Class Politics Ban Coach / Nannie Boats?? Already Illegal?

gouvernail

Super Opinionated and Always Correct
So. Is it singlehanded sailboat racing?

or is it a sailboat race between stops at your personal nannie's floating lounge?

How the hell is it sensible to ban all sorts of equipment based upon one design and price and accessability and within our rules to allow a staffed personal $20,000 nannie boat?

I think the nannie boat is absolutely NOT mentioned as legal in the class rules and therefore I must believe it is an illegal piece of equipment.

How the hell can it be a fair contest when some of the "INDIVIDUAL" competitors are made up of a sailor, a Laser, a powerboat, a food and liquid supply, weather radios, Radios tuned to the RC, spare clothing, spare parts, a comfy matress, a spouse and or a girlfriend or boyfriend or all three.

It certainly seems a SINGLEHANDED contest would include ZERO outside support or coaching of any sort from the moment the competitor's meeting begins until the close of the time for filing protests.

Yes, the WITNESSED conversation would be, "Hi Mom. I'm on shore. I'm alive. Sorry I can't let you talk to me until after the regatta because that would be cheating. Bye."

Certainly, without a witness, you could not ethically make that call.
 
Maybe I've been biased because I've had the opportunity have coachboats. but only in certain ways: 1: Junior Programs 2: traveling to races as part of my YC'c team. The YC sends one of the coaches and a boat, and they are out there to help us yada yada yada. 3: As part of the CISA team. You apply for a grant from CISA for the Orange Bowl for $500, which helps with boat charter, airfare, etc. And they provide coaching and such. In the cases of 2 and 3, you don't pay for coaching. The only time I have ever paid for private coaching is in private practice. If one of my YC's coaches isn't at a race, I can usually bum off another coach, and get him to carry some of my stuff, gimme a tow, some advice, how was I doing etc, but I usually don't because it sometimes a pain.

For all you that are so against it, have you ever had it? How can you be so against it without ever having it, and reaping all the benefits.

Like Bruce says: "If you have it, you don't need it. If you need it, you don't have it." "But the point is, if you've never had any of it, ever, people just seem to know"
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Af1OxkFOK18

But seriously, be a little more open to things, and go get yourself some coaching, somehow, some way, just do it, it'll make you a better sailor
 
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I don't think this is about coaching or coach boats and the like. Its about outside assistance. Help with air fares, coaching whilst out practising (even with others also being coached, etc.) is fine and I'm sure helps some.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]For me there are several aspects.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]1) When it comes to a regatta you are "on your own". You have done your practice, done your preparation, etc. and now its time to test your skills, etc.. It is a single handed event and that is what is should be. You should be competing against others on an equal basis. It is about who is a fitter, better, more skilled , etc. sailor. Having long breaks with a personal masseurs between races whilst others are struggling to stay out of the water is somewhat unequal and is only a function of money.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]2) Also, having them buzzing around watching during a race is a pain and dangerous. As I commented in a different thread there have been very very serious incidents where a coach boat has permanently invalided somebody (cannot find links to the reports - but others may know). Probably other incidents.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]3) Collision Regulations - when out racing you are always under two different sets of collision regs - those between boats racing and those where you (racing) meet a vessel not racing. Normally, when racing you don't have to worry too much about vessels not racing. Unless that is there are loads of them buzzing in and around your course. so if somebodies coach boat gets in you way and messes you up can you protect the Laser(s) the boat was employed by. Could it even be interpreted as a Rule 69 infringement.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Thus, at events I think they should be banned. In the private of your own practice, training, etc. then fine. I'm sure they are useful to some and I have no problem with people receiving coaching (given or employed), no problem with them receiving grants, donations, sponsorship, etc. It's just that there is a time and a place for that stuff and mid-way through a day's racing is neither the time nor the place.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Ian[/FONT]
 
How the hell can it be a fair contest when some of the "INDIVIDUAL" competitors are made up of a sailor, a Laser, a powerboat, a food and liquid supply, weather radios, Radios tuned to the RC, spare clothing, spare parts, a comfy matress, a spouse and or a girlfriend or boyfriend or all three.

Wow, flyin' high!

Seriously, you make some interesting points, G. A well written NOR could ban such aid, but would you lose a lot of sailors at your regatta by doing so?
 
I kind of feel the same way about judge's boats. For close to century this sport was self-policing. Obviously there needs to be a comittee boat and a mark/safety boat. Any other vessel in the course - be it a coaching boat, judge's boat, or Fort Sumter tour boat - is a distraction and a danger.
 
For all you that are so against it, have you ever had it? How can you be so against it without ever having it, and reaping all the benefits.

try living inland, im 17 years old, my school has no sailing team, my club has no junior program, and my family too poor to send me somewhere to get coached, and your asking ME to be openminded?
 
I'm happy for people to get all they coaching that they can manage, except during a race, of course. It's the comforts that a coach boat provides that seems unfair.
 
I agree 100% with Gouvernail. This has been discussed before at Proper Course where, in the comments, I advocated the outright ban of "Mommy Boats," or dividing the scoring (or even the fleet itself) into two categories; the coached or outside help group (A.K.A the "Trainee Fleet", and the uncoached or independent group (A.K.A. the "Yachtsman Fleet").

In the comments "Larchmont Mom" posted:

I have three children in Optimists this year and I guess I drive a Mommy Boat...I want to defend us Mommy Boat folks...we are not all overprotective psychotic parents...some of us (me) just like to be out on the water...and yes, we can help the kids between races..but hey, I help ALL kids...if a storm comes through I check on my daughter and everybody else around her...I bring out people's nonboating relatives for a glimpse of this great life...and I am NOT overprotective...I agree that sailing is about independance...if my daughter flips or has an issue I PURPOSELY pretend to be watching some other part of the race...she solves her own problems, but secretly I am proud because I got a glimpse of her doing it. I am a sailor, I don't make a big wake, or cut off mid fleet, or block people's air...I am just happy to be there and happy my kids didn't choose ice hockey!
To which I responded with a parody post, as "Mommy Boat Driver," that expresses many of my feelings on the topic:

I am a sailing coach and my RIB is bigger than yours. I tow my privileged little protégés out to the racecourse; I wouldn't want them to get tired or wear out their sails. After making sure they are all checked in at the committee boat, I head upwind to scout the course; I can't let my little racers go the wrong way upwind. On the way back to the starting area I make sure to check to start line bias; it would be embarrassing if my team started at the wrong end. I then have a few minutes to round up my little sailors and give them the benefit of my years of experience. They really enjoy the opportunity to rest on the boat and get a cool drink of the sports beverage of their choice before the start. After watching the start, I motor upwind towards the favored side of the course (shhh...only my kids know this trick). I take notes upwind on my sailors' sail trim and tactics to give them feedback after the race. After the race is over I let my little yachtsters rest on the boat while I adjust their rigs for the wind conditions and fix any worn parts. I make sure to let them know what to do differently in the next race. When my sailors are well rested, watered and fed, I give each of them my personalized feedback. I make sure to let one little hotshot know that I will have analyzed the foul he was involved with in the race so that he will be prepared for his protest hearing. At the end of the last race I make sure to tow my little guys and gals back to shore and de-rig their boats so they can get out of their wet clothes in time to meet their parents back in the club for dinner.
Although I intended the post as a joke, I have since seen coaches do many of the above for their sailors. I find the outside knowledge of wind and current that many coaches provide their sailors particularly annoying.
 
seriously, this is ridiculous

next thing you guys are going to complain that the rules state what car you can and can not tow you laser with, as per the rules

wait!

the rules never said you could tow your laser!

oh no!!! :(
 
For all you that are so against it, have you ever had it? How can you be so against it without ever having it, and reaping all the benefits.


I've been at a disadvantage because of the coach boats. In particular during a D13 race last year in Sarasota where the coach boats would race around the course watching their sailors handle the marks then take off to the next mark. They really messed up the waves on the reaches for the mid fleet sailors. Then between races there was one coach boat that could care less about other sailors, he just wanted to get to his sailors and talk to them. There was one time I had to get out of the way of the coach boat because of that. And finally on Sunday, between races, when it was windy & wavy as I was drinking water the wind blew my water bottle out of my hands into the cockpit. I was trying to get the water bottle but the wind was blowing me to another Daddy boat. Well I ended up losing the bottle overboard because I had to get out of the way of the Daddy boat.

I love Master Laser racing, no coach boats there....
 
My position is that any contact with a coach boat on the water during a regatta constitutes outside assistance, and is therefore a violation of the racing rules.

You can be in the "Trainee Fleet" if you want to be, Ross. But if you can race with the big boys without stopping for a rest on a coach boat then we'd be happy to have you with us in the "Yachtsman Fleet."
 
I've been at a disadvantage because of the coach boats. In particular during a D13 race last year in Sarasota where the coach boats would race around the course watching their sailors handle the marks then take off to the next mark. They really messed up the waves on the reaches for the mid fleet sailors. Then between races there was one coach boat that could care less about other sailors, he just wanted to get to his sailors and talk to them. There was one time I had to get out of the way of the coach boat because of that. And finally on Sunday, between races, when it was windy & wavy as I was drinking water the wind blew my water bottle out of my hands into the cockpit. I was trying to get the water bottle but the wind was blowing me to another Daddy boat. Well I ended up losing the bottle overboard because I had to get out of the way of the Daddy boat.

I love Master Laser racing, no coach boats there....

That kind of thing happens all the time. In a recent regatta, I actually had to yell at a coach boat that was following the radial fleet upwind because he went right through the full-rigs as we were going downwind. There is no reason for coaches to be anywhere near boats when they are racing or within 1/2 a mile of the start line between races.
 
Maybe I've been biased because I've had the opportunity have coachboats....
For all you that are so against it, have you ever had it? How can you be so against it without ever having it, and reaping all the benefits.

But seriously, be a little more open to things, and go get yourself some coaching, somehow, some way, just do it, it'll make you a better sailor
Ross, I think once again that you are missing the point. Nobody is arguing that coaching won't make you a better sailor (quite the opposite in fact). The issue is that the added comfort and situational intelligence from an on the water support team un-levels the playing field. If coach boats are going through the additional step to indicate favored courses, that's just plain cheating. It's a little Pollyannaish of you to assume that people choose not to hire a coach because they are "against it."
 
so what do you have have to say to all the olympians that hire coaches for Trials and the Olympics? and everyone in other classes that uses them for worlds and nationals?
 
so what do you have have to say to all the olympians that hire coaches for Trials and the Olympics? and everyone in other classes that uses them for worlds and nationals?

Coaching, like practice sails, is fine during practice sessions. Once racing begins, coaching has no place. The "Olympians" (they are not actually Olympians until they have competed in the Olympics) who use coach boats during big time regattas are only justified in their actions because everyone else is doing it. Just because everyone is doing it doesn't make it right.

What we are really complaining about is the use of coach boats at district level regattas. Most "Olympians" could show up at these regattas, take a club boat off the rack and win every race without a coach boat.

Part of amateur singlehanded sailing is self sufficiency, using a coach boat during a day of racing removes that self sufficiency and diminishes the validity of any success that sailors using them attain.
 
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Whilst being against them (for reasons above), maybe an intermediate step between banning them and allowing them would make their sailing team responsible for the coach boats actions. Thus, they get in the way of another boat (as per SailChris' experience above), then the entire team associated with the boat has infringed the rule (i.e. coach boat not racing interferes with a boat racing - 720's for all those associated with that coach boat and, as per RRS if they don't do them pretty quickly then disqualification). Coach boat found wrong in a protest then the entire associated team is also found wrong and they all take the penalty handed out.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Personally I would say get rid of them (even if only on safety grounds). At least ban them from the race area during racing (e.g. must stay outside a circle round the centre of the course radius to the marks plus half a mile) - break that and the entire team is disqualified from the race. Maybe just say they must stay at least 500m from any boat out racing, preparing to race or waiting to race again (notice the "small print" there).[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Of those who organise regattas where coach boats arrive, how many people would not attend it they were not allowed their coach boats out on the water stalking them ?[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Ian[/FONT]
 
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
seriously, this is ridiculous
next thing you guys are going to complain that the rules state what car you can and can not tow you laser with, as per the rules

Why would you do that ? Using different cars to tow your Laser has no real impact on your performance for a day's racing. However, having your private recuperation suite following you around out on the water during a regatta does. It think it is the aspect of some with money available using that money to have additional on-the-water advantages plus the distraction/safety issues.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Ian[/FONT]
 
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
so what do you have have to say to all the olympians that hire coaches for Trials and the Olympics? and everyone in other classes that uses them for worlds and nationals?

I think you would say something along the lines of "Glad you are taking your training seriously but your coach boats are not allowed out on the water buzzing around the fleet and you are not allowed to provide on-the-water assistance". Of course they (and anybody else) can set-up and do their own private training with coach boats as and when they want wherever - just not during a regatta.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Not too complex and should be understandable.

Ian
[/FONT]
 
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] they must stay at least 500m from any boat out racing, preparing to race or waiting to race again (notice the "small print" there).[/FONT]

YES! I hate the way the descend on the fleet after a race ends, like flies to a corpse. I should not have to alter my post-race routine, or pre-start routine to avoid getting tangled up with coach boats and their strings of unmanned boats.

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Of those who organise regattas where coach boats arrive, how many people would not attend it they were not allowed their coach boats out on the water stalking them ?[/FONT]

This is where the shame factor comes in. If the sailors are notified at the skippers meeting that coach boats are not allowed, will all the coached sailors refuse to sail? I doubt it. If they are given the choice of being scored in the "Trainee Fleet" or the "Yachtsman Fleet" based on their use of coach boats, which would they choose?
Coach boats, in most cases (except for true "Trainees"), are a pure luxury. Laser sailors can do without them.
 
This is a valid topic, I believe. And I'm of a mixed mind on it, at this point.

I have seen all of the problems Chris mentioned in his parody. And I've seen many good reasons to allow them (assuming for a sec that there was some way to ban them, which I doubt). The extreme example is watching the A Cuppers drop a chute in the water, rather than struggle to get it in late!

Re. the Gouv original question, "while racing" is clearly defined in the RSS. In addition, the SI's can restrict coach boats, and even threaten penalties to the racers for infractions by the coaches.

Before the recent US Nats, I requested CB guidelines from the Class and others. None were available, but some new ideas have been tried, and were discussed. So, we did our own, and placed them in the SI's, where they had some voice of authority. Each was required to register, display a numbered flag, stay outside the entire Trapezoid while any class was racing, and be available to assist anyone when requested by VHF. We provided trash bags, so all would help collect empty bottles, etc, from anyone. And we charged for dockage, etc. but supplied lunches and water to coaches, plus on shore meals. We also had them pull out at another location, to lessen the Sunday night scramble.

All but one complied cheerfully, and assisted in many ways when asked. One has been told to not return to our Club, after arguing for hours about our "authority" etc.

We also offered rides on spectator boats for boat-less parents. Many loved this, and quite a few didn't even bother.

So, I'm presently For CBs, with restrictions. They can help get Juniors out to races they could never get to if their parents had to be available. They can help when needed. And I feel that most want to evolve the CB guidelines into a standardised form that works for both Coaches and RC's. Having a coach isn't that different from Little League or Soccer teams, etc. And as RC, I'd rather deal with Coaches than parents.....just like umpires at a Little League game.

I also don't believe that Lasers should be sent out for 6-7 hours without water/snacks from the RC. That clearly gives the coached sailors an advantage, and it's just plain cruel, in my mind. Apparently, it's common at a lot of big regattas.

The US Trials has an interesting document, that might be useful to others:

http://www.ussailing.org/olympics/OlympicTrials/pdf/coach_boat_regulations_2007_trials_AMEND.pdf


Al
 
thats pretty standard practice here vtgent49, and it's why I love it. If those basic and simple rules are set down in the SI's, there should be no problems.
 
Before the recent US Nats, I requested CB guidelines from the Class and others. None were available, but some new ideas have been tried, and were discussed. So, we did our own, and placed them in the SI's, where they had some voice of authority. Each was required to register, display a numbered flag, stay outside the entire Trapezoid while any class was racing, and be available to assist anyone when requested by VHF. We provided trash bags, so all would help collect empty bottles, etc, from anyone. And we charged for dockage, etc. but supplied lunches and water to coaches, plus on shore meals. We also had them pull out at another location, to lessen the Sunday night scramble.

The guidelines for support boats you adopted are actually pretty much the same as were used by the French Hyeres (39th Olympic Regatta) (see http://sof.ffvoile.net/race/pdf/IC2007_gbr.pdf rule 25 and then modified further in Amendment http://sof.ffvoile.net/race/pdf/Notice_Amendment7.pdf - and they are in both English and French).

They only had 182 support boats to deal with (support boats were charged to register and had to provide the sail numbers for all competitor boats they were supporting). Note that the amendment adds some restrictions such that a competitor is allowed no more than one support boat in certain areas at certain times !!

Controlling them is only one aspect though. In a regatta, what is their true function. To provide refreshment and relaxation facilities to those with money ? If so then they certainly bias things in favour of the wealthier (hardly one design - the individual wins or loses). To train - well we are talking about open meetings/regattas here not training events.

Ian
 
Hey,

Having been a 'Coach' for the local club, we had to follow some pretty strict rules - namely - you could watch from outside the racing area, and you were not allowed to talk to individual boats during the race.

In fact we were mostly put to work handing out lunches, helping boats that had issues etc. The rest of the time was spent looking through binos trying to find the kiddies. It was a pretty good system and most seemed to follow it. That way, I could see what was going on and help folks along whilst no interferring with the race. Seems to me that this was a win for everyone - this was mostly in local regattas.

On the other hand, when I was sailing larger regattas, a few years ago, the number of 'coach' boats was staggering. I am not sure when it changed, but it went from a few sailing instructors trying to make a few more bucks by workign the weekend, to full on parent boats with all the comforts.

Coaching is great, and it is too bad that not everyone can get it. But coaching from the moment the boat leaves the shore the morning of the race to the moment they hit the shore is not kosher and should be clearly laid out in the SI's as VTGent suggested.

Sadly, seeing as parents are now setting up meetings with College Professors, I doubt this will get better any time soon - at least until the current crop of overprotective, pressure filled, goal driven parents are replaced by the kids they hover over (and who really just want to be left alone)

Thanks,

Matt
 
I was reading the rules in the link provided, and the one thing I think should be out is

"12. Between sequences of races or when all racing for that course area has been postponed
abandoned, coach boats may enter the racing area to service their athletes."

keep in mind that a coach boat can easily get the weather on the VHF, then when 'Servicing' their atheletes (I am trying to resist crude remarks here ;-) I am sure that no coach alive would mention any thing about a lefty or a righty coming in!!!!


Of course, the only electronic thing I am not allowed any more is my IPOD.

Damn, there goes my advantage​


 
Wow. I need more popcorn to read the rest of this...

My original post was edited a few times to make it have brevity and edginess..."fight starter qualities."


Edited out>>>

I HAVE had the benefit of a coach boat. A few times I have sailed in events where we had a flating supply boat just for a few of us. I knew damn well I had a huge advantage over anybody who didn't have the same advantage.

I used the nannie boat to get the exact fluids I wanted, a better lunch than anybody else, and I switched from light weight to heavy weight gear as the days went on and the wind built.

No way in hell it was fair sailing.

Unfortunatly it is like any other arms race. If I go to a major event and I care how I do, I ALWAYS arrange on the water help.

I think it is not fair.

I think singlehanded competition demands equal challenges for all the competitors or is is less fun and certainly less of a fair contest between competitors.

Yes, some of us bring better boats and equipment than others. But we have rules governing that particular arms race.

The coach boat arms race is unlimited. The indoor movie studio with surround sound replay of the race while being massaged, fed, shown subliminal suggestions to make hiking painless, while receiving personal coaching is legal now.
Your nanny can even buff and polish your boat....give you a dry change of undies...

Someday, the above could be less than the minimum necessary to keep up with the competition.

It is past time to regulate between race outside assistance.
 
The US Sailing Olympic Trials (ongoing as of 10/06/07) have detailed rules regarding both spectator and coach boats. Please check the respective websites for details.
 
The US Sailing Olympic Trials (ongoing as of 10/06/07) have detailed rules regarding both spectator and coach boats. Please check the respective websites for details.

So what is your point?

Is it that personal assistance must be tightly controlled and acceptance of any help that is not available to all competitors must always be illegal unless there is a clear description of the conditions by which it may be given and received in the NOR??

I would agree.
 
Probably depends on what one is trying to control.

Stopping these coach boats getting in the way of people racing is probably relatively easy and most would agree with it (provided race committees are prepared to e.g. penalise the yachts being coached for infringements of rules by their "assistance").

It is probably the between races on-water R&R facilities they provide that would be more controversial and harder to regulate against. To me, having private R&R facilities is a function of money. Thus the R&R yu get is a function of money. Thus how relaxed and recovered you are at the start of the 2nd (and subsequent) races is a function of money - and in a physical sport, being well recovered and refreshed is going to give you quite an advantage. However, those receiving such advantages are unlikely to give them up easily (as their results might then not be to their liking).

Ian
 
So what is your point?

Is it that personal assistance must be tightly controlled and acceptance of any help that is not available to all competitors must always be illegal unless there is a clear description of the conditions by which it may be given and received in the NOR??

I would agree.

Yes, that's what I had in mind. Or, in other words, the mommy/nanny boat problem is being addressed as we consume all this bandwidth.
A perfect, one-size-fits all, solution probably doesn't exist and shouldn't be legalized anyway, IMHO. For instance, an opti regatta is SO different from an Olympic trials event. But the NOR/SIs can spell out conditions appropriate to the event. vtgent49 thought things over and came up with, what seems to me, a reasonable solution for that particular event (see his earlier post). Perfect, perhaps not; I wasn't there. But as stated, the issue is being addressed. I just hope that it will be addressed at all appropriate future events.

PS: In my next Masters event I will ask my support boat to have my Dark and Stormy ration ready, at the appropriate temperature (!), as soon as the AP over H flags go up. Since the racing is over at that point, I shouldn't be charged with a rule 41 infraction :) .
 
PS: In my next Masters event I will ask my support boat to have my Dark and Stormy ration ready, at the appropriate temperature (!), as soon as the AP over H flags go up. Since the racing is over at that point, I shouldn't be charged with a rule 41 infraction :) .


Prepare thyself for a mugging by 300 old thirsty old crabby old guys
 
I don't have kids myself but can appreciate parents being a bit concerned about their kids going out to sea for a race and wanting to be close by to help. I can appreciate this for children when first starting in e.g. Optimists, etc. but I would also expect that those organising such events would appreciate the safety issues and ensure their facilities are more than adequate.

However, by the time these kids get to start going out into Laser fleets I would have thought they would have been moderately capable of being safe and that the rescue/safety services provided by the regatta organisers would be adequate.

In fact, were their an incident, would a parent rushing in with their private RIB (and probably panicking) actually help or hinder the rescue services (even if the parents "know boats", etc.)

Are there parents here who feel then must go out in RIBs to ensure the safety of their kids ? I imagine it can be difficult when kids go out on their "own" (i.e. without parents to ensure their safety) but I also imagine that it is very important for the kids' development - time to be out on their own, etc.

Ian
 
We sure do, Merrily! My favorite support boat of all time was at the 2005 Masters US Nationals at Severn SC; right after the finish of the last race they were giving anyone who wanted one a cold beer for the long drift back in. It was a beautiful thing!

Most of the parents I know that go out in support boats just want to watch the racing, and you can't fault them for that. Strict rules that are enforced seem to do the trick 90% of the time keeping them out of the way, although if you bang a corner or go wide on a downwind leg you can find yourself getting at least wake interference from the parade. This is, as already pointed out, a totally different subject from getting advantageous coaching and info during a regatta. I personally prefer to go to clinics, learn new stuff and practice it and apply it at regattas, rather than have a coach there telling me which way to go. Maybe it's an age thing I'm 'old' and independent.
My ex used to try to coach me at regattas and I had this alarming tendency to tell him to stuff it; I needed to figure it out on my own.
 
Ross, It's accepted that the pure one-design aspect of the Laser is supposed to make it a level playing field for all, so that the best sailor wins. Further, it's true that sailors who regularly have coaching are probably better sailors. However, there's no question whatsoever that having a coach boat or "support" boat available during a regatta gives a competitor an advantage. That's WHY the top Olympians all MUST have one.

The Laser Trials, going on right now in Newport, have, I'd bet 2/3 of the fleet supported by a coach or "support" boat. Those other 11 sailors without such support are going to be so much more tired, must be more organized, and must carry all their various clothes, food, drink, and wisdom with them. Unfair advantage?? You betcha. Just the tow, to and from the racing area is a huge boost.

The most glaring example of this that I have personally seen was at the 2000 Trials in San Francisco. The Lasers and Europes sailed out of SFYC, but the racecourses were on the Berkeley Circle. Give or take an hour's sail to the course, and back again in cold, windy weather with killer current. To their credit, the Laser fleet coaches made sure that everyone who asked got a tow most days if the tide was flooding.

Not so in the Europes! Every day we witnessed Courtenay Becker-Dey being ferried out to the course and back again in a large, fast, cushy RIB with the dinghy strapped across the bow. Never once did they offer anyone else a tow. She won the regatta handily, but, who knows? If she had to get up an hour earlier, and sail an extra 2 hours each day like most of the other women, would she have won?

At the Trials, contact with coach boats is restricted in the SI's to a certain amount of time before the first Warning signal, until after the last race of the day is finished. Still, you can't tell me it's a level playing field for the guys who are out there all on their own.

On the other hand, it's going to be impossible to regulate parents like your Larchmont Mom who just want to be out there watching their kids sail. I'd say the idea of separate fleets for the "haves" and "have-nots" might be how it should be handled.

From the standpoint of regatta organization, would we EVER love to see the masses of coach and "mommie" boats disappear! Last summer we hosted the Opti Nat's and it was a complete zoo! No problems with the kids and their Optis, but you should have heard some of the parents when it came time to dock everybody.

Then there are folks like Phillippe and Shark Kahn. The year Shark won the Melges Worlds in San Fran, their boats were trucked in, towed out and back to the Berkeley Circle, rigged and de-rigged by the professional crew. They were conveyed to the race course on board the 90-foot yacht with the hot tub and gourmet chef. By the end of the regatta they were fresh as daisies, and their sails had at least 10 hours less blustery wear and tear than everyone else's. How 'bout THAT for an unfair advantage? True, the Melges Class has a "Corinthian" division for those of us who actually rig and sail our own boats. I guess that makes it ok, huh?

Dyz
 
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In fact, were there an incident, would a parent rushing in with their private RIB (and probably panicking) actually help or hinder the rescue services? (even if the parents "know boats", etc.)
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Exactly - without some basic training and control, it's a dangerous situation.

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At the Trials, contact with coach boats is restricted in the SI's to a certain amount of time before the first Warning signal, until after the last race of the day is finished. Still, you can't tell me it's a level playing field for the guys who are out there all on their own...
Dyz
Another perspective: In youth soccer (through high school), we keep everyone 10' off the side of the field for the duration of the event. No one is allowed to run out with Gatorade or advice (they can and do shout it). Except for little kids and a serious injury, parents are strongly discouraged from running onto the field - there are trained people to handle it.

It would be a similar situation to making most kids walk from home to the fields with all their gear while the others got rides and had their cleats put on.

Here's an idea for the rest of us:
ONE official floating porta-potty with a deli / pub, parked at an agreed location!
 
As I also said on SA:

Gov, there is only one way it can work, so everyone has an equal opportunity:

Every regatta will be held at a different location, on some place on this planet. No regatta shall EVER be held in the same place. And it shall have to made sure that no one has been there before, absolutely 100% virgin locations, this way, no one has local knowledge.

Every competitor shall have a brand spankin new boat for each individual race, fresh out of the factory, and rigged to factory setting, no customization allowed, everything is the same, from the factory. And the boats shall be rigged by certified class measurer's at the regatta site, and the sailors are not allowed to touch them till race time. Since you get a new all up boat each individual race, they are as fresh as possible, always stiff, and sails are as new as possible.

There is a specific diet that must be followed the week before the regatta, and during the regatta. Also a certain amount of gym time is alloted the week before, and you must sleep a certain number of hours each night. This way, each competitor should be in the same physical shape come regatta time.

And to keep it really fair, all sailing clothing is provided for for that specific regatta, and take back after the regatta, and destroyed.

No coach boats, no spare gear on the water, no power bars or Gatorade on the water, in fact, no drinking water while on the water, no pissing while on the water. No use of drugs of any sort ( prescription or illegal) while on the water, or during the regatta period.

Also, you shall have to follow the RRS.


These are what I believe to the basic guidelines for if you want racing to be as fair and equal as possible. If you do it any other way, its just not fair
 

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