leader to spread his attention for challenges further way or from the other side of the course.

Wouter

I guess I might be the only one here that hasn't watched any events yet. I'm waiting for Track & Field and Weightlifting. Everything else is just fluff.

Fully agreed.

A GPS, a couple of small cameras and a transmitter would cost what? Maybe USD 300,00. This is not expensive compared to new boat prices.

This pack could be mandatory equipment. A computer would collect the data in the RC boat for instant (automatic!!!) protest judgement, instant positions and for broadcast.

Umpires would become a complement of the software, necessary only in major events. Add a couple of cameras in blimps attached to the buoys and any around the buoys event will be easy enough to cover very efficiently.

Start making it mandatory only on GP boats coasting more than (say) USD 50.000,00. Afterwards, when the standard package is working well, the software debugged, etc., make it mandatory on important ISAF graded events. After some time a number of used packs will find their way into club racing, everyone will get used to instant information, indisputable computer judgment and live coverage.

This seems to be the future of sailing coverage. Why wait until other sports have it? ISAF should be working on this instead of playing their usual games of "advanced bending rules gymnastic".

By the way: has anyone else noticed that ISAF's website publishes almost exclusively "local" (british) news. Only sometimes news from other english speaking countries can be found, rarely news from europe and almost never from anywhere else.

Sorry for hijacking the thread...