Sail-World New Zealand- 13 August 2010
by . on 13 Aug 2010
Welcome to Sail-World.com's New Zealand newsletter for 13 August 2010
Today is Black Friday.
Every Black Friday I think of my late grandfather, who was an engineer aboard the Strathcona, the magnificent Bailey designed and built cable ship who left Auckland on the 13 June 1916, a Black Friday, on her maiden voyage, with 13 crew aboard, and left at 1.00pm (1300hrs) in the afternoon. If ever this was tempting fate...
Sadly but surely she sailed into Minerva Reef six days later, and was a total wreck. Thankfully all the crew were rescued some weeks later - and for that I will always be thankful....
For some members of the NZL Sailing Team, New Zealand's national sailing team - dressed appropriately in the all black strip, Black Friday will have a special significance about 12,000 miles away from Minerva Reef.
Will Black Friday be a good or bad day for them and New Zealand's chances in this Olympic preview regatta?
For most the event is very delicately poised - some are still in medal contention, several have made the slope very steep for themselves, and others will be putting this one down to experience.
A key point of interest tonight will be whether 2008 World Champion and Gold Medalist, Tom Ashley can make the cut for the Medal Race. His compatriot, JP Tobin is lying fourth overall and is virtually assured of making the cut, but his task will be to take a medal at the event and give the New Zealand Olympic selectors a taste of the selection headache they could have in 12 months or so time.
This edition of Sail-World is dominated by coverage of the event, and we are featuring a quality and depth of coverage that you will see nowhere else in the World.
Initially we were quite critical of the media set up for this Olympic preview regatta. Day 1 was very average, in fact worse than that - but organisers have improved their game significantly each day, and we are now getting a good glimpse of what sailing and Olympic sailing can really be like as a TV spectacle.
There are plenty of raw edges in what is happening on the media scene in Weymouth right now, but the basics are quite visible and the live racing is potentially enthralling and with some work in key areas could be a lot, lot better.
Maybe here in Weymouth 2010, we have a glimpse of what sailing can be like in the new media, without massive camera saturation, on board audio, tricky graphics, and all the hoo-ha we have been led to believe is essential for the sport to lift its visibility.
Overlay that with the changes put on the table by the International Sailing Federation's Olympic Commission, and several of the professional circuit events should be concerned with their prominence in the sport. What the Olympics and the World Cup events have, which all the others lack is Nationalism - and as TV producer Paul France told us a week or two ago, everyone wants to see how 'their' competitor is running in the race.
So shout yourself a broadband upgrade (costing about $20), if you need it, and catch the action from Weymouth tonight and Saturday night, its not to be missed. We'll be continuing our in-depth coverage over the weekend on www.sail-world.com
At Sail-World, we have changed our submission system so that you can load images and stories in the one frame. The change is a big improvement and we have been using it ourselves for story and image compilation - very simple. One of the features of the system is that you get an automated acknowledgment when the story is put online together with a link and advice as to which world regions the story has been posted.
Thanks for your help and input, we're here to help sailing, and help those who wish to help themselves.
Good sailing!
Richard Gladwell
NZ Editor
nzeditor@sail-world.com
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