GC 32 super cat

GC32 super cat

Live coverage but almost flat calm......Commentators say there has been some foiling.

 

Well Lake Traunsee is well known for its light wind and fluky conditions surely one of the most beautiful venues to sail in though. I quite enjoyed the coverage and low key commentary. It's nice to see Leigh McMillan and Oman Sail so competitive in their class debut.

 

Final day of racing is live now in really light non foiling conditions but the GC32's are still managing to get up to high teens and looking super efficient and impressive considering the conditions. Oman Sail is once again finding an extra gear on the rest of the field.

http://www.gc32racing.com/

 

GC32 super cat

Bullitt Cowes Cup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dnlobzHHi4

 

Considering that millions have apparently been spent on the GC32, the tiny fleet and lack of spectators must be a concern.

 

I'm not sure, how many spectators do standard sailing monohull type circuits attract? Not making any judgements just genuinely curious as to what data is out there? It strikes me that the GC32 circuit is as much about attracting cashed up owners to campaign their own craft as for public interest and generating sponsorship deals?

 

Yes, the monos don't attract many spectators generally and yes, the GC32 circuit is about private owners as well as sponsored boats - but it's not getting many private owners and not apparently getting many live spectators.

Jut about none of the current crop of super-fast classes has achieved the widespread popularity that many hypesters claimed they would (although the A is doing well and the Moth is doing very well in the UK and NSW) which leaves me to imagine how much better the sport could be if it was accessible classes (H16s, F18s, whatever) were being promoted instead.

We KNOW that the surveys of potential sailors say that they are turned off by the elitism and lack of access to the sport, so why do we keep on promoting some of the least accessible areas?

 

GC32 super cat

The GC 32 guys sure make some great video's and I imagine they inspire a lot of people. That's a damn good thing,in my opinion, and bound to lead to good things-as it already has. Foiling has stoked the excitement of sailing among lots of people-I see it around here. What that will lead to is fascinating conjecture but the reality of these spectacular boats is just incredibly encouraging.

 

Doug;

1- So how many of those "lots of people" have actually bought a foiler?

2- How can we balance "imagining" and "conjecturing" how foilers will help sailing, against the known facts that the two biggest surveys of the image of sailing (and much other information about why people participate in sport) say that people already think the sport is too complicated, elitist and inaccessible?

As a matter of pure evidence-based logic, imagining and conjecturing should not prevail over objective data.

 

It's something we have often talked about at club meetings. The big problem is while sailing regattas are exciting for the participants you just become another fast moving sail on the horizon to most people. Having onshore events that are accessible and taking out potential sailors onboard the boats to experience racing and cruising seems to be the key. The Extreme Sailing Series has been one attempt to address the sail on the horizon problem but I suppose you have to strike a balance between what is enjoyable for the audience and for the sailors themselves.

I've often watched the F18's sail out of Frankston it's pretty good viewing particularly if you are sitting on the balcony of the surf life saving club with beer in hand. I believe having extra sails such as spinnakers really adds to the spectacle and helps differentiate the legs it certainly adds appeal to 18ft skiff racing which could be considered a benchmark perhaps. I tend to think the missing link is good telemetry of what is happening on each individual boat as that is how many televised sports (like motorsport for example) make up for the lack of excitement of watching a race from the sidelines. Maybe the solution is to have some sort of short range wifi network that is able to be accessed for broadcast coverage for small events to help people gain a new perspective.

The last America's Cup would have been much less interesting to watch without the excellent TV/web coverage and overlays which help with the skewed perspectives you get from aerial and on water video.

 

From Scutllebutt tonight:
ARMIN STORM blitzes GC32 Cowes Cup finale

Published on June 26, 2015

Cowes, UK (June 26, 2015) – Westerly breeze pumping in at 20 knots and a lively sea on the Western Solent brought racing alive for the final day of competition at the Bullitt GC32 Racing Tour’s Cowes Cup.

In the conditions, the five GC32s were able to foil not only on the downwind legs, but occasionally upwind too. Blasting off down the reaching leg after the starts and on to the runs, boat speeds on the one design flying machines at times reached the high 30s.

Most teams had hair-raising moments, the boats either launching or burying if they unintentionally came off their foils. However the Martin Fischer-designed catamarans looked after their crews and, despite the lively conditions, there were no un-toward incidents.

While the racing was close over the first two days of competition, today ARMIN STROM Sailing Team was the form boat. Swiss Olympic Star sailor Flavio Marazzi and his crew relished the big conditions, winning four of today’s five races, causing ARMIN STROM Sailing Team to win the Bullitt GC32 Cowes Cup by nine points.

“It was very nice – much more fun than sailing in under five knots!” observed Marazzi, who has also won windy GC32 regattas in Marseille and Key West.

- See more at: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2...es GC32 Cowes Cup finale#sthash.RAS9PEiF.dpuf

 

GC32 Super Cat

Alinghi capsizes at Kiel 2015: http://www.catsailingnews.com/

 

The Extreme Sailing Series have announced officially they are switching to GC32's for the 2016 season.

http://www.sail-world.com/2015-Extr...Extreme-40s-replaced-with-GC32---Video/137773

 

GC32 Super Cat

Alright!! That is so cool! Thanks Corley.....

 

It's kind of a worst kept secret that most of the Extreme 40 teams have spent time on the GC32 circuit coming to grips with the new craft. It will be interesting to see how it pans out but the GC32's have proved very adaptable to high and low wind venues and a good balanced design overall.