tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3124426997314960696.post2707000499361332015..comments2024-03-25T00:33:33.371-07:00Comments on James' Blog: Olympic Sailing Classes; Sailboat, Windsurf, Kite?James Douglasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15380226220764974087noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3124426997314960696.post-40494642128266338892014-02-09T06:17:53.397-08:002014-02-09T06:17:53.397-08:00Probably the best thought out scenario I've se...Probably the best thought out scenario I've seen yet regarding olympic sailing class choices. I've raced different sailboats (laser), catamarans (Hobie 16, Seaspray) and sailboards (Kona One) and windsurf a lot and have a mild interest in trying kiteboarding. The costs and difficulty moving larger sailboats to competitions excludes many countries potential competitors. I also agree with different size sails for different weight competitors. And definitely get rid of pumping and ensure that with more umpires on the course to watch and penalize sailors who cheat.Donhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02573812925063940875noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3124426997314960696.post-17237573866333508532013-11-01T20:13:34.739-07:002013-11-01T20:13:34.739-07:00Very cool sail you have. Came across this looking ...Very cool sail you have. Came across this looking into ideas. How exciting to see this event and watch. I have wanted to learn more about particular topics, but not many websites would help me out in informing me the way I expected. This left me with many question, but after reading your article, I got an answer to all my questions. You are too cool dude!!! <a href="http://www.halcyonsailing.com/" rel="nofollow">HalcyonSailing.Com</a>Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01493937381326864414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3124426997314960696.post-14357934651018715452012-07-17T12:48:45.162-07:002012-07-17T12:48:45.162-07:00Sailing comes from the fact that hardly anybody ca...Sailing comes from the fact that hardly anybody cares about sailing except sailors. Some are hassle per athlete in sailing equipment.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.firstclasssailing.com/Day_Skipper.html" rel="nofollow"><b>Day Skipper </b></a>limestructhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17158171795152103048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3124426997314960696.post-90414736570206591412010-12-20T20:43:41.878-08:002010-12-20T20:43:41.878-08:00It's a myth that the Laser performs any better...It's a myth that the Laser performs any better or faster than the Sunfish. The Laser points a little bit higher (5 degrees or so), but the sunfish is much faster on any kind of reach. Not to mention that there is about twice as many sunfish in the world as there are lasers.<br /><br />As for the Star it is already established as an ultra-successful Olympic boat and casual racer with many fleets racing world wide. Any new boat you try to establish will most likely fail. Cutting the Star may entirely kill the fleet. Don't fix it if it ain't broke.JSW225https://www.blogger.com/profile/10100092598603142846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3124426997314960696.post-60378388535687145012010-12-20T11:08:59.345-08:002010-12-20T11:08:59.345-08:00Boris- Hmm, I didn't even think about the prof...Boris- Hmm, I didn't even think about the professional associations' stance on athletes participating in the Olympics. That's a whole 'nuther can of worms. <br /><br />Scott- Good point about the prohibitive expensiveness of the Star. That combined with its obsolescence seems like a strong argument to drop it. I don't know about match racing, either. Seems like you have to be an uber sailing dork to have even the slightest idea of what's going on in a match race. Maybe some other format, like downwind slalom with lots of buoy roundings, could spice things up without being incomprehensible to lay spectators. <br /><br />JSW- Hmm. Both Laser and Sunfish are popular and similar in price; ~$5500 and ~4000, respectively. But I think the Laser is a more appropriate Olympic boat because of its higher performance, symmetry, and seaworthiness. <br /><br />You might have missed what I wrote about having multiple sailor weight classes within a type of boat (like the Laser) as a way to reduce the number of types of boat.<br /><br />I agree that the 470 is in a weird place between the laser and the 49er, and could be dropped. <br /><br />Aaron- Yeah, kiting and no-daggerboard windsurfing would definitely be gambles, but depending on the venue they could be fairly safe bets with high payoff.James Douglasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15380226220764974087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3124426997314960696.post-88265208913089163392010-12-20T08:52:22.672-08:002010-12-20T08:52:22.672-08:00I just don't see how the kiting thing fits int...I just don't see how the kiting thing fits into the picture, particularly with the absolute wind minimums. I don't think there COULD have been a kite race in the last 2 Olympic games due to the low wind.Catapulting Aaronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13721515415513822156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3124426997314960696.post-20856870525857123522010-12-19T17:31:16.559-08:002010-12-19T17:31:16.559-08:00First off, any olympic campaign is prohibitively e...First off, any olympic campaign is prohibitively expensive, regardless of boat. But if you were to pick one boat that everyone has, is the most accessible, sturdy and relatively cheap, it would not be the Laser. It would be the Sunfish.<br /><br />But picking any boats less than what we have now is the wrong way to do it. Just picking the laser would pretty much exclude EVERYONE that doesn't weigh 180 pounds. That is everyone below that weight, and everyone above. Even someone by 10 pounds off that 180 goal would not be competitive. <br /><br />The 49er is needed because it's a high performance class, which the best of the sailing world is developing. The Star is needed because of how competitive the boat is because of the rules. The Finn is needed because there are men who are above 5'10 and 180 pounds. (In fact, the majority of men are).<br /><br />The tornado is needed because of how many people in the world have and sail catamarans. The keelboat is needed because there's no other match racing in the olympics.<br /><br />The 470 isn't really needed at all. The roles the 470 fills are already taken by the other boats, and the 470 isn't nearly as exciting as any of the rest of them.JSW225https://www.blogger.com/profile/10100092598603142846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3124426997314960696.post-24265180876519977322010-12-19T09:35:07.432-08:002010-12-19T09:35:07.432-08:00Great post, James! Changes are definitely underfo...Great post, James! Changes are definitely underfoot for olympic sailing. Dropping the multihull classes was an obvious mistake, they will undoubtedly make a return, but prob not with the Tornado. The Elliot 6m will be interesting, as it is primarily for a match racing format. Match racing can either be edge of your seat interesting, or boring as hell, depending on what happens in the pre-start. It's definitely time for either the star and/or finn to go (as much as I love both of those classes). They are prohibitively expensive to sail (especially the star). A 4 year campaign in the star can cost 50,000 or more in sails alone! Sailing has a rich olympic history and definitely belongs there, but it has to evolve.Scott; Karinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11195281714646251953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3124426997314960696.post-69175342786462534842010-12-18T21:27:44.704-08:002010-12-18T21:27:44.704-08:00Very detailed in your analysis, I like it. I'd...Very detailed in your analysis, I like it. I'd love to see kiting in the Olympics but there is quite a bit of politics in the sport with the IKA and the IKF / Kiteboard Pro World Tour being at end.<br /><br />Would the best in the world be eligible to compete as there are restrictions.... Ahh politics...Boris Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12109794946605173132noreply@blogger.com