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Medway Maniac View Drop Down
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    Posted: 04 Aug 12 at 12:07pm
Here's a nice summing up of the Medal Race:

But with short courses it does strike me as being a good starter's/rules-merchant's charter, and not at all the best way to find out who can sail a boat the fastest round the course.  Sort of the opposite of a time trial.

I know it should suit us in GB on this occasion of 'Big Ben meets The Great Dane', but is it really the right way to decide the Olympic Gold Medallist.  Shouldn't (s)he be the fastest sailor?
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Posts: 30 		Post Options Post Options   Quote nutonthetiller Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Aug 12 at 7:30pm
The "Medal Race" format once again proves to be disappointing. It was introduced to make the sailing more exciting for TV viewers. Looks rubbish when the guy finishing 9th wins gold. 
The Star class result gave the Gold to the 3rd best sailor. Disappointing for Percy and Bart but with a more positive attitude they would have won. Ben was exceedingly lucky as it nearly happened to him. He should have yotted off and won the race. Either go back to the traditional system or just have first over the line in the medal race wins gold just like the 100m.
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Posts: 1005 		Post Options Post Options   Quote fab100 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Aug 12 at 8:05pm
Medal race system is bonkers.

Whoever made the decision to have a double points tie-decider under the cliffs at the Nothe should be put in a padded cell and never allowed to see daylight again.

It would have been no less lunatic to have it on Frensham Pond, love it as I do

If the Star MR had been out where it should have been, Perce and Bart would surely have had gold again - I really feel for them.
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Posts: 4028 		Post Options Post Options   Quote G.R.F. Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Aug 12 at 8:47pm
When was that format introduced, and when did they stop .75 for a win?

I also think the medal race concept is an abomination and an unfair distortion of the facts of an event like this, although if we grieve the Star then we should also acknowledge the equally distorted Finn result so we can't have it both ways.
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Posts: 288 		Post Options Post Options   Quote bustinben Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Aug 12 at 9:19pm
It sure is a horrible system.  Glad the events I do don't use it.  Don't beat on ben though - the reason he ended up in 9th was because of how the medal race format forces you to race!  
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Posts: 2788 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Medway Maniac Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Aug 12 at 11:04pm
Wasn't it indeed quite absurd that a race on an unpredictable, awful course like that should count twice as much as any of the preceding proper races?

We've probably al raced in those circumstances of patchy, unsteady wind, and I could only feel for all the leading competitors who were thrown to their mercy.  No matter what we may think of Hogh-Christensen and Potsma after Ben's mark-touching (or not) incident, they didn't deserve to be left feeling as gutted as they must have been today.

Sport once again sacrificed on the alter of media-friendliness and commerce.
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ASok View Drop Down
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Posts: 739 		Post Options Post Options   Quote ASok Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Aug 12 at 11:30pm
Its that media friendliness and commerce that keeps funding pushed into the sport. Unfortunately its something you've just got to deal with.

If you just sail off the beach to find perfect conditions out to see you could disconnect with the audience and make this a fringe sport. The sailing needs to grab peoples attention being this far from the main Olympic circus in London and if that means sailing in less than perfect conditions then so be it.

What disappoints me if they complete muppetry that the media attaches to the coverage. Poor camera work, poor graphics and the commentary/pundit team all need sacking. Really disappointed that part of my license fee is paying for them.

The confusion after the Star race would have been a real turn off for any casual punter. It was embarrassing listening to them filling while they work out what was going on.

I do concede that the footage I have seen was better than 2008, but looking at the AC45 series recently they are leagues behind.


Edited by ASok - 05 Aug 12 at 11:32pm
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fab100 View Drop Down
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Posts: 1005 		Post Options Post Options   Quote fab100 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Aug 12 at 11:34pm
I think we should insist the next 100m final (but not the heats or semis) is run on a plastic-sheet surfaced track with a hairpin bend halfway, doused with rain and with people on the sidelines randomly spraying washing-up liquid about.

And the tennis should be played on a cracked, unloved backyard with two hyperactive kids shaking the net up and down like a skipping rope.

But that's not fair, the media would say. Duh!

Perce and Bart, you are definitely the winners as far as we are concerned!
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Medway Maniac View Drop Down
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Posts: 2788 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Medway Maniac Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Aug 12 at 12:02am
Originally posted by ASok

Its that media friendliness and commerce that keeps funding pushed into the sport. Unfortunately its something you've just got to deal with.

I've just got to deal with?  Just what does that funding do for me or the sport?  

Does anyone enjoy doing it more because of the funding than Elvstrom and Co. did years ago?  I very much doubt it.   More likely if anything they just feel more pressure.  OK, the funding makes it all seem 'bigger' and more show-biz, but what does that have to do with the participants enjoying their sport?   Money invariably corrupts anything it's connected with.
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Posts: 1094 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Bootscooter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Aug 12 at 12:51am
We've discussed this quite a lot today, and have decided that perhaps the best compromise is to have the Medal Race points scored as normal, but have it non- discardable. It is rediculous that a set of results can be turned upside down on the strength of a single race - especially on the unpredictable Nothe Course wind lottery.
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