US N17 fleet in flux before Miami OCR cut day.

Pretty sure Sarah was involved in a collision, but I don't know the details. I believe it was with the Austrian boat Zajac/Frank.

My guess with Enrique is that his vast experience in general really helped in the survival conditions on day one, then as the gold fleet split happened his lack of time in the 17 was exposed.

Overall for the Americans the 470s continue to show consistency at the top of their fleets, both finishing 7th. Best result yet in the FX with Henken/Scutt in 14. Paine stays consistent with a 5 in the Finn, C Buck just misses medal race in Lasers in 11, Railey showing a strong comeback to the circuit with an 8.

Probably a result of not signing out / in (picking up / dropping off the tracker) - that's what most of the SPIs were from.

The only other Standard Penalty is the non-display of the nationality flag.

Hi readers could someone explain,

What does all this qualifying the USA for a spot in the cat class in Brazil Olys mean? Specificly;
What place does a US team need to finish in one(or more?) of the international qualifier events to get in to the Olys?
If the required inter-national finish position never happens, will the winning team from the USA selection process still be in the Olys anyway, perhaps through some other means?

This was discussed in detail further up the thread, but basically the Nacra 17 gets 20 slots in the Olympic regatta. One of those spots goes to the host, so 19 are available. About half of those spots were allocated to nations based on finish position at the 2014 words. I believe 3 more spots are available at the 2015 worlds. The final spots will be available at a series of regional events (likely 2016 OCR).

If the US does not secure on of these spots, there will not be a US Nacra 17 representative in Brazil.

aka... Eddie the Eagle rule!

crap... that was my only chance...!

That you knew the reference without google is Proof that you are an old fart!

So, roughly they, the US cat team, need to get above 20th in the future worlds/ocr to get into the top third, and there are 7 more open spots .
Also there probably are not 7 better countries so the US is ok assuming the top 1/3 thing is no problem.

Top 30 will probably do it.

It is pretty safe to assume there will be:

3-4 Aussie teams
4 French teams
4 British teams
3 Italian teams

So even if you assumed just one team in the top 30 from other countries that still leaves 14 different countries in the top 30. 14+ the 4 teams listed is still only 18 countries.

It's not that simple. Only three slots are available at the 2015 Worlds. If the US does not get one of those 3 slots, there will be a continental qualifier with one spot.

So, there are only 4 remaining spots available to the US.

Is there a list somewhere of who has already qualified?

Top ten countries at the worlds appears to be:

1.France
2. Argentina
3. Australia
4. Italy
5. New Zealand
6. Switzerland
7. Britain
8. Denmark
9. Austria
10. Netherlands
--------------------
11. Portugal
12. Russia
13. German
14. Greece
15. USA
16. Canada
etc.

If this list is right and reflects the current qualifications. The a US team will have to jump a couple of rungs and if they cant they'd be best off if the Canadian team did.

If your goal was to go to the Olympics and you didn't care about country. Then the trick would be to find a way to represent an Island in the Pacific. With Australia and New Zealand both qualified the Oceania slot is wide open.

I worked all that out in another thread, would have to search for it

Perhaps my question is; do they have to finish above a certain position like top ten or does the qualifying finish position move downward based on the top ten being filled by all qualified nations?*
It won't mater any if the later regional qualifier doesn't have as much competition as a previous worlds, and US teams finish top ten.

*but not down below the top 20-30 or 1/3

It only matters where they finish relative to other unqualified nations.

I actually vaguely recall seeing his

awesome

performance on TV. Nothing like a beer-gut going down the slope.

Anyone remember who it was in the

agony of defeat

ski wreck? Was that ABC sports Olympic commercial? And who was the announcer? You'll never forget his enunciation...

From memory it was wide world of sports on Sundays maybe nbc. Possibly Kurt Goudy was an announcer on the show.

ABC and Keith Jackson? don't know I ever knew the name of the downhill skier wiping out.

Obviously we want to be one of the top three remaining countries at IsAF N17 worlds.. If not that... we would would want Canada and Puerto Rico to both be in the top three... that leaves the US Fighting central american teams and the islands for the last remaining slot in the regional allocation... It would suck if the next Miami OCR is winner take all against Canada, Puerto Rico and Central America for the one remaining slot.

Jim McKay

This is what came up on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKEDD1i4oGk

Edit: Sorry for the hijack.

I like this one better

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Asxr5v9arH4

The skier was Victor Bogataj...I think.

I just remembered the announcer I was thinking of....

Howard Cosell...

Thanks for the info.
Here's hoping that the US cat team leaps the next level soon, and beats who they need to beat in the next worlds. Assuming that is how the coach would approach the situation of beating the specific teams that they will need to beat.

Sarah and Matthew are racing at the Hyeres World Cup this week. They are the only US Nacra 17 team there. I know Katie is still out with an injury, not sure about other teams. I believe it is limited entry.

Results: http://www.sailing.org/worldcup/reg... ;includeref=regattaevents#results__18093

Not a bad first day in what sounded like light and tricky conditions, which haven't been the best for Sarah/Matthew in the past (IMHO).

Was watching them today on the live tracker and they rounded the first weather mark in the lead, but jibed away almost immediately and lost a lot of ground.

Rounded the gate in ~ 10th and finished in 12th. Luke Ramsay (Canada) won the race. Not too shabby for the North American teams.

The real question is, what is Besson doing that no one else seems to be able to match?

Mike

Enjoyed watching the Nacra 17 medal race live this evening. The top teams are so smooth and fast- no jumps, no drama. It was a pleasure to watch.

A couple things I noticed:
1. Billy plays the main downwind like a madman. Big armfuls in and out on every single wave. They were lower and faster than every boat in the fleet.
2. I thought I trap pretty low... I have a long way to go

Seems like Sarah/Matt are having a pretty darn good week
http://www.deltalloydregatta.org/results-nacra17/

Live coverage of the N17 fleet at Keil week from SAP..
JC and Kristin and the Mendelbrats are racing this week.

http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=164792#entry4987697

last segment of the coverage...

The commentary is priceless....

My favorite was the discussion of the old men on the helms.... relative to the young ladies on the front of the boat.... its about experience right now....(yeah... that's the ticket)

but... you can also appreciate the commentary on my favorite issues...

That ISAF should have a scandel with a 30K euro boat... JC is renting a mast for 75 per day.. since a new one is 7K. er... affordable... NOT.

about the several wheelies in 12 to 15 and flat water
Some say its unstable.... and bad designed... the sailors say its a challenge... no matter... It is one design... so just go out and sail it... they love the challenge.... its about getting to Rio.

Its like sailing a unicycle...

The foils vary slightly and getting a good set of foils is critical because you need the exact angle of attack to be both fast and semi stable.

Oh... look how flexible the boat is ... bending in the waves..

Well... they are stuck until Brazil.
Hey... the empower is just brilliant in his new set of clothes...

Feel better now? Did you get it out of your system? Because I worry Mark you're special to me.