SailGP - Sydney Inaugural Regatta

[Forourselves]

@Forourselves DONT flatter yourself, THE COMMENTS  IN THIS THREAD ARE not relevant or interesting. The fact that so called supporters of sailing like you  do their best to pull down anything new and not coming out of the land of the small minded, brands you a self righteous troll

1) You get a notification when someone reacts to your comment, which i had 18. Turns out dg_sailingfan downvoted 18 of my comments.

2) I'll support anything done for the right reason. What i don't support is bad sportsmanship, which is what SailGP is. The reason SailGP was created was to stroke the ego of Larry Ellison and Russel Coutts after they got demolished in Bermuda by a Kiwi team they tried so hard to eliminate both on and off the water. 

Instead of letting Dalton and his team have their time as AC Champions, they went and created something to rival the Americas Cup. Coutts rushed his timetable because he knew he needed to grow his base before the AC cycle began. Unfortunately for him, that rush has played out on the water, and off the water with boats that were supposed to be a step up from the previous AC, but aren't, and teams that are supposed to be the best in the world, but aren't, and "Global" TV deals that exclude certain countries from watching, not to mention the selfish act of removing all official AC35 coverage from fee platforms like You Tube. So like I said, I'll support anything done for the right reason, where SailGP is not. It is purely done to rival the current AC cycle. The problem is, it won't. The F50's are a disappointment, and the AC75's when launched will render the F50/ AC50 obsolete and irrelevant. I am a fan of the GC32, the Extreme Sailing Series, the 52 Super Series and the RC44 circuit, established circuits all created to fill a gap in the market, where there is no gap in the market for SailGP. Instead they are trying to create that gap by riding the coat tails of the current Americas Cup.

 

[paps49]

Went and liked their FB page, all crap. No race replays apart from 16 sec grabs, lots of promo shit and little else.

 

[Mambo Kings]

Are replays available anywhere?

 

[RobG]

A 2 or 3 days regatta is the standard format for regular sailing events, the TV slots give more constraints but are part of the broadcast requirements. If foilers improve to be able to race in those conditions, great for us. I don't hate difficults conditions like the AC45 race we had in New York, it's part of sailing.

Yep. The problem with foilers is there's such a difference in the spectacle between foiling and not. And if they race in "normal" conditions, they will have to race in displacement mode. But I think once the spectators learn more about them, they'll appreciate both modes. After all, it's about the race, not just seeing cool boats. Hanging out with the hoi polloi watch the Super Foilers is a lesson that the gee-whiz factor lasts about 5 minutes, after that they want to know how to read the race—tactics and strategy. If they can't do that, it's just waiting for a result that they have no idea about.

What I don't like in present foilers is the tech they require, either for the AC50 or the new AC75, I hope find more natural and simple solution than dots on screens or whatever. I would love a simple and fast boat, not a foiler that could be sailed in Sydney but controlled at distance from New York.

Yes, the over–reliance on tech is disappointing. Automatic ride height would be like fully automatic gearboxes in F1. Possible, and better than a human (mostly), but that's one more skill devolved to silicone.

 

[GauchoGreg]

The thing is, that was pretty damned cool regatta, and great, easy, free ability to watch on the app.  I was able to watch it when I wanted, without spoilers, free, and the coverage was fan-fucking-tastic.  WAY better ability to watch than was available during the previous AC... this was the easiest, best racing seen since AC34.  I am definitely going to keep watching this.... only thing missing to make my interest higher is boat develoment competition, but I get that the cost of that makes it tough other than in the AC.  Kudos to Russell and Larry's wallet, you have definitely put together a good show.  San Francisco, Cowes, and Marseille are going to be fun.

 

[WetHog]

How is this "AC like" racing?

It looked like what happened in Bermuda and until the JC75’s lineup in a real race AC50’s match racing is AC racing.  

WetHog   h34r:

 

[Tornado-Cat]

The thing is, that was pretty damned cool regatta, and great, easy, free ability to watch on the app.  I was able to watch it when I wanted, without spoilers, free, and the coverage was fan-fucking-tastic.  WAY better ability to watch than was available during the previous AC... this was the easiest, best racing seen since AC34.  I am definitely going to keep watching this.... only thing missing to make my interest higher is boat develoment competition, but I get that the cost of that makes it tough other than in the AC.  Kudos to Russell and Larry's wallet, you have definitely put together a good show.  San Francisco, Cowes, and Marseille are going to be fun.

It was great and will improve as teams will get better, some only had a few days on the boat. Boats will also improve, the rule is not static, they will improve the boat as much as possible and financially viable, but they will be the same for all teams in order to keep the races close.

 

[P Flados]

Really now, who does not have a facebook user either in the family or as a close friend.

My wife's login worked perfect to see the replays at the post 217 links.  I was watching on my Laptop while she was over on the couch surfing with her phone.

 

[rh3000]

It looked like what happened in Bermuda and until the JC75’s lineup in a real race AC50’s match racing is AC racing.  

WetHog   h34r:

But there are plenty of foiling cat classes. I would have thought the fleet racing aspect would have counted it well out of (recent) AC-like comparison for a start.

 

[Fireball]

I watched the racing on Saturday from Bradleys Head. I enjoyed it and I think most of the crowd did as well.

The boats look to be very well sorted - as you would expect being the third generation of this type of boat.

Some of the crew's look like they need more practice, but this is the first regatta of the series, so let's wait until later in the year before judging them. There are plenty of Olympic medalists and world champions, so the overall quality is certainly there.

Another point is that Coutts has gone for relatively young sailors. I can see the same group of sailors competing for many years to come.

I'd view it as the old ACWS finally done right. The boats are state of the art and it's now the main competition, not some supporting act.

 

[KiwiJoker]

The thing is, that was pretty damned cool regatta, and great, easy, free ability to watch on the app.  I was able to watch it when I wanted, without spoilers, free, and the coverage was fan-fucking-tastic.  WAY better ability to watch than was available during the previous AC... this was the easiest, best racing seen since AC34.  I am definitely going to keep watching this.... only thing missing to make my interest higher is boat develoment competition, but I get that the cost of that makes it tough other than in the AC.  Kudos to Russell and Larry's wallet, you have definitely put together a good show.  San Francisco, Cowes, and Marseille are going to be fun.

Comments here run the gamut.  Can't say I share all your enthusiasm but it was a bloody good first cut, hampered by light wind, decidedly mediocre to awful commentary, and a dire lack of foiling skills from the new chums.  

As I've noted previously, the tools are all in place and things can only get better. With stronger breeze in San Francisco, plus some time for the organisers and the event producers to sort out their shit, this circuit has the potential to be a winner. 

Things I liked:   

#  One-Design boats expose skills of individual skippers and crews
#  Drone  aerials offer flexible perspective
#  Short course racing
#  Consistent and uninterrupted hi def imagery
#  Top class crews
#  Great boat graphics

Things I didn't like:

#  Commentary babble! No connection, and especially no insight, with action on screen
#  Lack of low-angle shots from chase boats.  Threw out baby with bathwater here!
#  Drones can clearly handle close ups but during racing all we saw were long shots
#  My biggest criticism is that camera operators and/or directors consistently missed key action
#  Lack of consistency of on-screen timer for pre-starts and for multiple mark soundings
#  No easy access to performance info, etc, except in app. Too small on phone. Dump all app content to second web site.
#  24 hours after last race still no meaningful replay info on app, with or without perf info. App says replay coming soon!

There's more but that will do for starters.

 

[terrafirma]

Where"s Jack when you need him...? 

 

[barfy]

Yes, the over–reliance on tech is disappointing. Automatic ride height would be like fully automatic gearboxes in F1. Possible, and better than a human (mostly), but that's one more skill devolved to silicone.

Again, this is a point of difference between sailgp and the current AC cycle. 

Just going by previous discussion on here but sailgp is slated to get some ride height assistance, and GD and his lot want nothing to do with it next cycle.it was unclear to me if even tactical softwares will be allowed in the AC.

 

[terrafirma]

Great first event, not perfect but only because of flukey breeze and a lot of the teams not up to speed yet. Commentary could be better and coverage at times not the best but that's to be expected to an extent as there is a lot to learn in terms of bringing the event to the big screens. Would love to see Ben Ainslie jump onboard the UK team  to help them get up to speed and the same for the other teams. Obviously Slingsby mastered the new setup and systems a lot better so hopefully the other teams can bridge the gap asap. Cant wait to see them in 20 Knots true....

 

[Horn Rock]

Drones can clearly handle close ups but during racing all we saw were long shots

I agree, and felt there were too many wide shots from a distance. They don't have those skinny hulled chase cats with the big nose pod, for the nice low angles we got from Bermuda. I know it's hard to have chase boats in a fleet race, and long lenses from on the water have issues with jerkiness. Movement is amplified due to the focal length - probably why they've not gone with them, but wide angled aerials don't really capture the "action" on board the boats.

 

[barfy]

  1 hour ago, KiwiJoker said:
Drones can clearly handle close ups but during racing all we saw were long shots

FPV Drones would have issues in a fleet race. You look at what you are framing and fly sideways. Way too easy to get blindsided by another boat.

But there are certainly some mean stabilizers out there, I think as horny said it would be pretty full on in the midst of the fleet getting a good shot. No one has seen hi speed fleet racing yet, remember?

I was driving some commercial boats I Auckland harbour couple years ago, and the foilers were devilishly hard to stay clear of...they'd be low riding and you'd be ahead,a puff and they accelerate 4x. 6 of them would be hard yards.

 

[NeedAClew]

Yikes on the shark. Hope the surfer recovers well.  I did wonder about the Shark Island race venue. Every time I have been to Sydney people point out it is aptly named.

I think GP wants us to get their app. App apparently lets you see onboard camera for your choice of boat and other stuff. Well if they got over their googlerage and made an app I could use...

 

[WetHog]

But there are plenty of foiling cat classes. I would have thought the fleet racing aspect would have counted it well out of (recent) AC-like comparison for a start.

I only watched the final race.  Looked like an AC match race to me.  

WetHog   h34r:

 

[Horn Rock]

No one has seen hi speed fleet racing yet, remember?

Well, we did have the Superfoilers last year, but the coverage budget was way smaller and the images were patchy. We were getting shots from boats on the water but that's tricky - just ask the crew that shot Waterworld - it was a nightmare. Stabilizer tech has come a long way since then though. My G85 hybrid photo/video camera gets around 5 stops of stabilization with lens and body IS.

I did wonder about the Shark Island race venue. Every time I have been to Sydney people point out it is aptly named.

Yeah, no way I'd swim there. The attack in Byron is a big bummer - that is exactly where I swim, out the back of the breakers at Belongil. Fuck that though, getting eaten is probably the worst way to go.

 

[rh3000]

I only watched the final race.  Looked like an AC match race to me.  

WetHog   h34r:

Gawd...

"It was just like a monohull!"

"But it was a catamaran"

"Well I only saw it side-on!"