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    Posted: 17 Mar 17 at 4:00pm
Yes, obviously it would be naff format for Fed week or your local club.  I think there is much to be said for just having one race at the Olympics - keeps it really simple, allows for the odd bit of drama/upset, but generally cream floats to the top.  Then the same sailors could do a different event the next day with a different medal up for grabs.
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Posts: 2041 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Chris 249 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Mar 17 at 6:45am
Apart from the issues people have already pointed out, one factor could be that this is the 59,000th time someone has come up with a bright idea to get Olympic sailing to rate well and the previous 58,999 have done nothing. That seems to indicate that either sailing will never rate well, or there needs to be much more of a rethink than just playing with scoring.

I seem to recall checking the IOC's reports and noting that the introduction of skiffs, spinnaker cats and hybrid windsurfers - each of which was going to revolutionise Olympic sailing - didn't move sailing one spot up the ratings rankings. When predictions have been completely wrong so many times, I have zero confidence that any predicted ratings improvement will occur this time.
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Posts: 822 		Post Options Post Options   Quote PeterG Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Mar 17 at 9:36am
Are other sports expected to follow bizarre and complex procedures and scoring for the Olympics which bear no relation to how people conduct the sport at other times?

This seems to the following the monkeys approach to writing the bible - or the racing rules - give enough PR "whizz kids" enough time and you may if you are patient end up with something not too much worse than where you started Confused
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Posts: 3420 		Post Options Post Options   Quote 423zero Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Mar 17 at 9:37am
Sailing can look exciting, this video on youtube proves this, well I think it looks exciting, obviously strong wind, this is always going to be a problem relying on weather, issue is how can you make an interesting spectacle in a drifter, (short of having a sponge fight).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FbWTFJ3kV0
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Posts: 822 		Post Options Post Options   Quote PeterG Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Mar 17 at 9:48am
Mmm, that's a lot more exciting to do than to look at!

What I enjoy looking at as a spectator is close interboat racing, prestart manoeuvres etc. with some good commentary. Modern technology makes doing a good job of that a breeze, but it rarely ever happens. The editors can never stop themselves cutting from a really interesting prestart position to a boring shot of lots of boats at the critical moment. And at least half the commentators are loud mouthed motor mouths who don't understand what they are looking at and rarely are interested in letting those who do finish a sentence.

Would that ever have real wide appeal? I don't know, but I'd like to see it tried. I don't think the assumption that boats moving fast with lots of spray and sudden death scoring is the way to appeal to, and hold, a wide audience is correct. But perhaps if you start by trying to appeal to the people who actually follow the sport you just might not only find an audience, but maybe even increase the appeal of the coverage and even the sport.
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Posts: 2041 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Chris 249 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Mar 17 at 9:53am
"perhaps if you start by trying to appeal to the people who actually follow the sport you just might not only find an audience, but maybe even increase the appeal of the coverage and even the sport."

Well said.

One other thing is that the world's biggest spectator events include the Tour de France and Formula One. Both of them are usually decided before the last event. That seems to make it pretty damn apparent that there is little if any correlation between ratings and having a sudden-death final.
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Posts: 1094 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Bootscooter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 17 at 8:48pm
In fairness to the sailors (Olympic or otherwise) they don't have much of a say in the race format... they just go out a race.  I think it's fair that the organising authorities are trying out stuff (how many times has the medal race been won by the Gold Medalist?), but I don't think this is going to prove to be any better.

Sailing is different to other sports, in that we have a regatta series to find our winners, and hopefully a multiple day champs will throw in varied conditions so that our winner is the proven best-all-rounder.

If someone wins with a race to spare, then so what?  They've obviously dominated and should be rewarded for that, otherwise why would we go and do 8 races in a weekend Open, instead of just a single race then hand out the prizes.
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Mar 17 at 12:55pm
It's stuff like this which makes me think the Olympics isn't very good for sailing. Which is a shame, because for as long as I can remember it's been the pinnacle of small boat sailing. 

Sure, Olympic brings funding in to the sport, and the exposure on TV supposedly increases participation. However, it can be a double edge sword; lots of non-sailors I spoke to watched Rio and it just confirmed that sailing is a sport that they don't want to do.  

Creating 'one race winner takes all scenario' is more viewer friendly; but only for a one off viewer. But i'd be skeptical it would build longer term engagement when every event you have a different seemingly random winner. 

I felt the medal race was an okay concession to increase 'spectacle'. This just seems confusing. 

I'd like the olympics to have a 10 day offshore race. On board camera's, live tracking, keep it coastal so helicopters /drones can get out regularly. Plus it would be host cities (country's) dream to show off a wider coastal area. 


Edited by mozzy - 20 Mar 17 at 12:58pm
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Posts: 246 		Post Options Post Options   Quote JohnJack Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Mar 17 at 10:34pm
Originally posted by 423zero

Sailing can look exciting, this video on youtube proves this, well I think it looks exciting, obviously strong wind, this is always going to be a problem relying on weather, issue is how can you make an interesting spectacle in a drifter, (short of having a sponge fight).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FbWTFJ3kV0

I imagine the sailing out on the surf in the Olympics to look more spectacular than this. However we never got to see it, even recorded!!!

We ended up watching the course beneath the mountain that seemed about as shifty as Dovestone
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Posts: 3401 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Sam.Spoons Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Mar 17 at 11:45pm
The medal race concept is completely cr@p, it doesn't mean a thing and is actually far more confusing than a straight forward series. Anybody who follows football, motor racing or a plethora of other sports understands the series/league concept (the only hard bit to understand is the discards and even that relates to stuff like ice skating). You get points for wins/places and "what do points mean?".......

Actually it's a bit like a football match where the actual result is decided on penalties, the actual match only function being to give one team a head start.....
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