Taking it to another level
I said the same thing after last year’s JJ performance from Fiat.
This year, the bar has been raised. A lot.
Last time around, Fiat won with a race to spare and 15 odd points on the scorecard. This time 7 dominated, taking it with a race to spare and only 9 points. Even after getting home at 9.30 AM from the night-before’s celebrations and sailing practically blind drunk, the 7 team almost won the final race.
There’s been a hell of a lot of talk about professionalism, money, coaches, training etc etc. But you can’t take anything away from the guys. They’ve sailed incredibly well. Like I said yesterday, few people can remember such a dominating performance - especially considering the strength of the fleet.
The attention to detail in the 7 program was phenomenal. From having separate foil bags to stop their foils being scratched as the boat was carried into the water, to drilling out the centre of the cap-shroud bolt at the topmast to save weight, to spending big dollars to re-fair their foils, there has been nothing missed, no stone left unturned.
They’ve used their coach and mentor to great effect. They’ve used the defending champions on Fiat (and to some extent Macquarie) to develop rigs, then cut them loose when they’d put themselves far enough ahead. They’ve formed training race groups with boats that wouldn’t threaten them. They’ve been ruthless.
The 7 boys have sailed together as a team for close to 9 years, but have raised the bar yet again in only their second year together on the 18. Their sailing was exceptional. At no time were they out of the top 5 around any mark in any race. Their acceleration off the startline and their speed build out of tacks was unbelievable. Their sets, gybes and drops were just a whole magnitude better than anyone else.
They truly do deserve to be the JJ Champions for 2008.
Even discounting their extraordinary support, the spooners are way out in front. And deserve to be so.
But where does that leave everyone else?
There’s the general funk that disappointment leaves for the rest of the fleet, leading to a lot of soul-searching, a lot of reflection. After fighting it out at the top of the pack for 7 seasons, Hugh, Paul and Niall on Asko are pulling the pin. They’ve always been there. They’ve been teasingly close. It will be sad to see the fleet without the Asko crew. They’re good solid competitors and just nice guys.
For us on the Rag it has been an up and down year. We’ve finally won some races, which put a good spin on the end of an otherwise ordinary JJ. We beat Beasho on Club Marine by a couple of points in the end to claim 5th spot. But at that point it’s all academic. Like Linksy said afterwards, it’s first or it’s nothing. Unless I get eased by John I will be around for another shot, maybe in a new Rag for ‘09. Pete might be back on the front, despite being stalked by others already. Good people are hard to find.
The guys on Fiat are reassessing where things are at, on a lot of levels. Cocko will be working things out, and there’s talk of Nath spending more time with his young family. They’ve said they’ll be happy just Sunday sailing, but I can’t see that being enough for them when it comes to the crunch.
On Macquarie, Jack and Drew are talking about time out. Micah wants to roll in for another year.
Kinder Caring is going from strength to strength, and will surely be back together.
Then there’s the rock stars like Nathan Outteridge who are seriously talking about putting teams together, perfect for the low-year in their Olympic cycle.
The League is sending a bunch of containers overseas this year. There’s 8 boats going to the Anzac regatta in NZ. There’s also plenty of people talking seriously about San Fran and Bandol.
There’s also a murmur around the park of the JJ being held overseas in future years. That’ll sort-of ruin our season and make it tough to campaign all year. It’s been verbally agreed to, but I can see plenty of unhappy campers in the boat park complaining about that. It is our trophy after all.
A couple of races to go and then it’s curtains for season number 4 at the Leage.
Next up… the new Moth.
February 25th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Well done to Seve and the boys they sailed bloody well! Lets hope the Rag goes 5 boats better next time
February 25th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Must’ve been quite some night at the Rag the other night to be able to afford a new boat!
Well done on the 5th, would’ve been nice to go better, but 5th isn’t too bad
Congrats to 7, well deserved and a very comprehensive win.
Would be interesting to see Nath (Outteridge that is) on a well funded 18 campaign.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
I think your post accurately sums up the regatta, but I would like to make a couple of clarifications if I may.
At no stage did we ever cut off our training relationship with the Fiat boys. By mutual consent, we dropped some planned sessions in the lead-up to the JJ. During the worlds, both teams had on-water support and opted to tune separately for some race days. It was not a planned thing to tune up separately. It’s just the way it worked out. The respect between the two teams (Fiat and Seven) remains very high. The seven boys will always look up to the achievements of Cocko, Aaron and Nath. To top things off, the Seven boys hit the water early yesterday to tune with Fiat in a symbol of support for them to go and claim 2nd overall. From day one the agreement has always been to share what we learn, but when the race starts, it’s every team for themselves.
I would also take issue re the “ruthless” comment. Between the boys, they have ticked all the boxes in the lead-up. Simple as that. We did not spend big money on getting the foils faired. We purchased a new set of foils from the class builder out of the class mould. This was because the foils supplied with the boat last year were horribly asymmetric and the boat sailed with massive lee-helm on one gybe downwind. The boys spent an hour wetsanding the slight orange-peel texture out of the spay job and then Teflon polished them. Another box ticked.
You are correct in regard to the details the boys attended to. If there was any sort of wear or tear, it was attended to immediately. They had a swage pull out a week before the JJ. Upon checking the dimension of the rolled swage with an accurate guage, it was shown to be over-size (not pressed enough). This resulted on every single swage on both rigs being re-swaged. No big deal, but there are twenty similar circumstances of preparation. Sam deserves credit for leading this. Rob and Seve help where they can.
Thanks for paying tribute to the way the boys sailed. It was a very tricky week. No matter how much training you do, you still need to execute when it counts. There was no miracle comebacks. No brilliant tactical calls. Just very solid SAILING. The boys on Seven made a lot of supporters within their camp very proud last week.
Yes mate, the racing this year was at another level. I hope this is not a reason for teams to get despondent. The Seven team hopes there will plenty of teams “aiming-up” for 08-09. It is impossible to frame equitable rules to limit the amount people want to improve. Just remenmber that having rules preventing rapid improvement is a deterrent to young teams wanting to climb the ladder. Every class needs to attract young up and comers. That being said, the no-training-in-work-hours rule being discussed is sensible.
In the Seven “camp” we are very respecting of the skiff traditions. We are very aware that a lot of hard work and investment has gone into making the class and the racing what it is today. Whilst we have goals to perform well on the water and on the land, we do make efforts not to step out of the “amateur” code of the class. Maybe that fails to come across in the right way at times. We are hopeful that people understand that we are in this for the right reasons. That is to compete in good spirit, to respect the rules and traditions of the club and the class and to continue to earn the respect of the sailing fraternity. Whilst Iain and I are very proud of the results the boys have achieved, we hope it can be seen that all three of the crew have further developed into decent young blokes over the past two years.
The 18 foot skiff scene is the best sailing package in the world. I mean this in terms of the total package. Great boats, great blokes, a physical challenge, very well run, magnificent spectacle and backdrop, the spectator ferry with bar, bookie and commentator. It does not get any better. Add to this the traditions and the characters. It’s fantastic. I am having a ball being involved. Winning something is nice once in a while, but being involved in my own small way is very rewarding.
I pay tribute to the Asko boys and it is sad to see them depart the scene. I have said all season that if you beat Asko, you win. Not always correct, but this demonstates my personal admiration for the way way they sail and the way they hold themselves as sportsmen. We can all learn something from them. They may not have won a JJ, but who cares? They have the respect of all.
Well done to yourself, Pete and John for showing character through the event and sticking at it. Go the green for 09.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Thanks for the comment Dog. My apologies for any errors.
What you guys have done with the 7 boys over the last two years has been awesome. I hope it continues on for a lot longer.
I agree with what you’re saying about trying to implement rules to limit improvement. Like I’ve said elsewhere, there’s no way to guarantee a level playing field, despite attempts to do so and the good job the League has done to keep the fleet together.
Winning at the highest level is what it is about, and it’s unfortunate for the guys with businesses, careers, wives and kids who can’t devote the time, more than the money, to get to their full potential. People have to be realistic about where their priorities are and what that means for the results come the end of the JJ. I don’t think the lowest common denominator is what we should be aiming for.
Anna sends her regards
February 25th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Nice of the 7 boys to drop “down under” and see old DD in race 7! Gave me a chance to give them the thumbs up from under the sea.
I am told there will be some strong new teams for next year lets hope the new boys, Fiat, Club and the Rag gives the 7 boys a run for their money…….Lots and lots and lots and lots of their money!!!!!