Laser Medal Races

[Sailorchick]

Huge congratulations to Paul Goodison and Anna Tunnicliffe on their gold medals. All seemed nice and easy for Paul but talk about a comeback for Anna, really thought she'd lost it there, very impressive to come back from 9th. Well done to both

 

[Deimos]

One thing I thought - I had understood that women had to deface their sails with a red rhombus these days. However, when I watched the Laser Radials women MR I could not see. Is the rule still "pending" or can somebody have a 3rd party protest ..... (last bit is not serious - the bit about the protest).

I was disappointed when I went to watch the Laser MR on TV and despite it having been in the schedules all they were showing was Beach Volleyball !!

Congratulations to them both - and the other medal winners. And I guess the other competitors as even getting there is pretty good, getting into the MR even better, etc.

Ian

 

[perrylaser175120]

Does anyone know why the Australian laser radial sailor did a 360 near the end of the last race? That seemed to drop her back to 4th, and Anna from 3rd to 2nd.

From what I could tell Australia was leeward boat and was not rocking, and in any case a foul would be a 720 wouldn't it?
-perry

 

[Wavedancer]

Does anyone know why the Australian laser radial sailor did a 360 near the end of the last race? That seemed to drop her back to 4th, and Anna from 3rd to 2nd.

From what I could tell Australia was leeward boat and was not rocking, and in any case a foul would be a 720 wouldn't it?
-perry

Astute observation; I was wondering the same thing. Jobson, the US commentator for NBC, didn't say anything about this. But in the overall scheme of things, I don't think the issue would have made a difference with respect to the medals.

 

[Eric_R]

One thing I thought - I had understood that women had to deface their sails with a red rhombus these days. However, when I watched the Laser Radials women MR I could not see. Is the rule still "pending" or can somebody have a 3rd party protest ..... (last bit is not serious - the bit about the protest).

Why do you need to use to the Rhombas when its an all womens event? That rule was put more in place to distinguish between women and the rest of the fleet in big mixed events.

Here was what was in the rules:

4.(g)(i) Sails used in the following womens events shall carry a red
rhombus above the top batten pocket on both sides;
a. world or regional (continental) championships
b. events described as international events by the Notice of
Race or Sailing Instructions
c. other events that prescribe in the Notice of Race or Sailing
Instructions that women competitors should be identified.

 

[torrid]

Does anyone know why the Australian laser radial sailor did a 360 near the end of the last race? That seemed to drop her back to 4th, and Anna from 3rd to 2nd.

From what I could tell Australia was leeward boat and was not rocking, and in any case a foul would be a 720 wouldn't it?
-perry

Yeah, I'm really curious. I'm thinking it wasn't a penalty turn. Anna was dead on her wind. She may have jibed away in frustration, then tacked around when she realized she wasn't going to make the line.

Either that, or she's good friends with Anna and wanted to give her some margin of victory. But I doubt that.

 

[SFBayLaser]

Why do you need to use to the Rhombas when its an all womens event? That rule was put more in place to distinguish between women and the rest of the fleet in big mixed events.

Here was what was in the rules:

4.(g)(i) Sails used in the following womens events shall carry a red
rhombus above the top batten pocket on both sides;
a. world or regional (continental) championships
b. events described as international events by the Notice of
Race or Sailing Instructions
c. other events that prescribe in the Notice of Race or Sailing
Instructions that women competitors should be identified.

Hint: notice that there are no sail numbers either.

This is the Olympics, so the IOC and/or ISAF can choose to modify any of the Class Rules (for any of the classes) they wish. Since they want a certain look to the sails, they do away with any class rules regarding them and specify how they look. Hence the Bejing logo at the top, the country flag and letters and the competitors name.

So, no sail numbers and no rhombus.

 

[TonyB]

Does anyone know why the Australian laser radial sailor did a 360 near the end of the last race? That seemed to drop her back to 4th, and Anna from 3rd to 2nd.

From what I could tell Australia was leeward boat and was not rocking, and in any case a foul would be a 720 wouldn't it?
-perry

Sarah was in second place in the race and the Chinese sailor was in fourth, with a few more boats close behind. Sarah needed to finish five places in front of China to get the bronze. So she gybed around to drop back to the Chinese sailor and try and draw her into a foul. It was a long shot, but of course it was worth trying.

If Sarah had been able to draw the foul, she probably would have finished the race third, and the mid fleet bunch of boats would probably have passed China, pushing her back to eighth. They would then have finished on equal points, and Sarah would have had the bronze on countback.

 

[Rob B]

Huge congratulations to Paul Goodison and Anna Tunnicliffe on their gold medals. All seemed nice and easy for Paul but talk about a comeback for Anna, really thought she'd lost it there, very impressive to come back from 9th. Well done to both

It was great to see her get gold. All of her hard work and dedication has paid off. No doubt she deserves it!

However, (everyone pay attention) her last beat she took was a textbook "dig out" move and was the only thing she could do.

Everyone take a note from this and put it in your tactics book. When you are choked in the back the only thing you can do is go the opposite direction of the folks in front of you. It can pay off! The poor saps in the front of the fleet are stuck covering the boats closest to them and will not cover a "corner banger" as it is a low percentage move. (not as low in light/shifty conditions).

I've done this even in big breeze regattas where there were 30 boats in front of me. They are all going up the middle or middle-right or middle-left and tacking on the shifts creating huge disturbed air up the course. I've banged the right or left lay line and caught 10 or more boats just by getting a clear lane and/or finding a shift in the corner.

So, take a note from our new olympic champ! With a gold medal around her neck it may be the last FREE sailing advise you'll be able to get from her! Show me the money!

 

[perrylaser175120]

Sarah was in second place in the race and the Chinese sailor was in fourth, with a few more boats close behind. Sarah needed to finish five places in front of China to get the bronze. So she gybed around to drop back to the Chinese sailor and try and draw her into a foul. It was a long shot, but of course it was worth trying.

If Sarah had been able to draw the foul, she probably would have finished the race third, and the mid fleet bunch of boats would probably have passed China, pushing her back to eighth. They would then have finished on equal points, and Sarah would have had the bronze on countback.

thanks, makes sense
-perry

 

[Wavedancer]

Sarah was in second place in the race and the Chinese sailor was in fourth, with a few more boats close behind. Sarah needed to finish five places in front of China to get the bronze. So she gybed around to drop back to the Chinese sailor and try and draw her into a foul. It was a long shot, but of course it was worth trying.

If Sarah had been able to draw the foul, she probably would have finished the race third, and the mid fleet bunch of boats would probably have passed China, pushing her back to eighth. They would then have finished on equal points, and Sarah would have had the bronze on countback.

Thanks Tony for a possible explanation!

Obviously, these ladies are all highly experienced sailors. But is 'drawing a foul' not in conflict with 'Fair Sailing'?
Just a thought...

 

[Rob B]

Thanks Tony for a possible explanation!

Obviously, these ladies are all highly experienced sailors. But is 'drawing a foul' not in conflict with 'Fair Sailing'?
Just a thought...

I'm not sure if the RSS is different in a medal round race, (like match racing rules). However, I could see a big argument for "proper course". How could you possibly prove that sailing in the opposite direction of the finish line is your fastest course to finish in the absence of all other competitors?

 

[bjmoose]

Proper course is a definition, not a rule. There is no rule requiring a boat to sail her "proper course." Under some limited circumstances (e.g. rule 17) a boat is prohibited from sailing either above or below her proper course, but not both.

You may be thinking of rule 22.2 "A boat shall not change course if her only purpose is to interfere with another boat making a penalty turn or on another leg or lap of the course (emphasis mine)

You can always cover a boat on the same leg, and you may consider your overall regatta or series score in making the decision to do so. This is considered part of fair sailing. There's an ISAF appeal case that makes this clear; forget the number, and don't have the appeals book handy, sorry. You can look it up.