Nacra 17 World Championships

First Nacra 17 Worlds starts tomorrow in the Hague, Netherlands. The United States has five teams over there:

Mike Easton and McKenzie Wilson
Sandra Tartaglino and Tripp Burd
Sarah Newberry and John Casey
Robbie Daniel and Sarah Streater
Taylor Reiss and Catherine Shanahan

There will be live tracking all week here: http://www.tractrac.com/index.php?page=eventpage&id=314

Event Website here: http://www.nacra17class.com/%E2%80%A9nacra17world%E2%80%A9championship%E2%80%A92013/

Talked to Mike yesterday, he felt like they had good speed but need more work on maneuvers. He and McKenzie have only been in the boat a few times, but they should improve quickly. Top two US teams make the US Sailing Team. Should be a fun week!

Some more links

Weather station close to Scheveningen: http://www.zvnoordwijk.nl/weer/gauges.htm

Webcams of the beach, it gives you an idea of the conditions:
http://www.scheveningenlive.nl/boulevard-webcam/
http://www.zeewebcamscheveningen.nl/

Looks pretty light - 5 knots.

All boats back to the beach, not going to happen today.
Not looking good for tomorrow either, rest of the week should be slightly better although there is a chance of thunder.

so, who's going to be the first foiling gybe in the N-17 class?

Did a bystander/swimmer break someone's spinpole when there was not even any racing?

I hate it when that happens.

...and it has to be replaced by an official Nacra one-design twig spinpole.

Den Hague is not too far from Zandvoort, which is Wouter's club. I wonder if Wouter is there to watch?

We used to layover in Den Hague, about 5 blocks from the beach. At the beach, tops are optional...so I would always take my shirt off, just because.

On the plus side I imagine that Nacra at least has parts available there.

Race 1 Blue:
Sarah/JC: 11
Mike/McKenzie: 14
Taylor/Catherine: 18

Very light, looked like a lot of current.

Just found out there is an app to track the races, TracTrac race (for Android but probably iOS as well).

Race 2 Blue:
Taylor/Catherine: 4
Mike/McKenzie: 9
Sarah/JC: 14

Taylor had a great second DW and made big gains. Yellow fleet up soon.

Jeff I know I talk to you on every other media possible but its more fun to call you out on here, how on earth do you have time to follow all these events so closley?!?!

Well, I had an 8am skype meeting with Singapore, followed by a 9am meeting about a talk we're giving at the AC, and am now sitting in a group meeting.... pretty easy to have tracking on in the background

Four or five starts, but no finishes for the yellow fleet. Brutal!

Sorry, but what does this mean?

Mike

Jeff not sure where you are reading your results or possibly there is an error in the results on the website? Or maybe you didn't have enough coffee this morning?

http://www.nacra17class.com/%E2%80%A9nacra17world%E2%80%A9championship%E2%80%A92013/results/

Has the following:

Race 1 Blue:
JC/Sarah 14
Mike Easton/Mckenzie Wilson 16
Taylor/Catherine 20

Race 2 Blue:
Easton/Wilson 11
Newberry/Casey 17
Taylor/Catherine 18

Mike it means the wind shifted/died enough after the race started to cancel racing.

Personally I figured JC/Sarah would be a bit further ahead on the U.S leader board. Sounds like its really light air sailing though and things are a little iffy. Bigger spreads to come I suspect as the breeze builds.

My results were based on the tracker. My guess is a couple boats do not have working trackers, or that the finish positions were not exactly accurate. My apologies for being off by a point or two, just trying to be helpful.

Looks like Taylor was DSQ in race two- huge bummer, they sailed well. Not surprised Mike/McKenzie are ahead of Sarah/JC after today. From the races I saw Mike got off the line much better, which is not surprising after watching him sail away from us every week. Mike is a very good tactical sailor, and the very light breeze negates some of the TOW advantage Sarah and JC have. Hopefully they get some more breeze over the next couple days.

What's the scoop on the Q???

Mike

Anyone else having issues with today's tracker? Getting a some kind of Java certificate exception error.

edit
-- Now its working... Strange. Tried 3-4 times. Finally rebooted the computer and whaddayaknow. It works...

In Blue Fleet Q2, Taylor and Catherine were the 4th boat across the finish line but they hit the mark. They did their one turn spin and crossed again from the course side 1 or 2 boats later. The jury protested them asserting they had not "promptly" completed their turn and after a protest hearing disqualified them. In reviewing the elapsed time per the recorded tracker of the race finish, it appears that within 11 seconds of hitting the mark, T and Catherine had cleared the zone and other boats and had begun their turn which they completed on the course side of the finish line 19 seconds later and then they correctly finished 29 seconds after that. All told, it took them 59 seconds after incident of hitting the mark to complete a spin and finish from the correct course side. Given 5-6 knot wind conditions and a strong current, I am not sure how they could have been any more prompt, but nonetheless they were disqualified. Obviously very frustrating and disappointing for them. They were on the beach that day from 8 am to 11 pm and they were completely worn out by the time it was over. The recorded elapsed time showing this was not part of the evidence at the protest hearing.

Seems like more targeting of USA-based teams. I've heard stories that this happens at international events and it seems that its in full swing here.

Sad and pathetic really.

next time throw the spinnaker in the water? it works for the AC

They can re-open the protest given new information to present to the jury (tracker data). If the DSQ still holds then you appeal. Unfortunately that could get expensive if the appeals jury is in Europe. Utter ridiculous that 59 seconds is too long to complete the required penalty.

That really is sad if it happens at other international events. Is their something different between U.S Sailing RRS and ISAF rules I should be aware of?

International events on U.S shores certainly have their fare share of bias too. All pathetic.

The RRS are published by ISAF and the same everywhere in the world. The only difference is the inclusion of national prescriptions.

I highly doubt they were targeting a US team, why would they? My guess is the jury felt Taylor took too long to start his penalty. Hopefully Taylor can appeal with the GPS tracker data as evidence, but it is not guaranteed the jury will allow the GPS data as evidence.

Provisional results after 5 races:
http://www.nacra17class.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/FR_01___1.pdf

Good to see all three Dutch teams in the top 10.

Has Taylor not been DSQ'ed he would move up to place 32 from current 44.

The rule states "after getting well clear of other boats as soon after the incident as possible...". Surely, within the stated time period, it's reasonable to accept 11 seconds for a 4th place boat to find a spot to "get well clear of other boats". That ruling seems a little harsh.

I wouldn't jump straight to talk of "targeting American teams" from one reported incident..geesh.

No US boats in gold fleet. Spots on US Sailing team still to play for.

so if no us boats got into gold fleet that means the Mike and Robbie did not get onto US team?

I could be wrong, but my understanding is:

1. Top 25 boats make the gold fleet. Split is made after Wednesday racing, as long as three races completed by each fleet.

2. Top two US boats make the US Sailing team- I don't think there is an additional requirement to make the gold fleet, but I'm not certain.

Hmmm, the question is why are no U.S boats in the top 25?? We have 3 years to the Olympics and based on today's results we have a lot of work to do as a team. I know 1 regatta doesn't speak every truth but my armchair interpretation of the results is we need more large, competitive fleet practice on the 17.

You are undoubtedly not alone in making that observation. Let's hope something comes of it.

As for the jury decision, it's possible that it cannot be appealed. Presumably, an IJ was in place?

Mike

Is there any chance Taylor could request redress and have the time factor re - considered? That would be good experience for a youth sailor, and with RD's coaching might shave some points off his final score. Given the tide/current evidence, maybe Taylor could swing a reversal of the jury's decision. I would hate to see him just accept the decision without a second effort.

My understanding is that the top two USA teams are measured by US Sailing and not by the ISAF, but I stand to be corrected. Sometimes regattas of this magnitude require aggression on the water and in the 'room' as well.

Let's hope tomorrow is a better day since Taylor and Catherine finished today's racing with a fourteenth. Ya gotta love the kid's dedication.

I don't see how they can "appeal."

RRS 66 could allow the hearing to be reopened, as follows: "The protest committee may reopen a hearing when it decides that it may have made a significant error, or when significant new evidence becomes available within a reasonable time."

Technically, that's not an appeal.

Furthermore, per RRS 70.5: "There shall be no appeal from the decisions of an international jury constituted in compliance with Appendix N."

So, if the IJ is properly constituted, there can be no "appeal."

Worse than that, if the decision was made by an umpire boat, there is pretty much no hope for a boat-driven request to reopen or appeal (section Q of the SIs). I have no clue why it would be desirable for this to be so draconian.

SIs are here: http://www.nacra17class.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/SI-Nacra-17-Worlds_final.pdf

NOR is here: http://www.nacra17class.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/NoR-Nacra-17-World-Championship-2013.pdf

Section 12 states: "An International Jury will be appointed in accordance with RRS 91(b). Its decisions will be final as provided in RRS 70.5."

RRS 62.1 (a) says a boat may request redress, or a PC may consider redress, for "an improper action or omission of the race committee, protest committee, organizing authority, equipment inspection committee or measurement committee for the event, but not by a protest committee decision when the boat was a party to the hearing."

While all hope may not be lost, I'd say it's looking pretty bleak to change this decision...

Mike

I meant reopen, my bad.

Looking back at the tracker, I can see where the jury felt the one turn penalty was not completed correctly. Tough situation, hope they make the most of the rest of the week- lots of time until the games!

This would be a country qualifying event I believe.

What this would mean is that as of now it does not matter who is on the US team as there is not US slot at the Olympics yet.

I foresee a lot more international travel or we will be sitting out another quad

I don't believe this worlds is a country qualifying event. Those usually don't happen until a year and a half to a year before the games.

Spots on the US Sailing Team are valuable because they come with increased funding, coaching, shipping assistance, physical training, etc.

Had a chance to talk with Mike briefly this morning, it has been a tough week so far for the US team, but they are all focused on improving and gaining the most out of the regatta. All the teams suffer from lack of time in the boat, especially in racing situations, but that will certainly improve. Sounds like a couple minor injuries among the US contingent, muscle pulls and such that show how physically demanding the boat is to race.

Mike also mentioned he misses the post race 'Gansett!

Not sure if I missed it somewhere......Does anyone know what mast is being used?

Anyone know how they are scoring the Medal race?

The NOR is written in English but I will be damned if I can figure it out. They split the fleet... Usually you carry your points forward. but they talk about forwarding your position. ??? Usually you don't get a discard of your qualifying scores... but that does n't seem to be the case.. Then they have a medal race for sat in gold and silver fleets ... which usually means double points... for the top ten in a fleet... but ???? It looks like everyone races for normal points and they just call the final race a medal race.????

Thoughts?

So 4 US teams made the top ten in silver and should be racing Saturday.

Five US Teams are competing. Two team make the US Team. Does this mean that the other three teams are doen with their Olympic hopes after this regatta? Or is this just that the top two teams are on the team and they get the financing and support from US Sailing and the others have do this on their own? I would think that this is way too early in the cycle to pair it down to two teams.

Correct... this is about funding for the year. Under Brenner, the Olympic team made training opportunities available to all the qualified sailors, they were essentially on the team... but also made firm performance benchmarks for all of the fleets for the top 2 teams who would be designated US Sailing Team members and get the bulk of the funding. The big change was that the sailors actually had to train and practice as a team... not the individual efforts of the past. They actually put it in writing and most of the sailors liked the system. The Olympic review liked this process and the use of the money.

Now the upsets start when two person teams break up or one sailor drops out of the Olympic effort... how does the training money follow... Or what happens when individuals want to break off and do their own training regime....

Other than A cats, who/when was the last US beach cat team to impress us (on the podium) at a Worlds or greater event?

Mike

The third place US team will be on the Development Team.

Less than 1 hour to go to lower AP, I'm at a race just 10km away but I doubt they will have a decent race (no wind!).

This TracTrac application is fantastic, very easy to use. Since all the USA boats are in the silver fleet, i've been using the "selection" option which shows a race with just the 5 USA boats. Since the top two get on the Olympic team, its race all itself, and it is very competitive.

I really don't know who I want to win, they are all great sailors. Mike Easton and Tripp Burd are rock stars from my home state. I saw them kick as at the F18 demonstration event at the AC45 world series last year. Robbie is great guy and given me some coaching recently, so great to see doing well. Sarah and John are committed and been working extremely hard, so they deserve it, and can't not forget about the Yute, Taylor Reiss.