Why IOC and ISAF decisions affect amature sailors - Part I

First off some definitions.  IOC is the international Olympic committee.  They make the rules governing the Olympic games.  ISAF is the International Sailing Association of Federations.  They govern the rules of the sport of sailing for all participating national sailing organizations and classes of boats.  Each national sailing organization is set up essentially to develop Olympic competitors. In Canada this is CYA.

Now, the first decision that affects us as sailors is the IOC's criteria for a sport to remain part of the Olympics.  Early last year the IOC updated its criteria to keep the Olympics relevant and interesting to all nations.  My understanding of this extensive document is that In order for a sport to stay part of the Olympics they must: be accessible, affordable, played by the majority of countries in the world, and spectator friendly, and generate media interest and coverage. IOC also decided that sailing would be required to stay with the same number of medal events.

This raises some issues for sailing.  We have some classes such as the Star boat that do not meet any of these requirements but are an Olympic class.  (http://www.starclass.org/index.shtml).  We also have several classes that only meet most of the requirements such as the Laser.  Lasers as you know have an international following, are popular in many areas of the world, and are affordable when compared to other race boats.

Now we get to the ISAF decision that affects sailors.  ISAF must keep sailing as an Olympic sport in order to justify its own existence.  If there is less international sailing competition, there is less need for the ISAF.  So the ISAF equipment committee wrote a recommendation in November that will make some major changes for the classes and formats that compete for medals in the Rio games in 2016.  Here are some of the changes that were recomended in november and how they may effect local sailors.  These changes are not official and will be voted on in the spring.  I will detail these in part II.

Clarification of rules question in pre start

I posted the following to Matthew Knowles, a US sailing Racing Rules Committee member who writes a blog called Unruly at http://rulestalk.blogspot.com/2011/01/q-2010-40.html


Hi there

I have been enjoying your blog.  Discussion of the RRS is improving my overall rules knowledge.

Anyway, I have a rules question that came up when I was discussing pre-start with a member of the local Tasar fleet that I race with here in Vancouver BC.  Here's the situation:


In the last minute of the start, two boats are approaching the start below a close hauled course on parallel courses aiming to start about 1/3 of the way in from the boat end.  Boat W continues to slowly approach their chosen start point, but boat L accelerates and drops to leeward and obtains an overlap, then heads up and calls for room.

Is W required to give room because she L is Leeward, or is she not required to give room because L is the overtaking boat?

Thanks in advance

Joel Taylor









I got the following response by email.




Hi Joel,

Glad to hear you are enjoying the blog.

There is no provision concerning an "overtaking boat" in the Racing Rule of Sailing. That concept from the COLREGS does not carry over.

In your scenario, W must keep clear of L under rule 11. However, L must initially give W room to keep clear at the time the overlap begins (rule 15) and must also give W room to keep clear of her each time L alters course (rule 16). To put it differently, W must do everything she can to keep clear, but L can't do anything that makes it impossible for W to do so.

Best,

Matt


I like this explanation and will be using it in my Learn To Race teaching.

Less than 40 days to the start of the Barcelona World race.

It is now less than 40 days to the start of the Barcelona world race.  This race is double handed in open 60's.  All the high end teams look like they are ready to roll for this one.

It looks like there will be decent online coverage if the following recently released promo video is any example.



 

Also, Sail world.com just noticed that there are sailing video's on line.

http://www.sail-world.com/Canada/index.cfm?SEID=2&Nid=77063&SRCID=0&ntid=113&tickeruid=0&tickerCID=0

Book review

Since it is the off season, it's a good time for some sailing reading.  Here's two books I like.

The first is "Getting Started in Sailboat Racing" by Adam Cort and Richard Stearns.  This is the book I use as a reference for teaching introduction to racing. The book is written as a guide for the competent sailor to make their first steps into racing.  As a result the style is very simple and straight forward.  They do not use any jargon or exotic language, and they explain every aspect of racing very thoroughly.   The diagrams are simple and complete and add to the text extremely well.  At the end of each chapter there is a question and answer section that discuses the topics covered and ensures the reader understands the topic.  The authors have also inserted some humor in the form of banter between them selves that plays out over the course of the book.  All in all I think that this is the best book to read to prepare for your first race. 

The second book is "The Blue Book of Sailing"  by Adam Cort.  In this book the author sets out to discuss the "22 keys to sailing Mastery".  He discusses topics relevant to both keel boats and dinghies, ranging from using sail trim to aid steering and docking under sail and power.  He does this in the same simple and straight forward manner that makes the book a pleasure to read.  He tackles some heavy theory and does it with simplicity and flair.  Adam Courts humor and wit also shine through in this book.  I heartily recommend that any dingy or keel boat sailor read this book as well.

Both books are available from the Vancouver Public Library, or at least they will be as soon as I return them.

Revised "Rules of boating"

I have been talking about the three rules of boating with my cruising students.  I just watched a video of a couple prepping for an ocean passage and I like what they said on the subject.  So I modified my rules of boating.  My official "Three rules of boating" are now:

1) Don't hit anything.

2) Keep the people on the inside of the boat.

3) Keep the water out the outside of the boat.

Here's a link to an offshore sailors article that continues on this theme.  Being an offshore sailor, he adds some items to the priorities.  His are:

What Really Matters

• Keep the water out
• Keep the crew on the boat
• Keep the keel side down
• Keep the mast up
• Keep the rudder on

http://www.morganscloud.com/2005/01/01/taming-the-wimp-within/

Sailing videos

The dingy racing season in Vancouver is now officially closed.  I was the PRO for one day and mark setter for the second day of the closing event of the year, the blue nose regatta.  The event is hosted by the club I work for, the Kitsilano Yacht Club.  Here's the video I took of the event.

I also found a good video about the sinking of the Concordia in February of this year.  The Concordia was a floating high school program that was run on a tall ship.  Man I wish I had been interested enough in sailing when I was in High School to do something like that. 

http://www.cbc.ca/landandsea/2010/11/concordia.html

The start of the Rue du Rum race in France has been the major new item in the sailing world.  Here's a clip from the Anarchy on the water coverage of the event:

http://www.youtube.com/user/SailingFanatic1?feature=mhsn

Armchair sailing

With the off season setting in, some of us will be sailing less and spectating more.  There is now some excellent web coverage of large events. 

Personally I will be watching several interesting sailing events that are taking place this winter.  The first is the Velux 5 oceans.  This event is raced in open 60's that were built before 2003 and are designed to minimize their environmental impact.  As I have previously mentioned Derek Hatfield, racing "Active House" is the Canadian entry.  As I type this the two leading boats have entered the trade winds on the southern side of the doldrums and are powering away from Derek, who is stuck still stuck in light air.  Two other boats are behind Derek, further North in the Atlantic.  Here's the link for the race viewer:
http://www.velux5oceans.com/

 Another interesting race that is taking place this winter is the Barcelona World Race.  This one is in Open 60’s, but with double handed crews.  The advantages and disadvantages are explained in the magazine section of the website.  The end result is that the boat can be pushed harder with two crew than with one.  In fact, in the last race in Alex Thompson and Andrew Cape set the 24 hr speed record for open 60’s, Including those raced with full crews.  It was an interesting race last time, and probably will be again this time out.  Here’s the link:
http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org/en/

Down in Australia the 18 footer season has just started.  This is an annual tradition in Australia.  The boats race every Sunday on Sydney harbor, dodging ferry traffic pleasure boats, and the occasional freighter.   They are 18 feet long and have three trapezes and an enormous spinnaker.  There is excellent video shot from the 18 footer .tv website’s dedicated camera cat.  They have completed two races already, and more to come.  Check it out at:
http://www.18footerstv.com/

Good video coverage of the Extreme 40 catamaran series that finished in September is available on the class website.  The class is quite possibly the most exciting, spectator friendly sailing event around.  The boats are fast, the courses are short and wipeouts, crashes, and close racing abound.  With both on boat and multiple off boat camera’s the action is always well documented.  Check it out at:
http://www.extremesailingseries.com/video/almeria/

Hopefully that will keep your sailing itch scratched without having to get cold and wet.