There is the first race in a beautiful 15 knot Portland Harbour breeze.  Apologies to the crews union for 5.5 minute races instead of the target 7-8 minute.  Reports have it that for some unknown reason there was little post race discussion from the front of the boat.

Here is Race 1 of 3 in the Sprint Series.

We caught up with the Irish after Race 1 of Combat Sailing.  As always, plenty of chat from these two…

Race two had 7 boats competing and three of them using the Port Tack Option off the start line.  There was plenty on at the windward mark.  Additionally, as you see the Portugese (Francisco) tack out from the lane rope on the first beat, we can see an incident where the Irish avoid a potential collision.

We caught up with the Brits after the second Street Race… ever confident, some might say cocky about their shot for glory in the final race.

And then to the grand final… 3 teams remained all tied on 5 points after 2 races… One race for all the glory.  One team would be destined to win the title – King of the Colosseum.

It was a fun day for training.  Congrats to Alain and Dylan of team GBR for their Gold medal performance.  Jorge Lima proved that he’s on form heading into his Olympic trials with a Silver medal and the ever plucky Irish won the bronze.

Many thank to Dave Mackay for getting the Battle down the Channel organized, along with help from Tom Peel.  Harvey Hillary on commentary provided just the right balance of trash talking and excellent camera work, we’ll have him back for sure.

A regatta runs through qualifying and the final series as per the currrent system in 49ers – 3 days of qualifying followed by 3 days of finals.  The medal race is substituted for a ‘Theatre Style’ day.

So we have (say) 75 teams ranked 1-75 through the first 6 days of racing.  From the first 6 days of racing, the top 29 move on to ‘Finals Day.’  That’s the top 4 from Silver fleet plus the Gold fleet.

First Round: The first to race are the teams finishing from 22-29 (8 boats).  They take their ranking into the series (22 has one point, 29 has 8 points) and race 3 races in the ‘Theatre’ with low point scoring, no drops.  Scores are entry points plus 3 race finishes.  For example, if the 26th place team finishes the three Theater Style races in 5th, 3rd, and 1st, they will have 14 points (6 + 5 + 3 + 1).  7 teams come out with a new ranking order (23-29) which is their regatta finish and the winner of the series moves on to the next round.

Quarter Final: Boats finishing 15-21 go to the ‘Theatre’ and are joined by the winner of first round  for 8 boats total.  They take their series finish in with them (21 has 7 points, 15 has 1 point, the winner of first round has 6 points).  3 races are completed in the Theatre, with a low point scoring, no drops. 7  Teams come out with a new ranking order (16-22) which is their regatta finish and the winner of the series moves on to the next round.

Semi Final: Boats finishing 8-14 go to the ‘Theatre’ and are joined by the winner of the quarter finals  for 8 boats total.  They take their series finish in with them (15 has 8 points, 8 has 1 point, the winner of the quarter finals has 8 points).  They race 3 races in the Theatre, with a low point scoring, no drops.  7 teams come out with a new ranking order (9-15) which is their regatta finish except and the winner of the series moves on to the next round.

Finals: Boats finishing 1-7 go to the ‘Theatre’ and are joined by the winner of the semi finals  for 8 boats total.  They take their series finish in with them (7 has 7 points, 1 has 1 point, the winner of the semi finals has 8 points).  They race 3 races in the Theatre, with a low point scoring, no drops.  4 teams come out with a new ranking order (5-8) which is their regatta finish and the top 4 of the series moves on to the Grand Final.

Grand Final: 4 boats, 1 race, winner takes all, with the rest taking silver, bronze, and leather medals.

So back to the original discussion point of the role of Theater Style and does it do justice to the rest of the regatta?  Basically, the first 6 days of racing do 2 things.

1. They put you into your final band, be it 1-8 or 24-32… your first 6 days of racing contribute a great deal to roughly where you will finish.  One test we used to determine whether using Theatre Style is appropriate is whether another day of normal racing would contribute a similar amount to your final finish.  We determined that it would not be totally out of the ordinary to move up to 7 places on the final day of racing, so we think is passes this test.  A team finishing 9th, 17th, or 25th faces the risk of dropping up to 7 places in the standings.  On the flip side, they are also best placed to win their round and move up.  There is considerable upside potential for the winner of each grouping.  Having the winner advance leaves open huge possibilities for almost half the fleet (of 75) going into finals day, which should keep interest high among those who had a difficult time in the regatta.
2. Another piece of the puzzle is weighing the weighting of the 6 days of racing and how many points advantage to give the top teams in a round vs. the last teams in a round.  One item guiding our thinking is that it would be a farce if it was impossible for the last place team to win.  So in the case outlined above, the last place team carries 9 points into the round, and lets say they win all 3 races for a total of 12 points.  Could they win the round?  The answer is maybe… for sure, a top qualifier could also do really well and beat them, but they would have a shot at it.  That is why we chose to weight finishes with 1 point instead of 2.  If the first team carried 2 points, 2nd 4 points, etc… then the 9th team would carry 18 points plus a minumum of 3 more for a total of 21… a score very unlikely to win the round.

So those are the arguments.  The first 6 days of racing contribute in 2 important ways.  1st, they place finishers into a band, where they can loose a maximum of 7 places on the final day.  2nd, within each band higher finishers have a measureable, but not insurmountable advantage.  And finally, opening up the possibility to do exceedingly well on the last day, and move up 1, 2, or even 3 bands would be an incredable story… one the media should lap up and on that creates amazing drama.

Please add your comments.  As always, everything is on the table for discussion.

Ben and Simon

“The need has arisen to make sailing more viewer friendly, or risk being dropped by the IOC from the Olympics. One of the knocks against the current format is it’s hard to follow if a person was to tune in for only the final day. People relate to, the person who won the race… wins, not the multi day cumulative point system we currently use and have accepted as ‘fair’.

Why should we care? The Olympics is not really about sport, it’s about making money by providing entertainment. If a sport is not entertaining, then it will be dropped. Under the current format, sailing is boring to watch, and we (sailors) should be extremely concerned. As much as we are all naturally opposed to change, I have to ask a simple question, would you rather try changing the format, or pack your bags and go home…forever? Once sailing is kicked out of the Olympics, it will be next to impossible to recover.

Theatre Racing is a progression of the current Medal Race format used by ISAF, and aims to make sailing much better for TV viewers and live spectators alike. It is being tried out currently, and the format is under constant development. The course design allows for cameras and spectators to be close the athletes while they compete, and provides close boat-to-boat racing with many interactions. Below I have outlined how it could fit into a World Cup and Olympic event, and described the format I think should be tried for the Theatre race itself.

Theatre Racing: (suggestions for changing the format assuming that you are familiar with the current Theatre style race course) In place of the current Medal Race format, the Theatre style racing would also be a single race event for each class. This would allow for fewer courses to be set and efficient time use much like the current Medal Race system of today. Where it differs is obviously course design, which heavily emphasizes boat handling over strategy, but having left the previous 5 days of racing unchanged, there is still plenty of time for ‘classic’ sailboat racing.

In order to incorporate a ‘winner takes all scenario’ that TV desperately wants, I propose we break the race into a Petit Final and Grand Final system. The top 8 boats after 5 days of racing are broken down into the Petit Final (for 5^th through 8^th), and the Grand Final (for 1^st through 4^th). The results from these ‘Finals’ races are the final standings. While an athlete could potentially go from first to fourth in one race, it is just as likely in the current Medal Race format. At least this system has limited the outcome to 4 place changes, and actually puts more emphasis on the opening series of fleet racing than the current Medal Race system. This format is also a heck of a lot more appealing for TV viewers and broadcasters, as you can tune in for 10-20 minutes and the result you witness is the final result (barring DSQ’s like any other sport). There is no explanation needed for the points system (of the opening series), or how ‘x’ athlete won the Medal Race but still actually finished 10^th.

Theatre style racing – Formatted for 6 day events

ISAF World Cup events where split fleet racing is needed:

-3 days Qualifying (3 races per day: ‘classic’ split fleet racing)

-2 days of Final Series (3 races per day: ‘classic’ gold/silver/bronze fleet racing)

-1 day of Theatre racing for top 8 boats

Olympic Games / Non split fleet events:

-5 days of Opening series (3 races per day: ‘classic’ fleet racing)

-1 day of Theatre racing for top 8″

Sorry everyone that we had to cancel the Palma de Mallorca Test…  The lane ropes weren’t ready yet.

49ers are testing a series of progressive racing formats we’re calling ‘Theater Style Racing‘ for now.  The next one is set for a Test on April 21st to be held just ahead of SOF in Hyeres, France.  We’ll use the same format as was proposed for Palma.  Please email me to sign up for a spot.

Fans can follow the action at on our facebook or on Twitter.

Racing will begin at noon on the 21st.  There will be a skippers meeting in the 49er boat park at 10:30 to review the rules.  If numbers allow we’ll do multiple flights.

The format of this test will be ‘First to 10 Points Wins’

Key elements:

• Each race, points are awarded, 3 for First, 2 for Second, 1 for Third
• Once a team hits 10 points, they have won the event.  The event continues until a team wins the Silver and another team wins the Bronze, each by getting 10 points
• 10 boats will be in the fleet.
• In this test, each team will start with 2 points.  If this were to finish a regatta, the team leading through the fleet racing portion would start with 5 points, second would have 3 points, third – 2 points, fourth – 1 point, all others, 0 points.
• Optional – Finishing last makes you loose 1 point.  Last place or all teams with OCS, DSQ, DNS or DNF loose 1 point.  If you fall below 0 points you are eliminated from the event.

Key Benefits:

• Racing decided by fleet racing, not match racing which has been anticlamactic so far.
• Boats have the ability to influence other boats, leading to exciting scenarios during racing.
• 10 boats, instead of 8, so that the action is ‘thicker’
• Multiple ‘final races’ where the excitement should be high as medals would be on the line.
• The winners must do well in a race to ‘win’ their medal

Drawbacks:

• Might take a long time if many teams win races
• The winner of the final race doesn’t necessarily with Gold, though they would need to be in the top 3.

The format of this test will be ‘First to 10 Points Wins’

Key elements:

• Each race, points are awarded, 3 for First, 2 for Second, 1 for Third
• Once a team hits 10 points, they have won the event.  The event continues until a team wins the Silver and another team wins the Bronze, each by getting 10 points
• 10 boats will be in the fleet.
• In this test, each team will start with 2 points.  If this were to finish a regatta, the team leading through the fleet racing portion would start with 5 points, second would have 3 points, third – 2 points, fourth – 1 point, all others, 0 points.
• Optional – Finishing last makes you loose 1 point.  Last place or all teams with OCS, DSQ, DNS or DNF loose 1 point.  If you fall below 0 points you are eliminated from the event.

Key Benefits:

• Racing decided by fleet racing, not match racing which has been anticlamactic so far.
• Boats have the ability to influence other boats, leading to exciting scenarios during racing.
• 10 boats, instead of 8, so that the action is ‘thicker’
• Multiple ‘final races’ where the excitement should be high as medals would be on the line.
• The winners must do well in a race to ‘win’ their medal

Drawbacks:

• Might take a long time if many teams win races
• The winner of the final race doesn’t necessarily with Gold, though they would need to be in the top 3.

Tweet

These sailors also know that even the best of them are not getting rich and famous like in other sports.  They realize that it is difficult for the public and even fans of sailing to be a part of the racing in it’s current form.  Worse even, most of the build up in ‘professional’ sailing is funded publicly, mostly through national teams.  In this current climate of austerity, that support is up to the good will of politicians, which is not always the most stable platform to build upon.

At Port Tack Charter we aim to help classes test their thoughts on what to do in the future.  We feel it should be up to the sailors to guide the future of this sport and we aim to provide support where we can.  The 49ers have chosen to test ‘Theater Style’ and we are happy to support them.  We would also be happy to support other classes in their efforts to be progressive while maintaining the pieces of sailing that we all love.

Our ultimate goal is for dinghy sailing to become truely professional.  The best sailor in the world deserve nothing less and it must be possible.

Find us on facebook and send us your comments on how you think sailing can capture the public eye.

Within the confines of the ‘Theater’ there are many race formats and points systems that can be used.  We will continue to use these Tests as an opportunity to try different formats and see what makes for the most exciting action.

The tests planned for 2011 are:

• March 31st, 2011 – Palma, ahead of the Princess Sophia Trophy Regatta
• April 20th, 2011 – Hyeres, ahead of the Semaine Olympique Frainciase
• Test 3, possibly ahead of the Holland Regatta or Sail for Gold – depending on sailor interest
• Grand Finale – ahead of the open Europeans in Finland.  While nothing is written in stone yet, this event is likely to be filmed by a professional crew and will air on Finish terrestrial TV during the Open Europeans.

First and Second place at the Palma and Hyeres Tests will automatically qualify for the Finland event so make sure to have your best races!  Note, only 1 team per country besides Finland can qualify for the event to add to the broadcast quality.  If multiple teams from the same country win spots we’ll work with you guys on a fair solution.

Questions or comments, please place write them below.  Details of the format for Palma to follow shortly.

• Good and fair competition for all competitors.
• Fun for athletes and spectators.
• Challenge the competitors and produce a worthy champion.
• Simple format for spectators to follow
• Be easy to produce media – tv / video, tracking, commentary, written, live viewing.
• Culminate in a Final race in which the winner takes a gold medal.
• Enjoyable and engaging for all.
• Emphasis on safety and avoiding collisions!
• Teams are allowed to hit the boundary (unlike a mark of the course) but there is no ability for redress if they get caught, damaged or stuck.
• All teams must use ‘flag’ mainsails, exceptions can be applied for if a boat has extensive other marking or advertising that make them clearly identifiable.
• Debrief afterwards:
  • Questionnaire after for sailors
  • A full debrief will be conducted following each test – sailors, referees, race officials, and spectators are invited to make comments and suggestions – focus is to improve racing
• RIBs (5 total are required) + media
  • 1: Race Officials = Start races, coordinate setting course boundaries and marks.  Keeps track of score and the official scoreboard.
  • 2: Marks, windward and boundaries.  This should be assigned to coaches for the trials or if RC volunteers are to be used then have a coach designated to consult with the RC officials.
  • 3: Marks, leeward and start.  This should be assigned to coaches for trials or if RC volunteers are to be used then have a coach designated to consult with the RC officials.
  • 4: Referee 1, must have a driver for them in the boat so they can concentrate on the referee job.  Media are invited onto the boat.  Port sideline.  Coaches can be used if there are no judges able to volunteer.
  • 5: Referee 2, must have a driver for them in the boat so they can concentrate on the referee job.  Media are invited onto the boat. Starboard sideline + behind pre-start area.  Coaches can be used if there are no judges able to volunteer.
  • Media: as per required.
• Marks and tackle:
  • Start/Finish pin
  • Windward mark
  • Leeward Mark x 2
  • Width limit demarcations (supplied by 49er class)
• 7 off radios minimum, 5 for RIBs + RC, 2 off for referees.
• 2 off megaphones, for referees.
• Flags for referees: all clear – Foul – Disqualification Foul

Sailing Instructions

Briefing Notes for Trials

Logistics

Equipment & Jobs

Event Manuel

Course

Course is a windward-leeward with a restricted zone past which boats shall not sail.

• Target length to width ratio is 3 : 1
• The length should range between 300m and 100m
  • Target time for each race is equal to the number of boats competing, but not less than 6 minutes.
• The races are 2 laps long.
• There will no abandonment of races, movement of marks will be carried out in the normal way, if necessary.
• The windward mark shall be left to Port
• The leeward gate shall be passed to the inside of the two buoys.
• The start and finish line will be set below the leeward marks and be big enough for all boats to start on starboard if they wanted to.
• The leeward marks will be 15-20 meters apart from each other.  It is desired to keep them close to each other so that either can be selected by a sailor with minimal bias.
• Time limit for the fleet racing session is 101 minutes no more races to start after 90 minutes
• Coach boats, media boats and spectators and referee boats shall operate out side the racing zone. There shall be a specific lane left to the out side of the zone for media and referee boats to use.

Start

The start shall be run on a 3 – 2 – 1 system, where each number denotes minute until “Go”  A marker system denoting 3, 2 and 1 shall be displayed on the starting boat. (By all means be creative, but if you want to use a red flag at 3 minutes and orange flag at 2 minutes, a yellow flag at one minute, and then a green flag at “go” then go for it).  Each flag change at the minute should be accompanied by a sound signal.

Scoring

• Placings shall be carried forward from the qualifying event.

• Low point scoring with first getting 1 point, 2^nd getting 2 points, etc., letter scores getting points = to the number of boats competing
• Black flag on all starts. Boats starting over the line shall be scored OCS/DNS and be awarded points equal to the number of boats racing.
• Scores will be displayed after each race on a board on the start finish boat.
• No drops

Schedule

The race will start at on time – no delays – no rule 42.  This means that no matter the wind conditions, racing will start.  Rule 42 will be discarded allowing for pumping and boat rocking, etc

• If it is too windy small rigs would be used but for test we hope it is ok, this would be a future fleet purchase.
• 5 races are scheduled per fleet.  The top 4 competitors will move to the next round.
  • 3^rd place and 4^th place in the rankings sail against each other.  The person in 3^rd place must win 1 race to win the bronze, the person in 4^th place must win 2 races to win the bronze.  If necessary, the second race is held immediately after the first race.
  • 1^st place and 2^nd place in the rankings sail against each other.  The person in 1^st place must win 1 race to win the gold, the person in 2^nd place must win 2 races to win the gold.  If necessary, the second race is held immediately after the first race
• At least 2 referees will be in place in at least 2 RIBs, one on each side of the course.  Referees will be required to use megaphones to describe their decisions immediately as they occur.
• The referees will focus their attention on the boats in contention in the last few races.
• There will be no protests, the referees will decide on water situations with green or red flags.  (In the future we will likely allow ‘challenges’ to decisions, but without technology for instant replay and quick decisions, we’ll just have to go along with the referees decisions for now.
• Competitors are still required to exonerate themselves if they have fouled regardless of whether the referees have spotted the infraction.
• Penalty shall be a 270 degree turn for a self imposed penalty for an infraction.  The penalty for a jury imposed infraction is a 540 degree turn.  Referees have the ability to disqualify teams for excessive fouls and competitors have the right to retire from races for any reasons they see fit.
  • Sailor must immediately begin the exoneration in order to qualify for 270 degree turn, otherwise be at risk of a 540 turn being imposed.

Referees

Rules for match racing are as follows

Each rule has precedence over its successor

1. Port gives way to Starboard
2. Inside boat has room
3. Modification to RRS: The windward boat to have right of way over leeward boats when on downwind leg of the course.
4. The boundary is to be considered a continuous obstruction with regard to the RRS.

Definitions

• A boat is on a tack until its sails are filled and the boat is moving on the new tack. A spinnaker or a jib would have to be filled and pulling.  Main sail battens do not have to be popped.
• Boats must anticipate another boat requiring right of way.
• A large yacht with a stabilized camera would be ideal for trials, along with the on boat footage and RIB footage.  If the RC can coordinate with a volunteer for their boat that would be ideal.
• Full media plan to follow
• 5 Large Signs should be prepared, laminated, 1 for each RIB, they should say:
  • “Keep wake down – Racing in Progress”
  • “Leave room for media and jury to follow race”

Media

Spectators

General Spectators

The test of Theater Style  Racing went well on Aug 4th in Weymouth. Two separate tests fleets were run, with 5 races each.   Each series resulted in two 1 on 1 races to determine Bronze and 4th and also to determine Gold and Silver.

We have kept the media coverage pretty low key as Sail For Gold did not want us to take away from their event starting on the 7th of August. Photo’s, video, and the story will be released after S4G finishes.

A full sailor debrief occurred the next day with the sailors:

Feed back was very positive with some positive comments coming out of the test.

Please find the notes from this below. There was plenty of video taken which should get edited fairly soon (connecting cable lost).  Please feel free to get back to us with any further thoughts or comments!  Attached is a rather long rambling set of notes which contains most of the planning and notes from this first test.

What we did:

0.16 nm long upwind boats did 4 -5 tacks ? In 1.5 min legs

Ran 6 races each 8 – 10 mins long going into sequence less than 3 mins after finishing.

Posted results on white board immidietaly after each race.

360 turns for penaltys, boats could hit marks

3 laps 2 would have been fine

Not much place changing after first leg

Starboard Windward mark rounding looked good

Did not move course very much, did move Windard mark a bit but not leeward. Start line was too short, not enough space for all boats.

Used marks to define the edges of the course fixed edges would be better.

10 boats competed.  In the final, Nathan Outteridge (AUS) and Iain Jensen defeater John Pink and Rick Peacock (GBR) to win the Gold.  In the 3/4 race, the Sibello brothers (ITA) defeater Manu and Stephane (FRA) to win the Bronze.

Notes from the meeting:

Too many races 3 – 4 races better, 4 races needed to break through the luck factor

To keep emphasis on normal racing, the fleet should carry forward place from gold fleet

keep it simple as possible

2 laps

Capsizing made positions confusing for spectators mainly form later group of lower standard

Sailors like the high intensity

good to see how rules and aggression increases when something at stake, on water jury needed as much for detterent as any thing else

Starboard rounding good as makes closer and more interesting. But want to try port as well.  There were too many boats for starboard roundings, there were more than 8 (10)

It was not seen as fair to decide winner from one race.  The match race should change so that carry position through and first to win 2. ie leader from previous round can win one race and second has to win two to win. Definitely to try this in Perth test.
In general is was a good balance between fair competition and media, there were not many passing opportunities.

does the winner have to win the last race?

Extreme weather can lead to a winner being one condition biased

more weighting from fleet racing ( gold fleet ) carry points through

we need expert tv advice on areas like 8 min final or short time final

can’t get boats to full speed not so exciting to sail or watch

There is consensus from this group that a medal race with width restriction is the first step, suggested to be 2 : 1 ratio for starters, sailors happy to do this in this Olympic cycle.

8 mins is good time in fact number of boats in fleet should equal target time in minutes

Run 49er X racing prior to world cup events with quick qualifying series on first day and 8 boat restricted course on second day with match race final.  Carry points through from qualifying to 8 boat section and carry position in to match race as one score, best of two scores to win.

And run above as perth test

Market it as a test to avoid resistance and run these prior to all WC events for foreseeable future. Coach boats to run but we need to get course barriers made and tested.

In test event allow all to have a go so start early and have each set of 8 boats do a mini series of 2 or 3 races each. Winner of each 8 goes in to a losers final with a further 4 races and a match race final. This to be held after main final but all the other rounds to be done before main final.

(These next notes refer to regular racing) Future class events one big fleet for qualifying ( pre gold fleet ) and don’t carry any thing in to gold fleet start a fresh. Only two days of qualifying.  Top ten from worlds auto qualify for gold fleet at world cup events, but not at worlds.

Form small sub committee for this

Current members are:

• GBR Simon Hiscocks
• AUS Nathan Outeridge
• ITA Pietro Sibelleo
• DEN Allan Noregard
• FRA tba
• 3 more required be good to include some media experts?????

We only had 12 people present and we got a lot of productive with some good points debated and some decisions made.

Current and latest format plan (suggested by this group for Perth )

One day qualifying in one fleet normal size course with target time of race equal to number of boats in minutes. 3 races. Un debated if to have a discard? Perhaps not.

Finals are top 8 and each 8 thereafter. They take points through with them.

Finals are 2 laps on restricted course with a ratio of 3 : 1

Top 4 go to match race with 3 against 4 and 1 against 2. Take there position through as one score.

Best of two races to win.

Each group of 8 boats also do the 8 boat part with out the match race end 3 races each and the winner goes on to a losers final.

After conclusion of the main final losers final take place with 4 races no points carry though. Then in to identical match race final. This is purely to give more sailors the chance to race in these conditions and practise this style. As a class we would want to encourage all the fleet to get to do the 8 boat racing so when they do it for real they are practised at it and match racing.

To also try at Perth: Port roundings, wide start line, narrow leeward gate.

Longer course we did 0.16nm which was fine on flat water up to 20 knots. But felt that slightly longer 50% again would be a bit better. As a spectator I would advocate keeping it short.

Course barrier should be a straightish line. Lane rope might work but we have concerns about leaving it in the water as a hazard to navigation, imagine when / if  a power boat comes through the course.

Also slight concern if it is a fixed object is that rescue boat can not get in or out quick.

Inflatable tubes with weights underneath would be ideal and make a visual barrier.

Research has began on this although it does need following up.

At 6:00 pm on the 3rd is the deadline for registration.  Currently a top team can register and get added to the ‘A’ fleet if their finishes are high enough.  After the deadline, if you want to register you’ll only be able to if there is space left to fill a fleet that is not up to 8 yet.  Email me to register now.