Allen sponsors ISAF Team Racing Worlds at Rutland
by Jeremy Nicholson 7 Jul 2015 13:18 BST
19-24 July 2015
Allen Brothers, the British manufacturer of performance dinghy hardware will be sponsoring the ISAF Team Racing Worlds taking place at Rutland Water from 19-24 July.
Organised by Rutland Team Racing, up to 30 international teams of six will compete in identical Rondar Firefly dinghies supplied by the organisers, making this a supreme test of sailing ability. The 12 foot Fireflies are all equipped with the latest Allen equipment.
Liz Adams, Managing Director of Allen Brothers, commented, "We believe racing improves the breed and it has always been part of our philosophy to incorporate feedback from racing into our product development. Team racing represents the purest test of competitive sailing skill and as such we are delighted to be sponsoring this event. May the best team win".
David Wilkins of Rutland team Racing added, "We have worked with Allen Brothers to optimize the equipment on the boats and they are at their peak. We aim to get the best boat equalisation across all the flights of boats to give the fairest racing. After that, each team will have the opportunity to make minor adjustments to suit the conditions in each race. Twenty four teams are entered, but only one will leave with their cherished ISAF Gold medals".
This premier event will be held under the rules of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), the world governing body for the sport of sailing, officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In Team racing, two teams comprising three boats compete together in a race. The results of each team are combined to decide the winner. The low points scoring system is used in team racing: a boat that finishes first earns 1 point, a boat that finishes 2nd earns 2 points, and so on – with the winning team decided by adding together the points of all the boats in each team. If a team score is 10 points or less, then that is a winning combination for the team in that race.
It is a fast and furious, spectator friendly form of dinghy racing. Team races are usually sailed over very short (6 - 8 minute) courses in the form of a starboard (right) hand 'Digital S' course (beat from start, short reach, run, short reach, beat to finish). This format puts a premium on team racing tactics – rather than the outcome being decided by pure boat speed. On-the-water umpiring is now the norm, with boats having the option to do one "360" penalty turn after an infringement - or a "720" (two penalty turns) if they sail on and are penalised by an umpire.
www.rutlandteamracing.org.uk