Tag: us sailing

ANOTHER THOUGHT ABOUT US SAILING

I am one of the coaches for the NZ men’s 49er and the women’s 470 teams and have for the past 15 years also been working in the US sailing system with the top juniors.

Having brought 9 of the 12 NZ team members thru from Optis to the Olympic team and having won 17 world titles and over 60 NZ titles. (Plus numerous US national titles) I feel I can accurately give a comparison of the two systems.  Here are my thoughts:

  • US sailors are over coached and seem to spend the entire summer at regattas rather than training. The ratio is 5 training days to 1 competition day.
  • There is an obvious lack of a tunable boat in the system, too many lasers and look at the US laser results, awful.
  • The US coaches are lazy and technically very poor, results don’t seem to count.
  • The system is covered in South American coaches who, to fill there own bank accounts have pushed the 24/7 coaching mentality (We started with some Argentino coaches in NZ but quickly got rid of them after seeing the decline in that countries results).
  • Zero talent identification from US sailing. My sailors have won a whole lot of US titles but not once been approached by US sailing to acknowledge this talent.
  • Sailing is way too expensive in the US, thus excluding a lot of the hungry, driven athletes, again everyone has their hand out. Regattas have turned into moneymaking exercises by the clubs involved, with a prime example in the Buzzards Bay Regatta, which is hugely expensive to enter and has the worst race management I have ever seen. Why is there a constant fight amongst the clubs involved in this regatta to hold the event? Profit.
  • The US collegiate system is the best racing in the world but produces debt-ridden sailors who are great sprint racers but need to be retrained for Olympic work as the tuning knowledge just isn’t there.
  • Most of the US-born coaches are ex-collegiate coaches. Can no one else see the problem here?
  • Money and covering the athletes with coaches won’t help the situation; the problem is in the youth and junior structures.

Obviously the present management and coaches need to go, and those who appointed them need to have a long hard look at themselves in the mirror.

I have a great fondness for the US sailing scene and have had many great experiences over the years, but since I have been in this system, the numbers of sailors have dropped, the coach numbers have increased and the results have declined. Sad.

John Morgan
Morgan Yacht Design

FARALLONES REPORT AND OTHER THINGS

The long awaited Farallones report is issued from US Sailing: READ HERE.

US Sailing’s report on the “Low Speed Chase” accident has been issued and it is a solid study. Read it and draw your own conclusions.

The rest of the photographs are my continuing exploration of downtown Los Angeles. So many tell me that there is no architecture in Los Angeles and no culture; that it is a completely hedonistic place. While it is probably true that the film industry and the stars dominate the headlines; there is the larger life  of the vast majority of people alongside.

THE QUESTION IS ANSWERED?

Do you suppose the driver was texting? I know life can be strange, but really, run into an island?
A US Sailing Independent Review Panel has come to a conclusion regarding the cause of accident. Aegean, a 37-foot Hunter 376 sailboat, was destroyed during the race a few miles offshore near Mexico’s Coronado Islands.

Aegean Yacht’s GPS track – Newport to Ensenada 2012  © Spot LLC

Following extensive research, the Panel is confident that a grounding on North Coronado Island is the cause of accident.

REVIEW PANEL MAKES DISCOVERY IN RACE TRAGEDY
Portsmouth, R.I. (June 12, 2012) – A US Sailing Independent Review Panel has
come to a conclusion regarding the cause of accident during the 2012 Newport
to Ensenada Race that resulted in the deaths of four sailors on April 28.
Aegean, a 37-foot Hunter 376 sailboat, was destroyed during the race a few
miles offshore near Mexico’s Coronado Islands. Following extensive research,
the Panel is confident that a grounding on North Coronado Island is the
cause of accident.

The Panel gathered information from race organizers, collected data from the
Aegean’s track during the Race, and met with the US Coast Guard San Diego
Sector’s investigation team. The Panel came to a conclusion after reviewing
the evidence that was assembled, including material from the tracking device
on board Aegean, and information provided by race organizers of the Newport
Ocean Sailing Association. The Panel will continue their efforts to document
the accident, draw conclusions, share the lessons learned and offer
recommendations to the sailing community. A full report from US Sailing is
expected by end of July.

The members of the Independent Review Panel are Chairperson, Bruce Brown
(Costa Mesa, Calif.), John Winder (Annisquam, Mass.), Alan Andrews (Corona
del Mar, Calif.), Ed Adams (Middletown, R.I.), and Alan McMillan (Pensacola,
Fla.). The Offshore Special Regulations Consultant on the panel is Evans
Starzinger (Milford, Conn). The Safety at Sea Committee Chair and Review
Panel Liaison is Chuck Hawley (Santa Cruz, Calif.). Medical Advisors are Dr.
Michael Jacobs (Vineyard Haven, Mass.), Dr. Kent Benedict (Aptos, Calif.)
and Dr. Steven Shea (Long Beach, Calif.). Jim Wildey (Annapolis, Md.)
advises on investigation procedures and formats. — Full story at:
http://tinyurl.com/6pyaunf