Team Sailing
What is team
sailing? FROM
THE ISAF WEBSITE
The
recognised format for the Team Racing World
Championship involves racing in two handed dinghies, three a side. The boats
are provided by the organisers to ensure that they
are evenly matched, and should be of a type that can be sailed effectively
without there being a premium on strength or an optimum weight.
The
two teams of three race to try and achieve a winning
combination of places - the lowest score wins. The scoring system is usually:
1st place - 1 point 2nd place - 2 points 3rd place - 3 points and so on.
A
team that scores ten or less is therefore the winner, so that 2,3,4 beats 1,5,6 - being first past the post does not
guarantee glory!
If
a team is lying say 1,4,6 the leading boat will go
back and try to help his team-mates through to 2,3,5 or better. How does he do
this?
The
team racer has two main weapons. Firstly, he can position his boat between the
wind and his opponent, thus blanketing his sails and slowing him down.
Secondly, he can use the right-of-way rules to his advantage, approaching his
opponents in such a way that his adversary has to change course or incur a
penalty. Both these weapons are deployed even before the start when the manoeuvres begin, much as in Match racing, but with six boats rather than two
performing an intricate and aggressive dance.
To
maintain order, and keep everyone out of the protest room, the racing is
followed by umpires in a small inflatable. If protested against, a competitor
can accept his punishment and complete a 360deg turn or he can wait for the
umpires to give a decision which may result in a green flag for 'no penalty' or
a 720deg turn if the protest is upheld. Everything happens very quickly and
there is no better school for tactical decision making and understanding of the
rules.
History
of Team Sailing FROM THE ISAF WEBSITE
Rival
sailing clubs have probably been sending teams to race each other from the
earliest days of recreational sailing. The first major international event
started in 1921 with the first of the British-American Cup series sailed in Six
metre yachts, four a side; in 1933 the International
14's began multi-nation series that continues to this day. In the 1940's and
1950's the growth of the one-design dinghy classes helped team racing to spread
as an affordable and entertaining way to enjoy sailing.
If
the popularity of team racing at club level faltered it remained the bedrock of
collegiate sailing with very competitive university circuits in most of the
world's leading sailing nations. Former students continued to sail together
independently or under Club burgees and many armed services teams also became
supporters of local events and national championships such as the Hinmon Trophy in
In
1994 West Kirby Sailing Club made a successful application to the IYRU to run a
first team racing World Championship in 1995. WKSC has been the home of the
Wilson Trophy, latterly the British Open Championship, since 1949, earning
itself the title of the Wimbledon of Team Racing, and had pioneered innovations
such as on the water umpiring and the use of colour
coded boats and sails. The event lived up to expectations and provided a vital
catalyst for the acceptance of Team Racing as the third recognised
discipline of sailing alongside Fleet and Match racing.