Olympic Finn Team America 2012
Midwinters Regatta Shows Gains for USA Sailors Railey, Casey, Boyd
(Harbordale, Florida—February 16, 2009)—The next generation of American Olympic Finn medal contenders earned two of the four trophies at the 27th running of the Finn Midwinters this past weekend in an international field that included Olympic medalists, world, and national champion sailors of the men’s premier single-handed dinghy.
Past USA Finn National Champion Tom Lihan reprised this year’s event, also awarding first-place honors in the Women’s Radial to 2008 Gold-medal sailor Anna Tunnicliff (Plantation, FL).
2009 Silver-medalist Zach Railey finished second in the standings behind Ed Wright (GBR). The Royal Yachting Associations firebrand, training here for the winter, also place first in last month’s ISAF World Champs Miami, edging 5th place 2008 Olympian Chris Cook (CAN) by a point after winning the medal race.
Andy Casey (Alameda, CA) notched a fourth place, just a few points behind third place winner, Rafael Trujillo (ESP), the 2004 silver-medalist and 2007 World Champion.
Bryan Boyd (Annapolis, MD), challenged for the lead most of the regatta, finishing 7th.
Conditions were hot, humid, and light wind for most of the vent, save for two races on Saturday that allowed for open kinetics. The fleet generally sailed more within the rules after the race committee empowered the six coaches attending the event to yellow-flag sailors who illegally propelled their boats.
Three events this winter, the Coaches Regatta and Miami OCR in January, and this just-concluded, were the time when the national sailing teams begin coagulating their programs for the next Olympic competition, and the ISAF World Championship series (Australia, Miami, Mallorca, Hyers, Medemblik, Kiel, Weymouth), assessing the state of their sailing toward the next quadrennial preceding the Olympic Games in England in 2012.
For the American part, US Sailing will name the representatives to those games after a 3-regatta selection trials. USSA), the national authority for American Olympic sailing, will name the summer, fall, and winter regattas of 2011 that will provide data points for that selection in the near future, according to USSA coach Luther Carpenter, who added that this selection process differs from the traditional national open regatta held up to now by the USA Finn Association (USAFA) and USSA.
USAFA has also named their development sailor. Bryan Lake (North Shore, HI), a 3-time All-American sailor at the University of Hawaii, will be provided with a Finn at upcoming North American Finn regattas and clinics.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Finn Midwinters 2009 in Lauderdale
The Road to Weymouth Continues This Weekend for Team America 2012
FT Lauderdale, Florida, February 12, 2009—The top Finn sailors in North American join the top Finn sailors from the UK, Spain, and Poland in this year’s Finn Midwinter Regatta, hosted by Lauderdale Yacht Club on the Atlantic Ocean in south Florida.
The newly-minted U.S. Sailing Team Finn squad includes Zach Railey, 2008 Olympic silver medalist, Andy Casey, 2007 U.S. National Champion, and Bryan Boyd, 2005 U.S. National Champion.
Their main competition for podium honors will be Spain’s Rafael Trujillo, 2004 Olympic silver medalist and 2007 Finn World Champion, Britain’s Ed Wright, Royal Yachting Association’s performance team athlete who won last month’s ISAF Worlds Miami OCR, and Poland’s Rafa Szukiel, a 2008 Olympian at the games in China, and 7th at Miami, and Norway’s Peer Moberg, also a 2008 Olympian who finished 6th at Miami.
Canada’s Chris Cook, who sailed to a 7th in the Quindao regatta and 2nd at Miami, will return to the coach boat to mentor the promising young sailor, Toronto’s Matt Johnston, who made it to the ISAF Worlds Miami Regatta medal race in his first major event.
Temperatures are warming at the venue, with highs expected in the low 80’s and light southeast winds of 5-10 knots. Because the course is set close to shore, sailors will have to strategize between heading offshore or up the beach for windward legs. Strong currents generated by the nearby Gulf Stream and strong southerlies the previous few days with also factor into each sailor’s game plan.
Olympic sailing heads back to the Continent in April for the ISAF Worlds in Palma, Majorca, Spain and then Hyeres, France. The USA team plans racing those events as well as the other ISAF stages in Medemblik, Kiel, and Weymouth, punctuated by the Finn Gold Cup in Copenhagen in July and the European Championship in Varna in August.
Country-bound Finnsters will head for New Orleans for the Mardi Gras Hangover regatta followed during the week by the North American Masters championship for those over 40. The first major 2009 West Coast regatta is in Long Beach at ABYC starting March 21.
More information at ussailing.org, nafinnclass.org, finnclass.org, charlesheimler.blogspot.com
Copyright 2009/Charles Heimler
FT Lauderdale, Florida, February 12, 2009—The top Finn sailors in North American join the top Finn sailors from the UK, Spain, and Poland in this year’s Finn Midwinter Regatta, hosted by Lauderdale Yacht Club on the Atlantic Ocean in south Florida.
The newly-minted U.S. Sailing Team Finn squad includes Zach Railey, 2008 Olympic silver medalist, Andy Casey, 2007 U.S. National Champion, and Bryan Boyd, 2005 U.S. National Champion.
Their main competition for podium honors will be Spain’s Rafael Trujillo, 2004 Olympic silver medalist and 2007 Finn World Champion, Britain’s Ed Wright, Royal Yachting Association’s performance team athlete who won last month’s ISAF Worlds Miami OCR, and Poland’s Rafa Szukiel, a 2008 Olympian at the games in China, and 7th at Miami, and Norway’s Peer Moberg, also a 2008 Olympian who finished 6th at Miami.
Canada’s Chris Cook, who sailed to a 7th in the Quindao regatta and 2nd at Miami, will return to the coach boat to mentor the promising young sailor, Toronto’s Matt Johnston, who made it to the ISAF Worlds Miami Regatta medal race in his first major event.
Temperatures are warming at the venue, with highs expected in the low 80’s and light southeast winds of 5-10 knots. Because the course is set close to shore, sailors will have to strategize between heading offshore or up the beach for windward legs. Strong currents generated by the nearby Gulf Stream and strong southerlies the previous few days with also factor into each sailor’s game plan.
Olympic sailing heads back to the Continent in April for the ISAF Worlds in Palma, Majorca, Spain and then Hyeres, France. The USA team plans racing those events as well as the other ISAF stages in Medemblik, Kiel, and Weymouth, punctuated by the Finn Gold Cup in Copenhagen in July and the European Championship in Varna in August.
Country-bound Finnsters will head for New Orleans for the Mardi Gras Hangover regatta followed during the week by the North American Masters championship for those over 40. The first major 2009 West Coast regatta is in Long Beach at ABYC starting March 21.
More information at ussailing.org, nafinnclass.org, finnclass.org, charlesheimler.blogspot.com
Copyright 2009/Charles Heimler
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Double point Finn showdown at Miami World Champs
Miami OCR Dispatch #3 -- Medal race
ISAF created the medal race to bring spectator friendly drama to sailboat racing. At the ISAF World Championship in Miami, it got what it wanted. Only those with access to a motor boat, however, were able to see the excellent sailing skills of the top ten Finn sailors of the regatta. Gary Bodie, the event co-chair, told me that they’d once tried to organize a spectator boat for $10 a ticket, but no one signed up. It’s their loss.
In this iteration of the Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta Stage Two of the ISAF Olympic Dinghy World Championship (RMOCRSTISAFODWC, 2009), Chris Cook of Canada sought to over-come his medal race bugaboo and hold off Brit Ed Wright.
As it turned out, Cook had one of his best medal races but finished just behind Wright, and with the double-points awarded in the medal race, saw the yellow jersey, which he’d worn for the whole regatta, slip off his back.
Cook had to sail through some boats ahead of him to be able to challenge Wright on the final downwind run after Wright took the lead at the top of the course.
Wright then had enough of the course to himself to focus on speed and less on positioning. In the two initial legs of the course, match racing your closest competitor and then positioning yourself to round the weather mark and make gains on those ahead in points, is a monied strategy.
P.J. Postma of Holland caught a few waves just 50 metres from the finish to pass Rafa Trujillo, who found himself having to jibe after stalling on the back of a wave. Just within their periphery, American Andy Casey’s downwind technique was firing on all cylinders, and he managed to slip across the line ahead of Trujillo, 2007 Finn World Champion.
The full kinetics allowed flag was up right before the warning, which presaged a great 30-minute, four leg, drag race. The yellow and red triangle signals the conditions that Finn sailors relish and their upwind athleticism and downwind kinetics elevate to a level unknown in other one-design dinghies.
Combine a 300-pound dinghy, 15 kts. of breeze and accompanying Biscayne Bay chop and, 116 square feet of sail area, and male adrenaline—and the sight is ready for television. For the sailors who’d been practicing in the Coaches Regatta the kinetic-style sanctioned by racing rule 42, the medal race was a culmination the winter training in Miami.
The medal race also allowed Floridian homeboy Zach Railey, to move into 3rd for the regatta. After earning in China the USA’s first silver medal in Finn in 16 years, the sports management major has been helping his coach, Kenneth Andreasen, revamp the USA Olympic program, which is adopting a physical-training and money rewards for performance model to prepare for London 2012. Zach is also helping the USAFA with a Development Program, which has purchased a trainer and put 3-time All-American Bryan Lake into it. Zach’s sailing clinics are helping the new generation of Opti and Laser sailors catch the Olympic spirit.
Copyright 2009—Charles Heimler
ISAF created the medal race to bring spectator friendly drama to sailboat racing. At the ISAF World Championship in Miami, it got what it wanted. Only those with access to a motor boat, however, were able to see the excellent sailing skills of the top ten Finn sailors of the regatta. Gary Bodie, the event co-chair, told me that they’d once tried to organize a spectator boat for $10 a ticket, but no one signed up. It’s their loss.
In this iteration of the Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta Stage Two of the ISAF Olympic Dinghy World Championship (RMOCRSTISAFODWC, 2009), Chris Cook of Canada sought to over-come his medal race bugaboo and hold off Brit Ed Wright.
As it turned out, Cook had one of his best medal races but finished just behind Wright, and with the double-points awarded in the medal race, saw the yellow jersey, which he’d worn for the whole regatta, slip off his back.
Cook had to sail through some boats ahead of him to be able to challenge Wright on the final downwind run after Wright took the lead at the top of the course.
Wright then had enough of the course to himself to focus on speed and less on positioning. In the two initial legs of the course, match racing your closest competitor and then positioning yourself to round the weather mark and make gains on those ahead in points, is a monied strategy.
P.J. Postma of Holland caught a few waves just 50 metres from the finish to pass Rafa Trujillo, who found himself having to jibe after stalling on the back of a wave. Just within their periphery, American Andy Casey’s downwind technique was firing on all cylinders, and he managed to slip across the line ahead of Trujillo, 2007 Finn World Champion.
The full kinetics allowed flag was up right before the warning, which presaged a great 30-minute, four leg, drag race. The yellow and red triangle signals the conditions that Finn sailors relish and their upwind athleticism and downwind kinetics elevate to a level unknown in other one-design dinghies.
Combine a 300-pound dinghy, 15 kts. of breeze and accompanying Biscayne Bay chop and, 116 square feet of sail area, and male adrenaline—and the sight is ready for television. For the sailors who’d been practicing in the Coaches Regatta the kinetic-style sanctioned by racing rule 42, the medal race was a culmination the winter training in Miami.
The medal race also allowed Floridian homeboy Zach Railey, to move into 3rd for the regatta. After earning in China the USA’s first silver medal in Finn in 16 years, the sports management major has been helping his coach, Kenneth Andreasen, revamp the USA Olympic program, which is adopting a physical-training and money rewards for performance model to prepare for London 2012. Zach is also helping the USAFA with a Development Program, which has purchased a trainer and put 3-time All-American Bryan Lake into it. Zach’s sailing clinics are helping the new generation of Opti and Laser sailors catch the Olympic spirit.
Copyright 2009—Charles Heimler
Swinging in Miami
Miami OCR Dispatch #2—January 24, 2009
Swinging in Miami
It’s not what you think it is.
Bob Carlen, Peter Henrichsen, and Fred Nicholson ran 19 boats through the process in the sailing center garage before the regatta. The USAFA charged each boat $50 for the re-certification. They were able to do this because Andy Casey and Forrest Gay brought the rig to and fro California, and yours truly volunteered to collect the money, schedule appointments, and keep records.
Devoti is charging nearly $600 for the same program in Europe—they are batching boats and trucking them to Poland to their factory to do the work. Needless to say, the internationals here were the first in line to get their boats re-certed by the USAFA.
Several installed the digital compass while several left their plastimos in. There’s some benefits to the digital, some suppose; the drawbacks include the lag time between the change of course and when it shows on the digital screen, and the fact that you can’t sight anything but your course of direction. A nice feature of the standard compass is that you can read all the points off the dial, say if you want to know the compass direction of that dark cloud heading toward the water from the city, and so on.
It took four hours to assemble and calibrate the rig and get the first boat done. After that, the measurers evolved the process, done for the first time, to these steps—
Pay the fee
Dry the boat
Choose which compass and install the digital if wanted
Weigh the boat
Swing it on the lamboley
Calculate two factors in a formula to determine where to re-place weight to keep a legal lamboley
Remove lead as directed by the measurer. This will take claw hammers, a butane torch to heat a putty knife, and up to an hour. Take care not to put a hole in the hull with the claw hammer. Ed Wright, Rafal Szukiel and Pitr Mohr tied for the most efficient weight removal times.
Install but do not yet glue new weight to correct the swing as directed by the measurer; sikkaflex works well for this.
Re-weigh under the direction of the measurer
Re-lamboley under the direction of the measurer. Then, glue the weight in.
Collect amended certificate.
Minimum weight is 116 K, so some take out the back hiking straps, remove the pussy pads and use sikkaflex and sticky-back to secure the risers, or go naked on the deck all-together. Some even disavow continuous lines.
Several anecdotal reports claim that the boats feel different with the lower weight. The consensus seems to be that the lower weight is a good thing while there is a concern among people who respect the rules that there is an unattended opening for people to modify and then sail non-certificated boats. About 40 pounds of lead weight will soon become the property of the USAFA Chief Measurer.
Swinging in Miami
It’s not what you think it is.
Bob Carlen, Peter Henrichsen, and Fred Nicholson ran 19 boats through the process in the sailing center garage before the regatta. The USAFA charged each boat $50 for the re-certification. They were able to do this because Andy Casey and Forrest Gay brought the rig to and fro California, and yours truly volunteered to collect the money, schedule appointments, and keep records.
Devoti is charging nearly $600 for the same program in Europe—they are batching boats and trucking them to Poland to their factory to do the work. Needless to say, the internationals here were the first in line to get their boats re-certed by the USAFA.
Several installed the digital compass while several left their plastimos in. There’s some benefits to the digital, some suppose; the drawbacks include the lag time between the change of course and when it shows on the digital screen, and the fact that you can’t sight anything but your course of direction. A nice feature of the standard compass is that you can read all the points off the dial, say if you want to know the compass direction of that dark cloud heading toward the water from the city, and so on.
It took four hours to assemble and calibrate the rig and get the first boat done. After that, the measurers evolved the process, done for the first time, to these steps—
Pay the fee
Dry the boat
Choose which compass and install the digital if wanted
Weigh the boat
Swing it on the lamboley
Calculate two factors in a formula to determine where to re-place weight to keep a legal lamboley
Remove lead as directed by the measurer. This will take claw hammers, a butane torch to heat a putty knife, and up to an hour. Take care not to put a hole in the hull with the claw hammer. Ed Wright, Rafal Szukiel and Pitr Mohr tied for the most efficient weight removal times.
Install but do not yet glue new weight to correct the swing as directed by the measurer; sikkaflex works well for this.
Re-weigh under the direction of the measurer
Re-lamboley under the direction of the measurer. Then, glue the weight in.
Collect amended certificate.
Minimum weight is 116 K, so some take out the back hiking straps, remove the pussy pads and use sikkaflex and sticky-back to secure the risers, or go naked on the deck all-together. Some even disavow continuous lines.
Several anecdotal reports claim that the boats feel different with the lower weight. The consensus seems to be that the lower weight is a good thing while there is a concern among people who respect the rules that there is an unattended opening for people to modify and then sail non-certificated boats. About 40 pounds of lead weight will soon become the property of the USAFA Chief Measurer.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Miami Olympic Classes Regatta/Sailing World Championship
Miami sailing dispatch 1 January 16, 2009
Miami in January is like Southern California in late, late August. Balmy with a breeze. However, in South Florida the wind comes from all the directions on the compass on different days as it sits between the big continental ridge influenced by Arctic storms and the uplift of warmth streaming north from the Caribbean in the Gulf Stream.
Finn sailors here training two weeks ahead of the ISAF World Championship stop #2 include Chris Cook of Canada, whose been coaching the Canadian youth team in Florida since November. Cook was 5th in the Finn in the China Games last August.
Rafael “Rafa” Trujillo of Spain, who was the Finn World champion in 2007 and silver medalist in Athens in 2000. Ed Wright of Great Britain, who when Charles Benedict Ainslie, OBE, stays home, may be the best Finn sailor from the world’s best Olympic sailing program. Both he and Rafa are funded by their national governments and private sponsors for their sailing performances. Good finishes at this Miami Olympic classes regattas count toward maintaining or increasing their financial renumeration.
Clearwater’s own Zach Railey, who got the silver in Athens, alternates between sailing and earning money conducting sailing workshops across the Southeast. He will vie with USA Finn Association class president Bryan Boyd and 2007 U.S. National champion Andy Casey for the three spots on the U.S. Sailing team, which actually provide more in bragging rights then in actual benefits other than a few articles of clothing and a spot in some glossy photos. As best as can be learned, U.S. Sailing’s Olympic effort depends on sailors lining up their own funding through their own entrepreneurial schemes or luck having been born into the right well-endowed family. Casey spends his nights and off days doing boatwork, of which there is plenty hereabouts these days.
Three young Canadians hope to place well enough in the regatta to earn development funding through the Canadian Yachting Association—Matt Johnston, who doubles his time here as a Star crew, John Romanko from British Columbia and Adam Nicholson, Albacore sailor and aspiring actor.
American Ian Cook, between semesters at Cornell, hopes to put some experience in the bank for a future all-out Olympic campaign.
The cast hits the water every morning for intensive practice sessions, guided by the principles of Chris Cook’s just published “Playbook”, which contains diagrams of sailing drills and an articulated philosophy of training that includes working together, sharing knowledge, developing body memory, and starting and ending on time. Larry Lemieux’s clear-headed, no nonsense approach enlightens Chris’ best insights
After sailing, the pros bicycle to the gym; the others to their sanctuaries in short-term rental housing, recreational vehicles, or that night’s couch-surf digs. Lots of communication through email and text-messaging. It’s apparent who’s doing what that works for getting on the podium; and it’s even clearer for whom this is just vanity.
Miami in January is like Southern California in late, late August. Balmy with a breeze. However, in South Florida the wind comes from all the directions on the compass on different days as it sits between the big continental ridge influenced by Arctic storms and the uplift of warmth streaming north from the Caribbean in the Gulf Stream.
Finn sailors here training two weeks ahead of the ISAF World Championship stop #2 include Chris Cook of Canada, whose been coaching the Canadian youth team in Florida since November. Cook was 5th in the Finn in the China Games last August.
Rafael “Rafa” Trujillo of Spain, who was the Finn World champion in 2007 and silver medalist in Athens in 2000. Ed Wright of Great Britain, who when Charles Benedict Ainslie, OBE, stays home, may be the best Finn sailor from the world’s best Olympic sailing program. Both he and Rafa are funded by their national governments and private sponsors for their sailing performances. Good finishes at this Miami Olympic classes regattas count toward maintaining or increasing their financial renumeration.
Clearwater’s own Zach Railey, who got the silver in Athens, alternates between sailing and earning money conducting sailing workshops across the Southeast. He will vie with USA Finn Association class president Bryan Boyd and 2007 U.S. National champion Andy Casey for the three spots on the U.S. Sailing team, which actually provide more in bragging rights then in actual benefits other than a few articles of clothing and a spot in some glossy photos. As best as can be learned, U.S. Sailing’s Olympic effort depends on sailors lining up their own funding through their own entrepreneurial schemes or luck having been born into the right well-endowed family. Casey spends his nights and off days doing boatwork, of which there is plenty hereabouts these days.
Three young Canadians hope to place well enough in the regatta to earn development funding through the Canadian Yachting Association—Matt Johnston, who doubles his time here as a Star crew, John Romanko from British Columbia and Adam Nicholson, Albacore sailor and aspiring actor.
American Ian Cook, between semesters at Cornell, hopes to put some experience in the bank for a future all-out Olympic campaign.
The cast hits the water every morning for intensive practice sessions, guided by the principles of Chris Cook’s just published “Playbook”, which contains diagrams of sailing drills and an articulated philosophy of training that includes working together, sharing knowledge, developing body memory, and starting and ending on time. Larry Lemieux’s clear-headed, no nonsense approach enlightens Chris’ best insights
After sailing, the pros bicycle to the gym; the others to their sanctuaries in short-term rental housing, recreational vehicles, or that night’s couch-surf digs. Lots of communication through email and text-messaging. It’s apparent who’s doing what that works for getting on the podium; and it’s even clearer for whom this is just vanity.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
TEAM AMERICA 2012 OLYMPIC FINN CAMPAIGN
TEAM AMERICA 2012---
“London calling” summers in Weymouth, Portsmouth UK
The state of USA Olympic sailing--
Special Education
Watching the Olympics has been somewhat painful as a US sailor. With just two exceptions, the US Sailing Team has been a woeful disappointment. Despite a loud, expensive, and powerful push by Team Chairman Dean Brenner to focus on finding, selecting and training the best prospects for Olympic medals, the US team's total take in Qingdao will be exactly what it was four years ago: One silver medal and one gold – and only a last-beat hail mary of a shift for Olympic gold-medal favorite Anna Tunnicliffe secured her that gold – at the penultimate mark she looked like the owner of nothing but bronze.
Zach Railey's silver-medal Finn performance was truly outstanding and unexpected, and he's certainly the US's real standout story of the sailing games, while Anna's gold was really a stroke of luck for a girl who'd been kicking ass on the international radial circuit for the past year. The rest of the US field was a comedy of errors: Andrew Campbell's DSQ and subsequent BFD showed his total inability to withstand the pressure cooker of the Olympics, and the USA's other good chances evaporated with a sigh – Tornado stars Charlie Ogeltree and John Lovell blew it before the racing even started with their ugly gamble on the cool-sounding but useless chupacabra sail, and medal favorite Sally Barkow and her Yngling crew choked away their chances in the final race.
The rest of the US sailors were more or less invisible in China, and it may be time for US Sailing to do some serious soul searching. Their Board of Directors signed Brenner to a 4 year extension – through Weymouth – before these Games began. According to the US Sailing website, “Under Dean's leadership, US Olympic Sailing has enjoyed significant improvements in private fundraising and corporate support, which has contributed to increased support for US athletes and improved performance on the water for the US Sailing Team.” Perhaps they're victims of their own hype – but it's hard to see where, exactly, that improved performance went this month.
These Olympians are incredible sailors, and the ones we've spoken to are great people. They are completely dedicated to their sport – but with the resources, size, and number of sailors in the USA, there's just no logical reason for their dismal performance. Perhaps pomme Bob Fisher had it right when he said, “Maybe US SAILING should take a leaf out of the Royal Yachting Association’s book and develop an Olympic squad.”
We spoke to a top Olympic coach today, and he's not sure whether an RYA-style squad is the answer. “In some of these countries, you sign up to do an Olympic campaign and it becomes your life,” he said. “You may need to join the military as part of your training, you might need to sacrifice ten years to be part of a professional-level team, and the loss of your freedom and independence is the price you pay for the improved training and support you get as part of a national system. When US sailors do a campaign, it's their campaign, their challenge, and usually their money. Without major changes to the system, we just won't be competitive with the RYA-style teams – and I'm not sure that we're ready to accept the sacrifice that it will take to get there.”
Will Brenner find a way to spin Qingdao as some kind of success for US Sailing? Probably. Will he admit that his credentials as a Shakespearean scholar, public speaking coach, and failed Olympic trials sailor may not have prepared him for the role of head of the US Sailing Team, or even that he's learned some hard lessons and needs to rethink the way they do things? Refreshing as it would be, we're not holding our breath.
08/20/2008 sailinganarchy.com
What is need NOW--
Zach Railey’s achievement in winning a silver medal in the Finn class after three years of full-time training is impressive, and sets a new bar for American Finn sailors. If Zach can do it, there are several other American Finn sailors who can also do it to with proper training and supportive development. That training and development is expensive, as Railey’s campaign spent about $120,000 a year just to win the Olympic Trials.
USA sailors are expected to fund their own campaigns without help from the USA Olympic Sailing Committee.
So, in order to push Zach and develop a core of Olympic sailors, TEAM AMERICA 2012 will—
• Help promising USA Finn sailors attend the Finn Worlds, Europeans, USA Nationals and North Americans, and training weeks at Weymouth, site of the London 2012 Games.
• Conduct clinics throughout North America to enhance the skills of the Finn fleet in order to develop the level of Finn sailing—a rising tide of sailing skills will benefit those at all levels of the fleet.
• Lobby the decision makers in the USA Olympic Sailing Committee and ISAF to promote the interests of the Finn.
What YOU can do—
You can support TEAM AMERICA 2012 in these ways—
Become a sustaining member and receive our quarterly newsletter, available only by mail. $100/year
Become a Bronze medal member by contributing $500.
(This pays entry fees for two sailors at the Finn World Championships and European Championship)
Become a Silver medal member by contributing $1,000.
(This pays airfare for a sailor to attend the Finn World Championship or European Championship).
Become a Gold medal member by contributing $5,000.
(This funds an American sailors’ expenses to attend a Finn World Championship or European Championship).
Contact TEAMAMERICA2012@yahoo.com to become part of the effort to bring American sailing back!
“London calling” summers in Weymouth, Portsmouth UK
The state of USA Olympic sailing--
Special Education
Watching the Olympics has been somewhat painful as a US sailor. With just two exceptions, the US Sailing Team has been a woeful disappointment. Despite a loud, expensive, and powerful push by Team Chairman Dean Brenner to focus on finding, selecting and training the best prospects for Olympic medals, the US team's total take in Qingdao will be exactly what it was four years ago: One silver medal and one gold – and only a last-beat hail mary of a shift for Olympic gold-medal favorite Anna Tunnicliffe secured her that gold – at the penultimate mark she looked like the owner of nothing but bronze.
Zach Railey's silver-medal Finn performance was truly outstanding and unexpected, and he's certainly the US's real standout story of the sailing games, while Anna's gold was really a stroke of luck for a girl who'd been kicking ass on the international radial circuit for the past year. The rest of the US field was a comedy of errors: Andrew Campbell's DSQ and subsequent BFD showed his total inability to withstand the pressure cooker of the Olympics, and the USA's other good chances evaporated with a sigh – Tornado stars Charlie Ogeltree and John Lovell blew it before the racing even started with their ugly gamble on the cool-sounding but useless chupacabra sail, and medal favorite Sally Barkow and her Yngling crew choked away their chances in the final race.
The rest of the US sailors were more or less invisible in China, and it may be time for US Sailing to do some serious soul searching. Their Board of Directors signed Brenner to a 4 year extension – through Weymouth – before these Games began. According to the US Sailing website, “Under Dean's leadership, US Olympic Sailing has enjoyed significant improvements in private fundraising and corporate support, which has contributed to increased support for US athletes and improved performance on the water for the US Sailing Team.” Perhaps they're victims of their own hype – but it's hard to see where, exactly, that improved performance went this month.
These Olympians are incredible sailors, and the ones we've spoken to are great people. They are completely dedicated to their sport – but with the resources, size, and number of sailors in the USA, there's just no logical reason for their dismal performance. Perhaps pomme Bob Fisher had it right when he said, “Maybe US SAILING should take a leaf out of the Royal Yachting Association’s book and develop an Olympic squad.”
We spoke to a top Olympic coach today, and he's not sure whether an RYA-style squad is the answer. “In some of these countries, you sign up to do an Olympic campaign and it becomes your life,” he said. “You may need to join the military as part of your training, you might need to sacrifice ten years to be part of a professional-level team, and the loss of your freedom and independence is the price you pay for the improved training and support you get as part of a national system. When US sailors do a campaign, it's their campaign, their challenge, and usually their money. Without major changes to the system, we just won't be competitive with the RYA-style teams – and I'm not sure that we're ready to accept the sacrifice that it will take to get there.”
Will Brenner find a way to spin Qingdao as some kind of success for US Sailing? Probably. Will he admit that his credentials as a Shakespearean scholar, public speaking coach, and failed Olympic trials sailor may not have prepared him for the role of head of the US Sailing Team, or even that he's learned some hard lessons and needs to rethink the way they do things? Refreshing as it would be, we're not holding our breath.
08/20/2008 sailinganarchy.com
What is need NOW--
Zach Railey’s achievement in winning a silver medal in the Finn class after three years of full-time training is impressive, and sets a new bar for American Finn sailors. If Zach can do it, there are several other American Finn sailors who can also do it to with proper training and supportive development. That training and development is expensive, as Railey’s campaign spent about $120,000 a year just to win the Olympic Trials.
USA sailors are expected to fund their own campaigns without help from the USA Olympic Sailing Committee.
So, in order to push Zach and develop a core of Olympic sailors, TEAM AMERICA 2012 will—
• Help promising USA Finn sailors attend the Finn Worlds, Europeans, USA Nationals and North Americans, and training weeks at Weymouth, site of the London 2012 Games.
• Conduct clinics throughout North America to enhance the skills of the Finn fleet in order to develop the level of Finn sailing—a rising tide of sailing skills will benefit those at all levels of the fleet.
• Lobby the decision makers in the USA Olympic Sailing Committee and ISAF to promote the interests of the Finn.
What YOU can do—
You can support TEAM AMERICA 2012 in these ways—
Become a sustaining member and receive our quarterly newsletter, available only by mail. $100/year
Become a Bronze medal member by contributing $500.
(This pays entry fees for two sailors at the Finn World Championships and European Championship)
Become a Silver medal member by contributing $1,000.
(This pays airfare for a sailor to attend the Finn World Championship or European Championship).
Become a Gold medal member by contributing $5,000.
(This funds an American sailors’ expenses to attend a Finn World Championship or European Championship).
Contact TEAMAMERICA2012@yahoo.com to become part of the effort to bring American sailing back!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
traveller poems
Year's first day beside the sea
New years day beside the East Sea
It is cold at dawn, placed on the steep hills overlooking
The still grey Korean surf
As the sun rises from the water skybound
A cool breeze stems across those cliffs
And daybreak lightens the horizon
Standing before the Sokkharam Budda,
Gazing in the new century first day.
Pause in the Mojave
Driving Barstow to Needles a poem begins, the traveler
Sits at the riverbank, long reeds pierce the sky, resting in water
Desert sun light bored into hard red rock.
A long journey behind, a long journey ahead
But now a pause to rest
Collect the fragments of a scattered mind.
New years day beside the East Sea
It is cold at dawn, placed on the steep hills overlooking
The still grey Korean surf
As the sun rises from the water skybound
A cool breeze stems across those cliffs
And daybreak lightens the horizon
Standing before the Sokkharam Budda,
Gazing in the new century first day.
Pause in the Mojave
Driving Barstow to Needles a poem begins, the traveler
Sits at the riverbank, long reeds pierce the sky, resting in water
Desert sun light bored into hard red rock.
A long journey behind, a long journey ahead
But now a pause to rest
Collect the fragments of a scattered mind.
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