Well I'll be…
by John Curnow, Editor, Sail-World AUS 11 Aug 2019 22:00 UTC
Tom Burton wins the ILCA Laser Standard Men's World Championship 2019 © Junichi Hirai / Bulkhead Magazine Japan
When their infighting took hold, you had to think the Laser was going to have more than an uphill battle to be in the Paris 2024 Games. In what is clearly good news for Australia, the equipment is set to remain, so there's at least one more quad left in the old girl, yet.
D-Zero, Melges 14, and RS Aero all had their merits, not the least of which was a clear and defined structure. So not even Anti-Trust issues could stop the mighty juggernaut kicking on. Usually, when something goes seriously awry, all the parties pertaining to it scatter like pellets from a sawn off shotgun.
Not in this case it would seem, as the vote appears to be very strong, and certainly the sailors all wanted the outcome as delivered. Cannot help thinking that ILCA will need to keep LPE on a short leash, and perhaps World Sailing will need to all let them think they have their freedom, whilst they all occupy a cage. Time to contact a grand illusionist perhaps... The Four Horseman could be available?
Maybe this is why certain, undisclosed clarifications have been sought before the complete ratification is released, when the Board will inform Council of the whole malaise. Interesting that no time frame on said clarifications has been released. Could be this is one of those things where you need to wait until the ink is well and truly dry on the dotted line... Anyone would think sheep stations (ultra large parcels of pastoral land measured in square kilometres) were involved in this one. Just saying.
We found Wally!!!
OK. It did not take long, and thank you to all of you, the readers, for your continued involvement, in so far as the reading of editorials like Where's Wally? Alas, we took a call from a party who was able to send us in the right direction regarding our enquiries in relation to SuperFoiler. Thank you, thank you...
Fundamental to it all was the question, where are the boats, and what are they going to do with them? So we spoke with Steve Thomas, and here is a snapshot of our discussion. "The business was bought by two of the previous investors. They decided they would take on getting the boats back up and running. They asked me to put two boats on the water, and we are working towards November. There were significant changes to the vessels that were in play for the season that was cancelled."
"We are aiming to present the package as it was intended. The biggest hold up to getting them on the water is getting all the new parts. This will take a little bit of time, but hopefully it can happen sooner than thought. Watch this space. We are starting with two because of all the changes, and this will ensure proper testing can take place."
"100% we plan to have another series, and once we have the working we will look to planning things out for a regatta. The business model is being re-worked at the moment. Once everything is approved we'll recommission the fleet, and I would expect that the next Australian Summer is a realistic timeline, and possibly even going to Europe for their Summer of 2020. This would be reliant on everything happening at the expected times, of course", said Thomas.
At the time of writing, the boats are at Innovation Composites, and the foils are in New Zealand.
Class Act.
They now have 13 between them and their coach has 20 to his own credit. They could only be Mat Belcher, Will Ryan, and the great Victor Kovalenko. The numbers refer to 470 World Championships, and they are thoroughly deserving of this last one after a massive battle all week with Spanish pair, Jordi Xammar and Nicolas Rodriguez.
Dealing with the relentless pressure is something Mat, Will, and Victor are all very well versed in, and with the Olympic Test Event to kick off this week, it is felt that along with Tom Burton's recent win, their own will help provide even more energy for the whole team to draw upon.
Indeed the Australian Sailing Team is a close-knit affair, and this would seem to be something Performance Director, Iain Murray, is keen to instill. He commented jovially that it seemed to be one a week of late, in terms of Aussies doing well on the world's stages. That could well be so, but in a time when just is just not cricket anymore, it seems sailors are doing more than their bit to ensure sport remains, well, sport. Not folly. From one proud Australian to all of you who have won, been on the dais, or qualified AUS for the 2020 Olympics, like WA's Nia Jerwood and Monique Devries, thank you. You're all stars...
Lucky break For Team AUS at the SailGP in Cowes, with the weather forcing delays, as the cancellation allowed more time to repair the wing properly.
In what were extreme conditions Slingsby and his team proved once again that they are the ones to beat. They dominated the field with a sweep of the races while becoming the first crew to break the 50-knot speed barrier in sail racing. The day saw more than its fair share of drama with USA capsizing in the first race and Dylan Fletcher's home team having to retire after digging in the bow at high speed and significantly damaging the boat. Thankfully no injuries on board, but Dylan described his mood afterwards to Sail-World.com Managing Editor Mark Jardine as "his darkest since capsizing in the Rio 2016 49er Medal Race".
Right oh - here today there are some gems for you to review like SailGP, RS:X, AC of course, Cowes, Airlie Beach, Fastnet, The Ocean Race, the Clipper, gear from Zhik, Hobart, IMOCAs, IMOCAs, and more IMOCAs (how cool are they), intel from North Sails, and certainly there is much, much more.
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John Curnow
Editor, Sail-World AUS