January 26, 2014

Oman Open Worlds Videos - Day 7

By Doug
This is the final race and all eyes were on Robert Scheidt (BRA 205239) who was just one point ahead of Olympic silver medalist Pavlos Kontides (CYP 205124). The match racing that many anticipated did not occur and Pavlos was not a factor in this start.

Brett does a great job focusing on Robert who at 0:40 is in a crowd near the pin trying to create some space by working Sam Meech (NZL 196871) above him. This group is being watched closely by a judge boat that is right behind them. It's a great example of how the best Laser sailor ever starts in a crowd.


General recall.

In a previous post, I showed this picture that Brett captured from the final start of the Worlds. It seemed to make the sailors around Robert look slow:


This next video shows that with one minute to go, Robert creates a good hole below him although it did not last. Everyone pulls the trigger at about the same time, it's just that Robert pulls his a fraction of a second sooner. But for me the really interesting part is just after the start when he lets his main out a little to foot and gets speed. Note that the end of his boom goes up instead of out, showing that he did not have lots of vang. You can see the result by looking at the shadow on Robert's sail - it shows just how much faster he was going compared to the boat to windward of him.


Pulling the trigger a fraction of a second early + great boatspeed = a great start. Add to this reading the breeze and shifts better than anyone else, world class downwind speed, and the result was inevitable. Robert wins this race and his 9th Laser worlds.


Thanks again to Brett for these awesome videos.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...