New Regatta Format For Everyone?

New Regatta Format For Everyone?
New Regatta Format For Everyone?

Video: New Regatta Format For Everyone?

Video: New Regatta Format For Everyone?
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Facundo Olezza from Argentina

In January 2012, after the last Olympic Games for the star boat, some star boat sailors, including the Brazilians Torben Grael and Robert Scheidt, created a new regatta series. Following the example of tennis, the ATP World Tour, various star boat regattas were rated together. The best in this category plus former star boat sizes and some newcomers will then be invited to the finals, in which they will sail for prize money. This final is currently running in the Bahamas for the 2016 series, with a total prize money of US $ 200,000, of which the winner will receive the lion's share.

Probably never before in sailing has there been a regatta in which so many sailing greats compete against each other as in the Star Sailors League. 16 Olympic medalists, America's Cup winners and 19 world champions from 17 nations are at the start in Nassau.

It is also about bringing back names that have long been known to the sailing sport. Due to the change at the America’s Cup, the change to foiling catamarans, a very special clientele was left behind from this part of Grand Prix sailing. Former Finn dinghy and star boat sailors who are not necessarily suitable for sailing on foils due to their sturdy stature and their sailing character. Both classes, as well as a laser or 470, are more tactical, with many turns on the cross, very small-scale action. However, foiling has so far been more about speed and strategy. Exceptions like Sir Ben Ainslie, who made the jump from Finn to British AC-Kat, confirm the rule.

The Star Sailors League is intended to be a kind of countermovement to this development. The boats belong to the participants or are provided, as is the bow for all those who come from other classes. "We want to give all participants the chance to quickly catch up technically with a bow that can trim the boat correctly, and to sail in a weight-neutral manner, because the crew weight limit means that the crews are almost equally heavy," says Robert Scheidt. That this can work is shown in the finals by the 22-year-old Argentinian Facundo Olezza, who finished ninth in the Finn dinghy at the 2016 Olympic Games and was ninth before the final day of qualification. Or the Dane Jonas Hogh-Christensen (35), also a Finn sailor, Olympic silver medalist and 10th ahead of Bermuda.

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The race format

But not only the composition of the participants, the race format is also something special at this event. After the qualifying regattas, the top ten teams move on to the final day. But like in the Olympic Games or in World Cup regattas, they don't take the number of points from the preliminary rounds with them, but the clock is set to zero, all points are deleted. In qualifying, the only thing that matters is getting into the top ten. Only the two best placed from the qualification have an advantage, the first placed goes straight to the final, the second placed into the semifinals.

The next eight teams will first sail the quarter-finals, just one race. The best four of them plus the runner-up the semifinals, the best three plus the first-placed finals. The final race alone decides on the victory, each of the four finalists has the same chance.

In a sport that aims to eliminate the chance factor with long racing series, sometimes weather-related, sometimes material-related, the participants' response to this actually brutal mode is surprisingly positive. "I think it's good that everyone is starting from scratch," says Hogh-Christensen on behalf of most of them. "I think the World Sailing Federation should adopt the format for other regattas as well." And Olezzer added: "The Olympic Games should do that too."

At least for World Cup regattas, that doesn't seem completely unlikely. Because one of the initiators, Torben Grael, has just been elected Vice President of the World Sailing Association. "World Sailing has so far not given enough thought to sailors," he said in Nassau.

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