Commentary about Theater Style Racing from an Initially Reluctant Sailor
Here is an article written by current 49er sailor Hunter Lowden. Hunter himself has admitted being reluctant to change regarding the sailing formats, so it’s interesting to see his progression of thought. The following is his article.
“The need has arisen to make sailing more viewer friendly, or risk being dropped by the IOC from the Olympics. One of the knocks against the current format is it’s hard to follow if a person was to tune in for only the final day. People relate to, the person who won the race… wins, not the multi day cumulative point system we currently use and have accepted as ‘fair’.
Why should we care? The Olympics is not really about sport, it’s about making money by providing entertainment. If a sport is not entertaining, then it will be dropped. Under the current format, sailing is boring to watch, and we (sailors) should be extremely concerned. As much as we are all naturally opposed to change, I have to ask a simple question, would you rather try changing the format, or pack your bags and go home…forever? Once sailing is kicked out of the Olympics, it will be next to impossible to recover.
Theatre Racing is a progression of the current Medal Race format used by ISAF, and aims to make sailing much better for TV viewers and live spectators alike. It is being tried out currently, and the format is under constant development. The course design allows for cameras and spectators to be close the athletes while they compete, and provides close boat-to-boat racing with many interactions. Below I have outlined how it could fit into a World Cup and Olympic event, and described the format I think should be tried for the Theatre race itself.
Theatre Racing: (suggestions for changing the format assuming that you are familiar with the current Theatre style race course) In place of the current Medal Race format, the Theatre style racing would also be a single race event for each class. This would allow for fewer courses to be set and efficient time use much like the current Medal Race system of today. Where it differs is obviously course design, which heavily emphasizes boat handling over strategy, but having left the previous 5 days of racing unchanged, there is still plenty of time for ‘classic’ sailboat racing.
In order to incorporate a ‘winner takes all scenario’ that TV desperately wants, I propose we break the race into a Petit Final and Grand Final system. The top 8 boats after 5 days of racing are broken down into the Petit Final (for 5th through 8th), and the Grand Final (for 1st through 4th). The results from these ‘Finals’ races are the final standings. While an athlete could potentially go from first to fourth in one race, it is just as likely in the current Medal Race format. At least this system has limited the outcome to 4 place changes, and actually puts more emphasis on the opening series of fleet racing than the current Medal Race system. This format is also a heck of a lot more appealing for TV viewers and broadcasters, as you can tune in for 10-20 minutes and the result you witness is the final result (barring DSQ’s like any other sport). There is no explanation needed for the points system (of the opening series), or how ‘x’ athlete won the Medal Race but still actually finished 10th.
Theatre style racing – Formatted for 6 day events
ISAF World Cup events where split fleet racing is needed:
-3 days Qualifying (3 races per day: ‘classic’ split fleet racing)
-2 days of Final Series (3 races per day: ‘classic’ gold/silver/bronze fleet racing)
-1 day of Theatre racing for top 8 boats
Olympic Games / Non split fleet events:
-5 days of Opening series (3 races per day: ‘classic’ fleet racing)
-1 day of Theatre racing for top 8″