Olympic Trials at Santander: Gaebler’s Report.
“Super Sailing in Santander – ISAF Multihull Evaluation in northern Spain was a fantastic event.
The Good and Bad moments of the Trials. A report from Roland Gaebler.”
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What a great place to sail! Inshore with flat water and tactical challenges. Offshore with real waves and nice surf. The Club made an amazing job. Its one of the best places for sailing we ever saw. Nice facilities, brilliant beaches and snow on the mountains. Purely one of the nicest sailing scenery. Fantastico!
We missed a bit the strong winds and the big waves to test the material at the limit. But it was good to have all the sailors their feedback about the Tornado. They gave us nice comments what they like or not.
Especially we were interested in the comments from the women, how they like the sportive challenge of the boat. At the helm no one has any problems to hold the carbon tiller and some of the Ladies won the practice races in front of our self.
In minutes they got familiar with the boat and brought it to max speed in a very short time. They feel the difference and the high quality of the Tornado. The stiffness of the platform which was 11 years old! As crew some said it was easy with the kite and mainsheet, some others said it was too hard to handle the sheet loads. It was great to get this feedback and comments from the sailors. Because for us it’s normal and we have the muscles to handle the loads.
But we think this is exactly the point. If a boat is too easy to handle, it’s not deserves to be at the top sport event of the World. The Olympics are for the very best Athletes and it should be sportive challenges were you should train for. Nahid Gaebler (Tornado crew, 44 years old) is a normal woman with no special fitness training, and she easily handles the sheet loads of the Tornado up to 30knots of wind (check final day Worldchampionship 2011).
But…..we listen….. we take the comments from the test sailors very serious and we are re-thinking what we can do to face the critics. And we found the solutions after asking our technical partner Harken and Ronstan:
We may change the sheet system from the gennaker (which is actually direct 1:1 with two automatic ratches) with an extra block and make it 1:2. Also the mainsheet (which is actually 1:8) we can change with only one extra block to 1:12. This way we make it 50% easier on the gennaker sheet and 33% more easy on the mainsheet without having too much extra sheet length. Wait and see our solutions!
Sometime it needs such a test event to come to new innovations. The comments from sailors who not sail Multihull are also very helpful. Also the questions from the ISAF evaluation panel makes us thinking again what the point is and we looking for the best solutions to fulfill all the criteria ISAF wants. Sometimes we are too much in our own box. So the evaluation event brought us new friends but also creates innovations. Only as a team with the sailors and ISAF we can bring our sport into a new era.
The Tornado was the fastest boat in all winds on all courses. Same way we came up with one of the lowest prices for the boats. So why pay more to sail slower? We present purely the best price-performance for an Olympic boat. The Tornado is a proven formula for the Olympic Games in all wind and wave conditions and has a top image, the media/spectators and the next generation on his side.
On top of it we are the only class who made the offer for supplied boats for the complete Olympic Circuit (World Cup Series, Worlds- and Continentals, Olympics). With our Olympic background, we know what we need to do to bring Olympic Sailing to the next level in such hard economic times.
But we experienced also some things, we not like so much. Fernando Leon (Gold Medal 1996) and a Hobie Cat women (F18 Crew) from Santander and me were not allowed to sail the day with the best wind conditions, because we were too heavy.
The crew weight limit was 140kg. Me and Nahid are far away from it. Also the Spanish legend Fernando Leon and the Girl who weight 73kg we not allowed competing at the best day of the week against the others in a real manufacturer race. Imagine, a girl was stopped to sail because she is too heavy.
No wonder the Spanish were on fire after this happen. But exactly this showed the point where we are now. Some weeks before ISAF makes final decision.
Nahid made an analytics and try to find every mixed team we can get in F18 and Tornado. The Facts are: 83% of the Mixed Teams in the F18 are above 140kg (average is 150.3kg). In Tornado 87% of the Mixed Teams are over 140kg (average 148.3kg). For sure it looks different in the Hobie 16 and F16…… but if we count all Multihull Mixed Teams together still more than 50% are over 140kg.
We have many Women and Men from Laser Class who really like to sail mixed multihull for Rio 2016. If ISAF continue the way with the 130kg average target (middle between 120-140kg), they all can give up their Olympic Dreams.
Imagine the Olympic legends Gintarė and Robert Scheidt want to start in Brazil in Mixed Multihull. They are the perfect example for an average size/weight Olympic Athlete (women average 64-66, men average 78-82kg)
Also the Matchrace Women and Starclass Sailors have great interest in Mixed Sailing after they lost their boat. They can bury their Olympic Campaigns. A man above 80kg can only sail Finn-Dinghy and a Women above 65kg has big problems to find a crew with the actual target from the ISAF which is based on an Asian Submission. But the Asians never turned up in Santander for testing the multihull. So ISAF following a wish from Asia and the Asians were not here to test the boats. Sorry, this is a complete wrong move and need urgent correction before ISAF conference in May.
I want to say it in very clear words: If we end up in an F16, we will have ultra lightweight teams (around 120kg) in Rio de Janeiro, where we have light wind forecast. This means most of the actual mixed teams can forget the Olympics. This way Mixed Sailing may end in a disaster for our Sport in the Olympics.
Also this I like to point out: I am not want bring the Tornado always forward. Take a light F18 (like the Phantom Project or a carbon Wild Cat or any other hitec F18) or the new Nacra 17 (which is not far away from an F18).
But please not an F16. This boats are perfect for the Youth Olympics, ISAF Youth Worlds and National Youth programs. This I said to Carolijn + Darren one year ago. I said to them we should work together. F16 for the youth. F18 for the big fleets. F20 (Tornado) for the Olympics. But they are on their own mission.
The Olympic Games are the top of Sports. It is the peak for Athletes. It should be a sportive Challenge for every size of women and men and deserves a boat which fits to the Olympic Spirit. Our sport not just need a boat. We need a new race format which fits perfect for the media, spectators and sponsors.
Thank you all for the interest and support. We had absolute great sailing in Santander!
Roland Gaebler
I don't mind that the Gaeblers try to convince us all that a Marstrom quality carbon masted Tornado can be had for a standard lay-up Exploder price of 15.900 euro. Or that he is claiming that the Tornado's won every race at the trials which they most definately did not.
I do mind however that they are on a smear campaign with respect to anything related to F16's or AHPC in particular.
zit is quite obvious that he knows nothing or understand anything about the F16's or the Viper.
With respect to competitive weights, the mixed tornado crew of himself with his wife Nahid got convinchinghly beaten over the line at the trials in 4 out of 6 races by an all adult male Viper crew in winds of around 8 knots.
If anything that situation should have favoured the Tornado inmensely with its much taller rig, heaps of sailarea, mixed crew and Rolands claim that the F16's are bezt suited to 12-16 year old youths.
The trials have now established that other factors in Tornado design negate all above advantages to such an extent that a team of adult males on the kiddies boat gave you and your tornado a good dusting. In fact you only was first over the line in one single race where the Viper crew beat everyone in 4 races out of 6.
So Roland, be a man about it and accept (publically) that you were wrong all along or at the very least leave the F16's and Viper out of your rambling from now on.
Not related to this, but I think it is quite interesting how the number of comments dropped once authentication of the authors were implemented.
Good or bad.. Both of course.
Rolf
Without identity many are brave and start stirring s, personal attacks and else. From a webadmin's side is more hits, more controversy, but as I said many times we have SA doing that service.
So less comments but the level is up I think.
I can leave anons and start checking before publishing them , but I don´t have the time neither I want to do it.
The other is fcbk box, I need to check that option.
OK We've heard from lots of guys on how they feel about this boat or that one, how they feel about weight,etc.
Where are the female voices? Who went to Santander and how do you feel about the different boats? Come on girls – speak up! You are half of the equation and a very important one too. Which boat did YOU like to drive or crew? and why.