John Lovell and Charlie Ogletree are even with Robbie Daniel and Hunter Stunzi after 6 races at the 2008 US Olympic Team Trials in San Diego.
See:
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It is going to be a great fight in the next races to get the ticket for Quindao!
My money is on Johnny & Charlie...they have a lot of successful match racing experience and have rarely lost to Robbie/Hunter at major event over the past years.
That said, it would be just fantastic to see Robbie get his shot at the games...well deserved.
Well... they have been match racing for 6 heats so far and its dead even.
IMO, this regatta will be decided by mistakes (took a shot on the shift and missed it...) or equipment failures.
Any other countries use the winner take all format of a trials for the Olympic slot?
IMO, this regatta will be decided by mistakes (took a shot on the shift and missed it...) or equipment failures.
Any other countries use the winner take all format of a trials for the Olympic slot?
From Scuttlebutt this morning:
(October 8, 2007) The US is the only country in the world that selects its
Olympic and Paralympic sailing candidates by hosting a single trials event,
and it is all on now for 176 entrants in 13 of the 14 classes (Yngling has a
separate system). From October 6th through the 14th, there will be a 16
race, one throwout series for all classes except the 49er, which has
scheduled a 24 race, two throw-out event. Here is the report from the third
day of racing:
OR, an odd number of races. Right now they're tied because they keep switching places. If the event ends up with an odd number then one of them will be ahead.
Exciting non the less...
Well that would have to depend on the weather then...
16 races are planned...
probably race 2 more today and then have an off day..... let the pressure build a little!
I think the US are pretty unique in the way you select your candidates. I really like your way of doing it, even if it probably makes it a bit harder for the athletes.
Robbie and Hunter trade wins with Johnny and Charlie again today. Now tied at 10 with 8 races down.
Epic
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Still tied half way through.... WOW.
Plus's for a winner take all... single selection event.
1)... Performance under the gun.... Just like the Olympics.
The key is performance under pressure... The winner will have more experience in this game then competitors from around the world.
2) Cost... A US competitor who doesn't have the cash to compete in Europe STILL has a shot at outsailing the well funded team in the domestic US Trial regatta.
Disadvantage...
The number two or three team ... COULD catch lightening in the bottle for the two weeks of the trials... never again to come close to this performance. So... unlike figure skating where the number three girl can win a gold, Sailing gets one slot... your Countries best chance is to send the guy who is consistently top ranked.
The Olympic sailing pool in the USA is small in all classes... The top two teams are actually match racing around a course with moving obstructions. Hardly like an olympic regatta with 18 boats.
Will US Sailing screw with the results... will they be tempted to take the experienced number two finishers and say.... WELL.... We REALLY THINK we have the best chance with number 2... not number 1... So... chance for all out legal war...
What else?
Wed is the scheduled lay day... I suspect everyone is going through the boats with a fine tooth comb looking for things that need attention... an equipement failure now would be devestating. Johnny and Charlie have done this before... this is Hunter's first real taste of this kind of pressure... WOW!
Is this a good thing, not a good thing or neither? One of the ISAF criteria for selection of Olympic equipment is that it
must give the best sailors in each country the opportunity to participate
. Are six crews (or two crews if you like) really so far ahead of the rest of the country that there is no reason for a whole bunch of other sailors to be competing for this berth? Is there anyone else in the country who could give Lovell/Ogletree or Daniel/Stunzi a run for their money?
There are a few who come to mind, but have been off tornados since 2004. I do think that you have to be actively racing in the class to have a chance of pulling it off. As far as who is better right now Lovell/Ogletree or Daniel/Stunzi, it seems that it is pretty even. Gone are the days of large fleets at the trials. Here are the fleet sizes. What surprised me is that Finn class has the largest numbers. The 470, I am not sure about, because it is posted as mixed fleet results.
Finn-42
Laser-33
Laser Radial-22
Star-19
49er-13
470-13
RS:X Men-7
RS:X Women-6
Tornado-6
While I would like to see John & Charlie get one more chance, I am not against fresh blood in the event.
There are also Paralympic classes:
2.4 meter (1 person) - 4
Skud 18 (2 person) - 5
Sonar (3 person) - 6
Mike
What's that old saying about winning on the swings and losing on the roundabouts? That's the way it is at the U.S. Sailing Olympic Trials for the Tornado Class, where for the fourth day in a row Johnnie Lovell and I aboard Advanced Equities I beat Robbie Daniel and Hunter Stunzi in one race and finished second to them in the other.
For four consecutive days the lead has seesawed between them and us, them and us! With the regatta half over, we are still equal on points, and for that matter, on finishes. The discard rule kicked in today but that didn't bring any relief. We each dropped a second place.
It's been obvious from the outset that Robbie and Hunter's bid for the US Tornado Olympic berth would be the biggest obstacle in our drive to represent our country for a fourth time and to improve on the Silver Medal we won in Athens.
Our pre-start maneuvers quickly turned into match race prestarts and we've been pretty darn successful for the last four days in controlling them off the line. What we can't control are the capricious shifts and puffs that have confounded all our attempts to cover them. One thing's for sure. This regatta is great practice for whatever crew makes it next year to the notoriously tricky waters of Qingdao.
With our back-to-back first places, last night and today, we began to get excited about the possibility of a third victory to break the tie. The breeze was up to 12 knots with signs of building so we decided to increase the pressure some more in our pre-start match with Robbie. We managed to bury him pretty good, but other boats were in the area and we had to break off for our start. His only option was to tack and go right and wouldn't you know, the breeze increased and went right. That was it. We made incremental gains throughout the race but the race was his.
Today is our lay day and we'll be spending some time checking the boat over for any potential gear problems that might be developing. After that we plan to take it easy. On Thursday we'll be beginning eight more races - in effect another regatta - to see who goes to Qingdao.
Charlie's comments from xs racing.
We're a little bit frustrated, but Robbie's sailing excellent. The boat speed's about the same, and it seems like the one that gets off to the favored side on the first beat can stay in front.
Lovell/Ogletree have been match-racing their rivals for the favored side in the pre-starts,
but they've been good at getting out of the pins,
Lovell said.
We're hoping for stronger wind. The forecast is for 20 knots [on the day off Wednesday]. That's just our luck.
---Mike Foster reporting
From US Sailing's site
Lovell and Ogletree with a 4th.
Holy [censored].... This could be a huge upset in the making!
Robbie with two more bullets and Johnny and Charlie with a 3 and 4.!!!
1 804 Robbie Daniel 12 1 (2) 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 1
Hunter Stunzi
2 808 John Lovell 15 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 (4) 3
Charlie Ogletree
3 11 Colin Merrick 32 4 3 (5) 3 4 4 3 4 3 4
John Sampson
4 868 Olli Jason 34 3 4 3 5 (6) 5 4 3 2 5
Patrick Gilles
5 836 Norman Chu 40 5 (6) 4 6 3 3 6 5 6 2
Gary Chu
6 840 Sarah Newberry 48 (6) 5 6 4 5 6 5 6 5 6
Awesome!!!
Robbie may become the last US tornado (& multihuller) in the games <img src=
alt=
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What happened with Lovell and Ogletree in the last two races? Breakage or outsailed?
There was a foul at the leeward gate in one race resulting in Charlie and Johnny doing a turn, lost a lot of distance in what sounds like were barely sailable conditions (4-5 knots, 5 knot minimum in the class rules). Not sure what happened in the next but very light conditions like that are a fleet equalizer and are Robbie's strength. Don't count Lovell and Ogeltree out. Sometimes a day like this only makes them more determined and there are 6 races to go. Robbie's on the defensive, they are on the offensive. Wish I was on a spectator boat!
Back to the old one two.
Four races to go.
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So... no more throwouts are coming in the 16 race regatta.
It looks like Johnny and Charlie need to run the table and score bullets the rest of the way if the two teams stay true to form and continue to fight it out for the top two spots for the next 3 or 4 races.
Or attempt to draw a foul on Robbie...ever watch AC matches?
That's a lot harder to do with other boats around to use for blockers. The AC guys only have to worry about one other boat in the area. Great racing in any case. May the best team win. I hate light air...but it does bring out the best. Any mistake is huge in light air, and trying to make up distance is nearly impossible unless you get that one lucky shift.
Lovell and Ogletree roll a snake eyes (1,1) but still in second with two races to go.
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And the Chu's squeeze into third! Yeah!
Holy cow, I bet Robby and Hunter were pretty crushed at the result.
Way to go Charlie & John!!!
Ugh! That must have been nerve-wracking for both teams. Almost a pity to have two teams so close in performance. Any hope of them working together towards the games?