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Light the blue touch paper...

Posted 10 months ago

Light the blue touch paper...
Amazing how incendiary the whole subject of the Olympic is and it's astounding at just how entrenched the camps are in deciding which boats should be in. On the one hand you have the modernisers like myself who want slalom courses, multi-discipline sailors, timed runs and foiling boats and then on the other you have the traditionalists who just love the way it is now. Personally I think the traditionalists are barking mad and will be the first to complain when the sport gets un-royally dumped out of the Games without a second-thought however 'm always pleased to hear argument against my left-fieldism. Here's one from someone whom I respect: Magnus, . While I agree with a lot of what you have to say about the Olympic classes, especially the nonsensical recent ISAF stuff, I think you should take a look at the wider Olympic world. The sailing classes should be more modern but not many of the Olympic sports pass muster when the same criteria are applied to them. Very few are that modern or produce great excitement in themselves. All most have managed to do is get the public to buy into the spectacle produced by the competition itself. The thrill of the struggle distracting attention away from the mundane nature of the sport. We all loved curling for a while didn`t we. . Sailing has always failed to explain itself very well. When I was younger TV sailing was not up to much and would never have engaged non-sailors. Even now great emphasis is put on match racing and the like. Two boats on the screen doing stuff that experienced sailors find hard to fathom. Half the time it`s as thrilling as a slow bicycle race. I followed most of the AC on the radio and, surprisingly, sailing is a good radio sport. The reality of the TV highlights in the evening were very disappointing. . While the classes themselves can help, it is the thrill of the game that needs to be got across. Brilliantly sailed 49ers in 15 knots look quite easy to sail so we still need to explain to the wider world what it is about. Only us within the sport know how hard it is to make it look that easy! . I notice young Hurricane is already lined up to be Oppy world champ. Why, when there are so many "modern" kids boats around. Same reason my kids choose to sail Toppers. It`s the best way to get good at this game. It doesn`t matter what the racing takes place in if we take the trouble to get the message across. It doesn`t matter how mundane a running race or tennis match is, the commentators always remind us what great athletes they are, and what world class performers they are, and how these people, and this race is the best thing since the invention of the wheel. And we like everyone else are hooked by this. . We do need some better classes but we also need to tell everybody why this is a great game and why great athletes do it and why it matters and why they should care.   Full Story »

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