Slalom Sailing
Printed From: Yachts and Yachting Online
Category: Dinghy classes
Forum Name: Dinghy development
Forum Discription: The latest moves in the dinghy market
URL: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1319
Printed Date: 15 Aug 25 at 4:41am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.665y - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Slalom Sailing
Posted By: limey
Subject: Slalom Sailing
Date Posted: 22 Dec 05 at 10:56pm
| When the sailing world has always tried to make sailing more appealing to television audiences why has sailing slaloms never been explored. I know the Lasers did something similar in the late 70s in San Francisco. A series of buoys set close together to allow only one gybe downwind before you must gybe again immediately for the next. Then the same but tacking upwind. You could even move the buoys closer together with each round. Easy for everyone to understand, lots of thrills and spills. Voila !!! Cheques in the post please |
Replies:
Posted By: fizzicist
Date Posted: 22 Dec 05 at 11:06pm
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There are plans afoot to have a slalom event at one of the RS300 events next year. Should be interesting if it's blowing a hoolie! ------------- Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer. |
Posted By: Strawberry
Date Posted: 22 Dec 05 at 11:10pm
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We can all tack and gybe though. If you can't you shouldn't be sailing!! ------------- Cherub 2649 "Dangerous Strawberry |
Posted By: fizzicist
Date Posted: 22 Dec 05 at 11:12pm
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If you want to try 10 consecutive gybes in a confined space, in something like 300 then be my guest. All it takes is a big gust and you suddenly need an extra 30metres to keep it flat. Personally I'm looking forwards to it. ------------- Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer. |
Posted By: m_liddell
Date Posted: 22 Dec 05 at 11:17pm
| I have wondered a similar thing. I'd like to see a downwind only slalom (with a downwind start) like PWA windsurfing events. The could be a problem for asymmetric boats since you need to sail and lower angle with more breeze and then might not make the marks... |
Posted By: Strawberry
Date Posted: 22 Dec 05 at 11:24pm
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Wouldn't be much fun in an assymetric or anything with a trapeze, but I reckon it would be pretty easy in a laser. Never sailed a 300 so can't comment. Where are the nats? If someone lends me a boat for the race I'll give it a go. ------------- Cherub 2649 "Dangerous Strawberry |
Posted By: Isis
Date Posted: 22 Dec 05 at 11:24pm
Strawberry used to sail a moth so I suspect he knows whats involved in sailing one of those chubby 300s... ------------- |
Posted By: Strawberry
Date Posted: 22 Dec 05 at 11:30pm
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Haha, I wouldn't go that far But if you can't tack or gybe pretty sharpish in the strong stuff, then ur not safe sailing in a big fleet. Crossing a tight line of beating boats while your hearing downwind often becomes a slalom, cos your windward boat! ------------- Cherub 2649 "Dangerous Strawberry |
Posted By: fizzicist
Date Posted: 23 Dec 05 at 12:02am
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yeah but gybing in a big swell with lots of wind is also about choosing the wave as well. Plus this isn't about getting one crucial gybe right - it's about nailing ten consecutively in quick succession. That's a different challenge! ------------- Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer. |
Posted By: Chris 249
Date Posted: 23 Dec 05 at 12:46am
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I've done lots of it in windsurfers, with various sorts of boards and various sorts of courses. The best in many ways was the old pro World Cup style of downwind slalom in surf. One lines of marks was laid in the impact zone, the other near the beach in just enough water for the fins. You'd zig-zag down the beach on a reach, dodging or jumping waves and sometimes have to gybe the slalom board right on the curling wave or lose time. We had one event in Sydney in mast-high waves that Robby Naish (world's greatest ever sailor?) reckoned was the best he'd ever had. It's great fun, and so is flat-water slalom on dinghies or longboards (flatwater slalom on shortboards seems a bit tame from memory). The original Windsurfer longboard class still survives here and we have slalom events at our titles. You do a W course on the first lap and a P course on the second. Six or 8 competitors per heat. Each heat takes about 3-5 minutes IIRC. (EDIT Actually I've blown slalom in the last two nationals by getting the course wrong in the heat of the moment so I may be wrong about it being a W followed by P     )Should be more of it. We had an Open on Windsurfers a fortnight ago with the first slalom we've done in ages. Apparently people (dinghy racers and passers-by) were lining up to watch it, because it's fast and easy to watch and you're within 100 m of the shore. Would be great on dinghies. |
Posted By: Stefan Lloyd
Date Posted: 23 Dec 05 at 12:25pm
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For sailboards it's a valid form of competition, because it is close to what short-board sailors do anyway, and particularly if run with the inshore buoy in the surf, it is a serious test of skill. For dinghies it would be real dumbing-down to a single skill which shouldn't be that hard anyway: gybing. It doesn't sound that exciting to me to watch either, once the novelty wore off. Then again, I'm not a spectator by nature. |
Posted By: Hector
Date Posted: 23 Dec 05 at 12:50pm
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Done downwind slalom in Lasers - if the marks line up straight (or near straight) you can run by the lee so far that you don't have to gybe . If the marks are offset but 'close' overtaking is very difficult. It's such a different game that it would be best to introduce new rules. So do away with 'water' rules, touching marks and other boats would be ok, - more or less anything goes - That's great fun when done as a lighthearted 'game' where participants understand that avoiding damage is important. As a serious competition it would be interesting to watch - but not in my boat! |
Posted By: Strawberry
Date Posted: 23 Dec 05 at 12:55pm
Gybing and tacking must be two of the most over-complicated things in the world. You do it so often you don't even think about it, like breathing. ------------- Cherub 2649 "Dangerous Strawberry |
Posted By: Strawberry
Date Posted: 23 Dec 05 at 1:18pm
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But they don't have a competition to see who can breath fastest.......... ------------- Cherub 2649 "Dangerous Strawberry |
Posted By: john.d.knight
Date Posted: 23 Dec 05 at 2:08pm
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In windsurfing, pre short boards (25 years ago!), there used to be a slalom event as part of the youth nationals. It consisted of 2 lines of 3 marks laid into the wind eg looks like a six on a dice. One board started on port and went up the portside line of bouys and the other started on starboard and went up the startboard line of bouys, tacking round the bouys. The boards would then cross over sides at the top and gybe down the other line of bouys, cross over at the bottom and then repeat the course and finish on a run. This was always the most fun at these events with a large group of supporters on shore cheering on the sailors as the course was set a few meters from shore. ------------- Pain is just weakness leaving the body. |
Posted By: fizzicist
Date Posted: 23 Dec 05 at 2:34pm
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Although the idea is still in its infancy, the plan for the 300's was to have two slalom courses side by side and drag race each other down them. If that isn't enough to provide good spectating, then we'll have to share the centre gybe mark between the two boats as well! Either way, it'll be interesting to see the reaction!
Happy Christmas one and all anyway - I'm off up to my folks for the annual kidney wrecking race! ------------- Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer. |
Posted By: Stefan Lloyd
Date Posted: 23 Dec 05 at 2:53pm
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Yes I had figured that out. But if you watch sailboards doing slalom courses, they don't actually crash into each other very much, for two very good reasons. 1. if this is the kind of racing you do, you practice and get good at it 2. crashing hurts, especially on high-speed slalom courses, so you try pretty hard to avoid it. By the way, I did slalom racing in my windsurfing days, so I've actually had some experience of it. As for lots of capsizes; is everyone so bad at gybing then? I suspect if you were going to be shown doing it on the TV (as was the suggestion in the original post), you'd practice first so you didn't capsize. |
Posted By: Garry
Date Posted: 23 Dec 05 at 5:16pm
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I used to be a fairly good slalom canoeist and there was a lot of debate maybe 15 years ago about making that more television friendly. They even changed the rules to make the sport less technical. It never managed to break through to large TV audiences and unless you canoed I suspect you couldn't really follow what was going on. Also they only televised the top people so relatively few spills to excite the punters.
Introducing slalom to sailing for the TV cameras could have the same sort of effect - not much greater TV audiences, only sailors understanding what's going on and only filming the top sailors so minimal incidents. ------------- Garry Lark 2252, Contender 298 www.cuckoos.eclipse.co.uk |
Posted By: BBSCFaithfull
Date Posted: 23 Dec 05 at 7:08pm
just stick to normal sailing guys we love the sport for what it is not what other people want it to be!1 ------------- Greatfully Sponsored By www.allgoodfun.com Int 14 GBR 1503!! |