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Neptune View Drop Down
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Posts: 1314 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Neptune Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Datchet Flyer
    Posted: 16 Dec 13 at 11:55am
Originally posted by yellowwelly

you'd have to question what value there is in club membership if you are prepared to travel for your sailing.
Make the pinnacle of a weekend hobby sport all about travelling, either for competition or conditions, then don't be surprised if the numbers dry up... as it has in windsurfing.  


As a fraction of boats racing these events are hardly scratching the surface in terms of participation.

Why shouldn't travelling event be the pinnacle, it always has been surely.
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yellowwelly View Drop Down
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Posts: 2003 		Post Options Post Options   Quote yellowwelly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Dec 13 at 12:05pm
I said 'all about' quite deliberately... it's a gut feel, opinion based.  Years gone by regional sailors would group together for winter memberships at certain clubs.  That seems to happen less now - or that's a vibe I pick up.  Maybe with the top flight of dinghy sailors leaving their boats on their driveways, rather than at a regional inland club over the winter, has an effect on participation.  Maybe it doesn't.  I dunno... it's just a vibe.  

But in answer to GBR's question, no, I don't think it would be a great idea to run a summer SJ type series out of pre-existing regattas around the country.  Those events typically have their own individual vibe and it would be a shame for that to be lost, or at least diluted under the banner of an internet regatta programme with stupid feckin' GPS devices strapped to the mast for 'instant playback'.... odd how there's all that technology, yet the results still go live across the web with a seemingly glaring mistake Confused   

If someone wants to set up a handicap series of new events, then fine, whatever, good luck I guess.   


Edited by yellowwelly - 16 Dec 13 at 12:07pm
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2547 View Drop Down
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Posts: 1151 		Post Options Post Options   Quote 2547 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Dec 13 at 12:13pm
What is the point of live tracking an event of this level? Is there really an audience for that?
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yellowwelly View Drop Down
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Posts: 2003 		Post Options Post Options   Quote yellowwelly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Dec 13 at 12:20pm
Originally posted by 2547

What is the point of live tracking an event of this level? Is there really an audience for that?

exactly... tracking technology is a plague on our civil liberties.  Now even the third beat of a winter sailing event gets tracked and uploaded, whether we want it to or not.

The Wachowski brothers got it wrong... it appears we want to live in The Matrix and there's nothing sacred and exempt from our digital footprint; even our sodding club results get uploaded to the web for public dissemination without even the courtesy of removing personal data.  Why?  Does anyone ask anyone's permission to do this?  Does it actually help attract new members?  Does having a GPS attached to a mast improve the regatta?  Doubt it, given Mk 1 eyeball and a bit of paper was used for years to get handicap results correct before publishing.    


Edited by yellowwelly - 16 Dec 13 at 12:25pm
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Simon Lovesey View Drop Down
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Posts: 349 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Simon Lovesey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Dec 13 at 12:24pm
Originally posted by 2547

What is the point of live tracking an event of this level? Is there really an audience for that?

Over 2,500 unique visitors following the event online over the weekend,  lots of interest 
www.sailracer.org
Online Sailing Results, GPS Tracking & Event Management
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yellowwelly View Drop Down
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Posts: 2003 		Post Options Post Options   Quote yellowwelly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Dec 13 at 12:26pm
Originally posted by Simon Lovesey

Originally posted by 2547

What is the point of live tracking an event of this level? Is there really an audience for that?

Over 2,500 unique visitors following the event online over the weekend,  lots of interest 

including search bots and more sinister data mining tools?

Some articles to put that figure into perspective:


A longer one:



Edited by yellowwelly - 16 Dec 13 at 12:33pm
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Dec 13 at 12:27pm
Originally posted by Gbr440


Was a great weekend and is a really good series.

Given how many different classes there are now and how small some open turnouts are. Who thinks a similar summer series on sea venues would be a good idea??

I’m not sure I’d advocate an SJ summer series (I like the fact that it is a particularly winter thing to do) but I do think that the smaller classes should group together for multiclass events in the summer. Not just sharing a venue, but racing each other. So Lightnings, Streakers, Bytes and Europes could race in a fleet of 50. Or on the not so small scale, Scorpions, 200s and Albacores could get 300+ if they held an umbrella Nationals. It would even allow designers to introduce new designs without fragmenting fleets, but I’m getting off topic there...
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Posts: 3958 		Post Options Post Options   Quote winging it Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Dec 13 at 12:29pm
Actually a lot of those watching, both at Datchet and at home, really enjoyed the tracking.  For them it made something that could have been tedious a lot more enjoyable.

My sailing was totally and utterly awful as I wasn't feeling too good; the boat was in control, not me.  But that being said I had a great weekend, learned lots about the D1, met lots of friends and enjoyed the fun side of winter racing.  I would be far too busy in the summer to do something like this, and the chilly weather actually lends a sense of survivalist brotherhood amongst those racing.
the same, but different...

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yellowwelly View Drop Down
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Posts: 2003 		Post Options Post Options   Quote yellowwelly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Dec 13 at 12:36pm
Really, there were a lot of people watching it from home on the internet?   Confused
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Posts: 3958 		Post Options Post Options   Quote winging it Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Dec 13 at 12:42pm
We has six boats go from our club, mums and wags were watching, apparently.  Her indoors watched in the club, whilst not arranging trolleys.  But she is a geek.....
the same, but different...

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