Some very good teams signed up, tough to pick a winner:
Sarah and JC certainly have to be a favorite with more time together than the other teams.
Taylor Reiss is sailing with Olympic 470 crew Sarah Lihan. We've all seen how fast Taylor is, and Sarah is an outstanding sailor and athlete. They are definitely a team to watch.
Olympian Liz Kratzig is sailing with Jon Farrar, not sure how much time they have together, but tons of experience between the two.
Enrique and Carla are incredibly experienced and showed their speed at F16 nationals- they will be a top contender for sure.
Dalton and Lindsay Bergan both have experience in Moths, and Dalton has tons of international 49er experience.
Matt and Sarah will be a solid team- Matt is an outstanding crew as has shown it on the international stage.
Finally, the Canadian team of Luke Ramsay and Nikola Girke both competed at the 2012 Olympics in the 470 and RSX respectively. That experience will certainly serve them very well.
So, we have seven very, very solid teams. I know a couple US teams can't be there, but the competition will be very strong.
My picks: 1. Sarah and JC 2. Taylor and Sarah 3. Enrique and Carla
Hmm... is that a carbon stick or an alu black anodized version?. I am betting that the boats were shipped a bit before the decision to revert back to the alu mast. If that is the case... I hope everyone gets through the regattta with a pointy end intact.
I know JC's boat has the Aluminum rig, and I'm pretty sure they will be racing with these at Miami. The section is the same as the Infusion section- very reliable and should allow for the boats to be raced hard.
Should be great racing, I know I wish I was there!
Boats were shipped with carbon sticks, and the alloy masts caught up with them for delivery. Everyone will be racing with the F18 mast for a while as the carbon stick sees additional engineering and testing.
I doubt if it is staged. Many of the teams at OCR have not sailed the N17 before and I'd guess never sailed a boat with lifting foils before. Why risk damage to your boat or body right before the start of OCR for a photo stunt?
Hey John, Where did you find results? I have been checking the Live Feed, and also the regatta results page, but can't find any info. Please put me out of my misery and direct me. Thanks!
Looks like a great beginning for our Olympic hopefuls - good conditions. I'm hoping for some increased attention tomorrow; Cousre A and B blogging is great, but our course (E) is laaaaaame.
1 USA 38 STREATER, Sarah WHITEHEAD, Matthew 1 1.00 1 2 USA 23 REISS, Taylor LIHAN, Sarah 2 2.00 2 3 USA 31 NEWBERRY, Sarah CASEY, John 3 3.00 3 4 USA 29 FIGUEROA, Enrique MALATRASI, Carla 4 4.00 4 5 USA 42 TARTAGLINO, Sandra FARRAR, Jonathan 5 5.00 5 6 CAN 30 RAMSAY, Luke GIRKE, Nikola 6 6.00 6 7 USA 25 BERGAN, Lindsay BERGAN, Dalton 8/RET 8.00 7
spin run and windward board up. Is that how you have to sail those foiling boards?
That must make gybing a bit more challenging to have to adjust the boards every time...
Haven't sailed the 17, but sailed the Carbon 20 here in Singapore a fair amount this month. We sailed with both boards down both up and downwind up until about 10-12 knots of breeze. Above that, windward board comes up upwind and you have to tack the boards. Downwind I'm not convinced where the transition to raising the boards is- might depend on chop. We have very flat water in Singapore. We didn't raise the windward board higher than the leeward downwind because you are flying the hull higher.
Now, the boards on the 17 are actually longer than one the 20, so all I said above could be completely wrong!
I doubt if it is staged. Many of the teams at OCR have not sailed the N17 before and I'd guess never sailed a boat with lifting foils before. Why risk damage to your boat or body right before the start of OCR for a photo stunt?
Because when you're shopping for sponsorship $$ you need to be a bit of a media whore. Do you really think anyone putting together an olympic bid thinks they are a piker?
I'll admit I'm about as far out of social conventions as possible and still interact with the human race (you are an odd race I might add... it's going in my report to the mother ship), but what is a "piker"?
Ding, are you going all Madonna on me, developing an english accent despite living in the 'Compton hood' of Orlando?
Because when you're shopping for sponsorship $$ you need to be a bit of a media whore. Do you really think anyone putting together an olympic bid thinks they are a piker?
Obnoxious graphics, bright butt sails, and a pissy attitude is how I landed Sogn Cabinet Company, inc as a sponsor. Harder than it sounds, the the dude in charge of advertising is a mf-ing tightwad.
The are sailing in the bay, course Echo. There is a chart in the SIs if you want to calculate the distance from their launch site to their course circle.
I couldn't find anything about the RET.
There is a protest schedule listing the DPI as a result of a protest lodged by RC. No other details, but no shortage of possibilities based on NOR and SIs.
Edit: The ISAF race management policy document is also posted on the notice board. They cannot start in winds over 25 knots (5-minute average), but will not abandon if the wind goes higher unless they determine it to be unsafe. There is a lot of interesting stuff in there, including the fact that if the RC determines that they missed an OCS boat, the race cannot continue. This is in direct conflict with what I have been taught by multiple IROs, FWIW...
Will be interesting to see which combination works best regarding male or female crew. Can girls do all the physical stuff just as well as the guys? (sheeting, hoisting/dousing the spin, etc).
Will be interesting to see which combination works best regarding male or female crew. Can girls do all the physical stuff just as well as the guys? (sheeting, hoisting/dousing the spin, etc).
I think it depends on the team. Sarah Lihan (sailing with Taylor) is super fit having done Radial and 470 campaigns. She is also over 6 feet tall... I wouldn't put anything past her!
edit: I got one side of the story on the 10% penalty, and I'm trying to get the other. Sounds pretty damn Mickey Mouse so far... the RC from another course protested a N17 for passing too close to their race circle... and the protest was upheld.
edit: I got one side of the story on the 10% penalty, and I'm trying to get the other. Sounds pretty damn Mickey Mouse so far... the RC from another course protested a N17 for passing too close to their race circle... and the protest was upheld.
Not that gem again...
What circle? PM me if needed.
BTW, why did Enrique's score change to RET for Race 4?
edit: I got one side of the story on the 10% penalty, and I'm trying to get the other. Sounds pretty damn Mickey Mouse so far... the RC from another course protested a N17 for passing too close to their race circle... and the protest was upheld.
Not that gem again...
What circle? PM me if needed.
BTW, why did Enrique's score change to RET for Race 4?
Mike
Seems to me that it would be tough to hold competitors accountable when RC's set up courses that have overlapping laylines.
edit: I got one side of the story on the 10% penalty, and I'm trying to get the other. Sounds pretty damn Mickey Mouse so far... the RC from another course protested a N17 for passing too close to their race circle... and the protest was upheld.
Not that gem again...
What circle? PM me if needed.
BTW, why did Enrique's score change to RET for Race 4?
Mike
Seems to me that it would be tough to hold competitors accountable when RC's set up courses that have overlapping laylines.
Perhaps the competitor should protest the RC who set their course right in his way?!
The incident apparently occurred when Matt and Sarah were not racing - the circles are unlikely to overlap with the calibre of RC onsite, but the cats have to sail quite a distance at this venue to get to their circle. Someone felt infringed upon...
The incident apparently occurred when Matt and Sarah were not racing - the circles are unlikely to overlap with the calibre of RC onsite, but the cats have to sail quite a distance at this venue to get to their circle. Someone felt infringed upon...
There is no shortage of DPI opportunities in the SIs, are you sure it was the same breach? If so, hard to say they didn't deserve it after being warned by the first one. If the IJ is being overly draconian, that should be reported.
Mike, I just find it very hard to credit a N17 making the particularly long trek back to the catamaran boat park would be dumb enough to interfere with another fleet's race. Both protests were filed by the RC - I'm sure you learned, as I did, that the RC's job is to provide a level playing field and ONLY file against a competitor in the event no OTHER competitor was in a position to see a rule infraction. Granted, I don't know all the facts found, but certainly the first penalty seems (from witness accounts) to have been uncalled for. There seems a potential of a PRO on another course with an over-inflated sense of importance. It would take a serious infraction that affected sailors on my course for me to reach into another fleet's standings.
So, are you saying that the second penalty is for breaking the same rule?
Without being there, it's hard to take sides, but I've seen this before, and was able to talk the PRO off the cliff just enough to avoid a protest or worse. You don't want to know what the other judges were saying before I spoke up and shut it down...
What's really important here is that the top three positions are held by Sarah.
Kristin's already agreed that when she changes her name (as part of her divorce agreement) to her family name, she'll also change her first name .... to ...
Appears that the capsize shown early wasn't intentional...not sure if they were turning down at the time, it almost looks like they flipped going upwind??
Easy to capsize upwind, when it pulls a wheelie coming up off a wave, and then nose dives on the landing.
That was the issue we were talking about when the Nacra 20 came out, remember? It seemed it would be a whole lot more difficult to find the right balance point going upwind and down, with the middle of the boat trying to lift up.
You are now riding a teeter-totter.
JC's Sarah mentioned it in one of the early interviews.
It was Matt and one of the Sarahs that flipped - photo boat was trolling them and they said they stuck it in coming off the wake and turning down to get out of the prop wash. They were on the way to the course for the first race and were really worried they'd break something - can you imagine the potential heartbreak?
Sometimes you worry too much about breakages, other times not enough. They are lucky they didn't damage the spin pole!
What is the next step after this event? More U.S based Nacra 17 events or do the top 2,3? teams qualify for a foreign event? How many 17's are in North America?
Sometimes you worry too much about breakages, other times not enough. They are lucky they didn't damage the spin pole!
What is the next step after this event? More U.S based Nacra 17 events or do the top 2,3? teams qualify for a foreign event? How many 17's are in North America?
I think we are looking at the only N17s in NA, would love to be proven otherwise.
What we'll see, these teams, hopefully most will keep training N17s, maybe racing F18s and F16s when they can (bigger events, hopefulyy the NAs at least) while they start looking for bigger events in Europe / elsewhere... Wait... maybe I'm just repeating what I remember from the last T cycles....
also, Whitehead is on the us ac45 team.. so I'm sure he'll be doing that alot, taylor, jc and sandra are all very very active f16 and f18 racers... not sure about the others. The cannucks come from 470 / boards, not sure what they plan on doing (maybe team up with a US team for training)... would be nice to see them join a couple F18 races for practice (we'll find you a boat...).
I'm told it has very flat bottoms from the bow back, and it's really hard to keep the nose in to keep it from hobby horsing in waves. Just one more thing the sailors will have to learn how to use is all, and true of any boat.
What is the next step after this event? More U.S based Nacra 17 events or do the top 2,3? teams qualify for a foreign event? How many 17's are in North America?
I think Mark Mandelbrots boat is the only one not at the OCR.
Oakcliff is supposed to get their boats by May.
I suspect these privately owned US boats will now be shipped to the EU for the ISAF circuit there and the N17 worlds in Holland. The Tornado Fleet would occasionally pit stop in the Gran Canarias between now and the EU circuit for training camps. Since there is no development cycle with these boats... I would imagine there are lots of two boat training camps planned with your coach of choice.
I think these sailors will not be showing up at regional events on other boats.... It's pricey to keep a stable of boats in different classes in race ready shape.... They can't afford to show up a regional event and half butt their performance either. Money is also limited.... So.... I think they would love to collect some contributions in the form of paid clinics, talks etc... Otherwise, their time is best spent in training camps.
The next opportunity for NA regatta events is probably November. (Texas to Florida on the Gulf coast)and that would depend on the selection process and marketing campaign set out by the US Olympic.
I am looking forward to hearing Leandro Spina's take on how he will run the Oaklcliff program! That would be an interesting interview!
Matt Whitehead, Mike Easton and I think a couple others have yet to pick up their boats as well. Some are picking up in Europe some are picking up here. I think Mark Mendelblatt already picekd up his boat but not sure of this.
How can you say Sarah and Matt had a bad day? Sarah is very new to multihulls and was a pretty good youth Laser Radial sailor but not amazing, in this fleet the performance they've had so far is outstanding so slipping a bit shouldn't be a surprise.
Apparently speeds are similar upwind but downwind is where a lot of the changes are made, apparently it was also apparent that the teams with heavy crews off the back (JC, Matt) were paying off in the breeze but lost that advantage in the ligther stuff.
I hear from a little bird that light air isn't Sarah's favorite condition - add to that a new platform, and it is understandable they might struggle. How long does it take to learn to keep flow attached on such a high-aspect rig in 4 knots of breeze? More than a couple days in mid-teens, I suspect...
Yeah, while I think it may be a little trickier to fill the roll, that's kinda like me saying my lack of performance at Tradewinds was because my sails are old (which they are, but that's not the reason I did so poorly).
I'm not surprised, Jake - my prospects for crewing on a N17 are pretty dim, and that's why I'm not there. The weight and fitness needs to be up front. The back is finesse.
Yeah, while I think it may be a little trickier to fill the roll, that's kinda like me saying my lack of performance at Tradewinds was because my sails are old (which they are, but that's not the reason I did so poorly).
I guess I didn't word it right, what I meant of course was a person of above average strength and a not per definition a male obviously.
I'm not surprised, Jake - my prospects for crewing on a N17 are pretty dim, and that's why I'm not there. The weight and fitness needs to be up front. The back is finesse.
No weight? no fitness? no finesse? At least you're pretty.
Seriously Todd, how can I say they had a bad day? Undoubtedly, they're having more fun than I am this week, but they did put up their first two sevens of the regatta.
Not sure how that ranks against being protested by the RC, but I'm thinking they couldn't have thought it was a great day...
So the consensus seems to be that the answer to my question is a combination of experience in the light air. That makes sense.
Mike, it was breeze on today. Sarah and Matt won the first race and were leading the second, but flipped in the last 100 yards. It seems that Sarah just needs more time in the light stuff... but who among us doesn't?
Not sure what to think of the new format though, it seems to me that winner-takes-all final race just isn't all that fair. You could be sailing bullets all week and then finish 4th in that final race (for whatever reason) and lose out on a medal.
Mike, it was breeze on today. Sarah and Matt won the first race and were leading the second, but flipped in the last 100 yards. It seems that Sarah just needs more time in the light stuff... but who among us doesn't?
Sounds like they need more time in the heavy stuff too, LOL...
Not sure what to think of the new format though, it seems to me that winner-takes-all final race just isn't all that fair. You could be sailing bullets all week and then finish 4th in that final race (for whatever reason) and lose out on a medal.
What new format? The reults for the medal race are up, same as the old format (points count double, cannot be discarded).
What am I missing?
Nice job by Reiss (and his Sarah) to take a bullet in the medal race. Sarah and JC had their worst finish of the week, but almost couldn't be caught overall.
They're trying several new formats at Miami- I know the 49ers are using a format where the top 6 sail arena style races and the first to win two races wins the event. Whoever enters the finals in first gets to start with one win... interesting format. Personally, I still like the traditional, simple, low points system.
I heard that in one of the videos (new formats were being tested for ISAF), but they didn't elaborate. I read the SIs again, and noticed lots of fleet-specific stuff for scoring and format that I didn't catch the first time.
Is this the first time they used 0 points for race winners? That's very interesting, sort of like the old 3/4 point idea on steroids...
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