lotofwind said..
That's good, you are agreeing with me, people preferer to watch those sports,,and that's why they are broadcasted,,,duh lol
No need for research, I just watch the Olympics heaps on tv, never seen polers ever??? The only crew that could actually see it is if they watch it on the net or utube , which a lot of the oldies that are into it, don't know how to use a computer.
So going to LT's which is pretty much what they used in the 60's/70's (so I have been told, waaay before my time lol) and is just a SUP or Malibu in reality,,,, is not going to get any air time?????
FOILS are the future and might get maybe a 30sec section on the highlights at the end of the news.....which is waaasy more than it ever gets.

fjdoug said..




from a Team GBR document ;

At the Finn class World Championships the race length is approximately 2 hours. At Olympic level the races are generally 60-75 mins.
In winds above 10 knots the Finn class has a free pumping flag rule which means pumping is allowed.
Sailing the Finn is perhaps the purest athletic experience in world class sailing equalled perhaps only by the windsurfer (RSX).
Weight training is an essential part of Finn training.
Downwind the sailor can pump the mainsail one to one (the mainsheet coming straight from the boom and not going through the ratchet pulley system)- thus the loads are very high. Repetitive pumping is very aerobic and produces elevated heart rates which may reach over 90% of maximum heart rate.

Finn Sailor
Body weight : 96-106 kg
Height : 1.80-1.96 m
40 second sprint peak power rowing : 701-978 watts

RSX Sailor
Body weight : 68-74 kg
Height : 1.78-1.88
40 second sprint peak power rowing : 640-680 watts



RSX sailing is a lot more demanding than the LT.

RichardG said..





Where is the data for an LT sailor ? I think you could assume that RSX sailing is more demanding but at Olympic level it maybe that LT sailing could be very demanding as the youth and fitness level will be sky-high.

Chris249 said..Unless the LT changes its rules, it will be much less physical than the RSX. And a damn good thing too!

Actually even when unrestricted pumping is allowed (as it used to be in Italy) the One Design rig is less physical than an RSX/Raceboard rig because the tight leach means you get less of a speed boost from pumping upwind and therefore more of your available training time will be devoted to other aspects of the sport.










Unless the LT changes its rules, it will be much less physical than the RSX. And a damn good thing too!

Actually even when unrestricted pumping is allowed (as it used to be in Italy) the One Design rig is less physical than an RSX/Raceboard rig because the tight leach means you get less of a speed boost from pumping upwind and therefore more of your available training time will be devoted to other aspects of the sport.

sailquik said..
Doesn't anyone else except Chris and I get it that, if the Windsurfer OD got into the Olympics, it would be the end of the Windsurfer revival as we know it

The first thing that would happen is that the class association would completely lose control of the class and the racing. probably, the rules as well.

The second thing is that it would suddenly become hyper competitive (and I mean HYPER!) with full time athletes training and racing. They would beat everyone else by so much that it would be disheartening and normal sailors would drop out.

YA would take over the calendar and ordinary fun loving 'Winsufferings' would not get any influence on where and when events were held, and likely, weight divisions, slalom and freestyle would either disappear from events or become an afterthought.

The atmosphere that makes WOD racing so much fun would be destroyed by steely faced, hardcore racers who couldn't give a cr@p about the history and traditions of the class, or the fun disciplines it traditionally includes, and certainly won't be hanging around having a party after the racing.

Etc, Etc. Think I am wrong? Have a look at all the times this has happened to sailing classes in the past that were 'lucky' enough to get an Olympic berth. Very few have survived it. (Including the windsurfing classes)

Be very careful what you wish for.

For your sakes, I hope that my feeling is correct, that WOD doesn't stand a chance of getting in anyhow.

sailquik said..
Doesn't anyone else except Chris and I get it that, if the Windsurfer OD got into the Olympics, it would be the end of the Windsurfer revival as we know it

The first thing that would happen is that the class association would completely lose control of the class and the racing. probably, the rules as well.

The second thing is that it would suddenly become hyper competitive (and I mean HYPER!) with full time athletes training and racing. They would beat everyone else by so much that it would be disheartening and normal sailors would drop out.

YA would take over the calendar and ordinary fun loving 'Winsufferings' would not get any influence on where and when events were held, and likely, weight divisions, slalom and freestyle would either disappear from events or become an afterthought.

The atmosphere that makes WOD racing so much fun would be destroyed by steely faced, hardcore racers who couldn't give a cr@p about the history and traditions of the class, or the fun disciplines it traditionally includes, and certainly won't be hanging around having a party after the racing.

Etc, Etc. Think I am wrong? Have a look at all the times this has happened to sailing classes in the past that were 'lucky' enough to get an Olympic berth. Very few have survived it. (Including the windsurfing classes)

Be very careful what you wish for.

For your sakes, I hope that my feeling is correct, that WOD doesn't stand a chance of getting in anyhow.

Ben1973 said..
Indoor windsurfing for the Olympics. Much better for average Jo to watch, guaranteed wind, good modern kit and you only need one setup so cheap.

cammd said..




Not to mention the price on the gear will go up.

Can't see the pathway for kids making sense with a wally at the end of it, Techno 5.8, 6.8, 7.8 finally Techno+ 8.5 then comes the Wally 5.7, it seems like a regression. I guess the argument will be to ditch the 10000 strong techno class as well and just start and stay on a wally.

windsufering said..




LOL
you may have some wallys sailing at the windsurf centre of excellence.
LOL

windsufering said..
LOL
you may have some wallys sailing at the windsurf centre of excellence.
LOL

cammd said..






I hope so, we keep inviting them

the last thing i will do is put my son in amongst the culture there.

azuli said..





There's been up to 6 different board types on the start line this season including one LT, would be great to see more.
RQ maintain a mixed board scoring system based on yardsticks.
Example from this season here:
results.rqys.com.au/OffTheBeach201819/SGrp4.htm

BTW, is there an updated yardstick for the new LT ?

ka43 said..
That regatta at Lake Garda looked great!!!!!!

Gestalt said..





so why would any of us bother going to rq with our lt's when we know the attitude of some that sail there.

the last thing i will do is put my son in amongst the culture there.

GoofyRyder-2206 said..
I'm only young, and perhaps a bit naive on this matter... but i think i still have some valid points...
As far as I've seen, the new LT has some numbers in younger groms, as they are a great learning platform, but most of it's numbers are in those who stopped windsurfing for a ... while... and come back to the sport on gear they are more used to. there are a few having a go at it for something different too. But as a racing class... and i cannot say i have sailed an LT, but i have used soft sails before... and in light wind... due to their more 'floppy' nature they are certainly not pumpable, and don't have the greatest shape as they require wind to fill them out... meaning you have to lean the sail to leeward to fill it with gravity... this also means you can't hook in for stability or any sort of 'locking in' in light winds...
as far as higher wind.... i have in past found soft sails to be extremely twitchy and back-fill in the luff very easily. not to mention a strapless board with a tiny fin.... which means even in strong winds it will be railing on it's center board upwind... in 15 knts there is enough chop to loose grip and end up in the drink. Also... a 6.0 m sail??? Most of my windsurfing and almost all of my racing has been done on a techno293, more recently a techno293 plus, I'm only 72kg and hold down an 8.5 in 25 to < 30 knts of wind and it's still pumpable enough in light wind, twin cam... holds it shape in no wind at all. techno gear as far as big picture is reasonably cheap.. and fast... i have sent a techno to 23knts.. a few friends of mine have made them go even faster... The LT just doesn't have a wind range that is exciting to me... RS:X is still a strong class, I have seen them going pretty darn fast and still sailable in the lighter stuff... And the foils have come along way... and im sure will continue to be developed.. I vote RS:X should stay, until the foils are without doubt ready and more exiting.

RichardG said..








Sure but the LT sailor does it all standing up. He or she has to work, railing to windward, tacking and trimming standing up. Pumping is not permitted on the upwind legs just only 30 seconds after the start. Then downwind work and unlimited pumping standing up. A massive workout of the body's core and many muscles worked.

maxi388 said..Using all of those muscles are the same for any class. The RSX is even more physical because it's a heavy sail. When it gets windy the board starts to get hairy and to control that you have to be very aerobically fit to hold the board down for a very long time. Anaerobically: some of the races during the world cub season on the RSX most of the races were 100% pumping, upwind downwind for 25-30 mins. ALL STANDING UP!!!!!!





Using all of those muscles are the same for any class. The RSX is even more physical because it's a heavy sail. When it gets windy the board starts to get hairy and to control that you have to be very aerobically fit to hold the board down for a very long time. Anaerobically: some of the races during the world cub season on the RSX most of the races were 100% pumping, upwind downwind for 25-30 mins. ALL STANDING UP!!!!!!

maxi388 said..






Well said Scotty. I agree with everything. I've gotten my techno up tp 26 knots with the 8.5 sail in winds where the 9.5 sailors were craping their pants with their gear. I still think that the RSX has had it's time and it's time to upgrade. Just watching multiple foiling races on the PWA and in New Zealand, I can see that they are going as fast as planing conditions in 10 less knots. This will 100% make watching the racing more enjoyable for spectators that don't know the ins and outs of racing. I feel like once the sea trials are held the Wally will be out of the question completely. Sure it's less expensive and there might be a lot of people racing the Wally but the foiling classes are relatively new. The biggest argument for the foil for me is seeing Julien at club racing in 8 knots doing 4 laps when everyone else is doing 2. Just like that with relatively the same amount of effort he's doing 2 extra laps. It blows my mind every time. Even when it's planing conditions for techno upwind Julien is still doing extra laps and sometimes finishing before us still. When I raced the Wally at the Nationals in January I finished 11th in the Medium weight class and felt like everything was old and outdated, not to mention really slow.

Those are my thoughts
Cheers, Max