Olympic Learning

We would all say that learning is important, yet often the systems and processes we use prevent us even from transferring knowledge to help us improve performance, whether it be as an athlete, official, organiser or volunteer. When I started learning about the rules governing the sport of sailing in earnest I referred to an annual publication that the very experienced sailing judge, Bryan Willis, produced.

In sailing at top international events an International Jury is normally appointed. This jury, because of the experience and knowledge of its members, is permitted under rules not to have any of their decisions appealed beyond the event and yet the case law element of the rules, the Cases, are produced from interesting and pertinent appeals. Thus the interesting cases heard by an International Jury never get into the case law of the sport.

To solve this block in knowledge development Bryan would compile a summary of all the interesting cases from international juries on which he had severed over the season. Not all judges are as contientious to take on such a time consuming task, including me!

The same 'block' to learning and knowledge transfer can be experienced between the Olympic area and the rest of competition sailing. Here at Weymouth & Portland the organisers have incorporated many innovations in particular to make the event more accessible to spectators, supporters and the developing fan-base. The BBC coverage has been sensational - lead by Richard Simmonds and Leigh MacMillan, though the official Olympic Broadcasting Service less so (I guest they have less sport specific experience than APP Sunset + Vine, who are providing the feed and editing for the BBC coverage). And the Nothe Fort spectator area and beach Live Site have proved a massive success.

Let's hope the learning gained from incorporating these innovations can be captured and taken up by the Rio 2016 organisers.

I hope that the official Knowledge Transfer phase of organising the Games will be sufficiently effective enough to ensure the Olympic sailing regatta at Rio 2016 will be covered as least as well as that of London 2012.

Not originally included in the bid proposal the local organisers convinced of the merits of creating 

Integrating Match Racing

Once Women's Match Racing was confirmed as an Olympic event for the London 2012 Games, ISAF and organisers of the Sailing World Cup competitions have tried hard to integrate this very different form of sailing into the more normal fleet racing programme. A laudable objective helping to make the WMR athletes feel part of the event.

However, anomalies do occur. An interesting example would be the use of Starndard Penalties - an increasingly used innovation where Protest Committees refer to a list of specified rules breaches and associated penalties, some of which can even be imposed on athletes without a hearing by the Race Committee. In itself this is a great scheme as infringements and their associated penalties become standardised and consistency between different decisions and between events increases dramatically, a big improvement for competitors and spectators alike.

Though there are pit-falls; here in Weymouth & Portland there are designated Competition Areas, bounded by lines of buoys. There is a Standard Penalty for straying outside this boundaries, a penalty of 3 points can be imposed by the Race Committee without a hearing. This of course all sounds very reasonable, to a fleet racer .......... if you are a match racer having 3 points deducted is equivalent of being disqualified in three races, rather over the top by anyone's view!

This got me thinking - a dangerous situation I know! What about the difference between the 49er fleets and the others? The former race an Opening Series of 15 races and the latter only 10, thus the 49er athletes race 50% more. So the impact of a 3 point penalty is very different. Indeed an athlete with a high score is impacted less than an athlete with a lower score ........ should we go to penalties based on a percentage of an athletes score? If so which score, the one at the time of the infringement or their final score?


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A Very Warm West Country Welcome!

Well how a week can fly by! The authorities here in Weymouth & Portland have done an amazing job - a great Park & Ride scheme, lots of cycle storage points, tons of friendly helpers to advise you and give you directions, pop concerts every evening, the Live Site with full Olympic coverage, and of course the Nothe viewing area. It's all fantastic!

Of course it's not the same as China, Qingdao is a city of millions not a British seaside resort but the welcome is just as warm and more personal rather than the almost military precision and impersonal feeling at the 2008 regatta.