At last, a champion we can wrap the flag around

Little Joe says:

09:21am | 07/08/12

The second gold sailing medal has been ‘won’ as the Australian Team cannot be beaten on the points table. Officially the competition has not finished

iansand says:

09:24am | 07/08/12

The 49er crew only have to cross the starting line tomorrow to win gold.  They don’t even have to finish.  They are in an unassailable position because of their results in earlier races.

Sarah says:

09:50am | 07/08/12

Apparently we have another sailing team who cant be beaten for the Gold medal - their race takes place tomorrow, but we are guaranteed gold….
So, yes we are going to bag 2 golds from the sailing one today, one tomorrow

Gregg says:

09:29am | 07/08/12

The false teeth could help Ian if they were attached to an extension under control, a bit of hard on sheeting now and then.

But you left the feet and big toes out for feet on the rudder and to help keep you aboard, they do come in handy as a replacement for the hands three and four.
The wind and choppy conditions made for great racing and bringing into play all you mentioned.

iansand says:

09:40am | 07/08/12

I left out mental trigonometry and vector analysis to work out where you are relative to the next mark and your opposition.

Inky says:

11:27am | 07/08/12

So what you’re saying, Ian, is that all professional sailors are top secret mutants grown in government labs and bred purely for the sport?

I couldn’t help myself, forgive me…

Heidi says:

11:57am | 07/08/12

That’s gold for people like me that don’t understand sailing thx Ian

DOB says:

02:16pm | 07/08/12

Its a shame that so many people dont “get” sailing: of all the sports it is, in my humble opinion, the greatest combination of athleticism, thinking, nature and, depending on the type of boat and the race, endurance. Anyone who has matchraced on shortcourses knows how really challenging it can be - especially up on the foredeck. And really its not that hard to follow matchraces. The social side’s not too bad either.

sunny says:

08:51am | 08/08/12

and you won’t win gold if you don’t run a tight ship..
- keep sharp eyes in the crow’s nest
- steady on the rum ration
- greens with the saltbeef to fend off the scurvy
- lash the likely mutineers with the cat o’ nine tails
And when you win the gold, a toast to wives and sweethearts (may they never meet).

Gregg says:

09:33am | 07/08/12

Unless you’re relying on the Todd in Alice having water flowing more regularly Micka, why not look up what sailing clubs are about as many offer a way in to sailing through sailing of dinghies and Lase like craft.
You and junior might even be able to develop some extra skills in building a small dinghy and great for bonding.

iansand says:

09:34am | 07/08/12

Your son can crew.  For the crew (the person at the front keeping the water away from the skipper) sailing is one of the cheapest sports going.  Total expenditure - 1 life jacket.  Everything else you already have (unless you don’t have shorts, T-shirts, and sunscreen.)

Wander down to your local sailing club.  People are always looking for keen crew.

year of the dragon says:

09:44am | 07/08/12

Try shooting. There’s a range near you. And what four year old kid doesn’t want to shoot stuff.

Barney says:

10:06am | 07/08/12

Big Micka , you could try telling your son that it’s a boat , most four year old kids know what that is , and you could tell him what a great thing
Tom Slingsby has achieved.

CK. says:

10:37am | 07/08/12

And why can’t your kid do sailing?

Jess says:

10:37am | 07/08/12

what do you mean easier to participate in. Sign your kid up to your local sea scout group (near lakes inland) or even a scout group and say your kid wants to do sailing. They do sailing and compete in local, regional, state and national competions. YMCA also do sailing school holiday programs.

K says:

10:38am | 07/08/12

Why can’t your kid go sailing?  (Ok maybe he needs to wait a few years) If you are anywhere near a coast just head along to your local sailing club and start talking to people like I did.  I have always found sailing clubs to be very friendly places, they will send you in the right direction and its a competitive sport but which focuses heavily on fun and friendships.

Give it a go!

Emma says:

08:33am | 08/08/12

It is easy to get your kid into sailing! The Tackers program or other learn to sail classes are run at lots of sailing clubs around Australia. See http://www.discoversailing.org.au/
Kids can start sailing from the age of 8 in the Optimist dinghy - a little boat designed for kids. Find out more here http://www.optisa.org.au/ or check out your own state’s Optimist association. Lots of clubs have boats to lease so you don’t even have to own a boat to start sailing.
Sailing is a brilliant sport for kids - Sailing teaches kids confidence, independence, strategic thinking, teamwork, and respect for the environment

M says:

10:29am | 07/08/12

So’s golf.

Jess says:

10:40am | 07/08/12

we have world standard sailors who medal regularly in Olympics, Para-Olympics and the special Olympics..

Shane* says:

10:45am | 07/08/12

Beat me to it, John, only I was going to use shooting as an example.

Tim says:

11:27am | 07/08/12

Shane,
this time you’re wrong.

The boats are exactly the same and the competitors chose their boat by random at the start of the competition. It’s most definitely a physical activity so how could you not consider it a sport.

Although from your example of shooting I don’t think you know what a sport actually is. What’s your definition?

Shane* says:

01:10pm | 07/08/12

@Tim,

It’s interesting, I don’t think being a recreation or a skill is necessarily a slight on sailing. I think it’s impressive enough, just as I think motorcycle riding is impressive too. The word ‘sport’ is obviously the key point and people have differing views.

It got me thinking about my own definition of a true sport. It was fun. This is what I came up with:

Two or more competitors (or teams) directly engaging one another against a clock or scoreboard under the power of their own human steam. There should be as few variables/handicaps as possible, such as one team having vastly superior equipment. The winner should be the person with the greatest ability on the day, not the person with the best luck or the person who was assisted most by outside factors.

So for my money, sports include tennis, any football code, basketball, volleyball, triathlon, netball, track athletics, swimming…

And I don’t think sports include golf, sailing (since the wind does most of the work), darts, dancesport, motorsport, diving, synchronised anything, horse racing…

Cheers

eRon says:

01:34pm | 07/08/12

That’s inflammatory, M.
If you’s said darts, however…
Is it the only ‘sport’ you can do while having a durrie, and a schooner?

M says:

01:49pm | 07/08/12

Wow, ignorance must surely be bliss huh?

M says:

01:52pm | 07/08/12

Nope, I can have a durrie and a schooie whilst golfing as well!

Seriously though, shane’s definition of sport seems to revolve around ball sports and track and field. Very narrow imo.

Tim says:

01:57pm | 07/08/12

Shane,
how do golf and darts not cut it and tennis does?

I agreed the other day that I don’t think you could include motorsport because of the high likliehood of differently performing equipment but in the sailing that wasn’t the case.
The wind is also the same for everyone so being able to tactically read where the wind was blowing and being able to drive your boat through is physically and mentally demanding. Iansand gives a good account of this above.

iansand says:

01:59pm | 07/08/12

Shane - One thing is blindingly apparent.  You have never sailed a small boat.

Let me give you a hint.  If you just sit there and let the wind blow the boat falls over.  Keeping it upright and moving forward is a highly complex set of aerodynamics and hydrodynamics, but the key to harnessing all those forces is meaningless if the boat falls over.  The only reason the boat stays upright is human weight deployed appropriately, which means hanging over the side, supported by muscle.  And the only reason sails stay in the optimum position to generate optimum force is human muscle on the end of a string.  That optimum position is constantly changing so the position of the sail is continuously adjusted.

Finally, in the Olympics, the boats are supplied, but even in non-Olympic competition most racing in small boats is one design.  That means the shape and weight of the hull is rigidly policed, and the area of the sails is equally standardised.  There are even classes of one design yacht.  THe largest I can think of at the moment is the Sydney 40 - 40 feet long - but there are lots of others.  I think even the Whitbread Round the World Race boats are one design.

On the other hand, there are development classes such as the one I sailed - Moths - which now look like this http://flic.kr/p/b5NtcZ although the one I sailed actually stayed in the water most of the time.  18 Footers are another development class.  If this http://flic.kr/s/aHsjrmJeFD is not sport, I don’t know what is.

Shane* says:

02:09pm | 07/08/12

But I keep it narrow deliberately. Once you broaden it, you get things like cheerleading and fishing claiming to be sports.

M says:

02:40pm | 07/08/12

@ Tim, it wouldn’t be hard to have the bikes all the same. Just source them from one manufacturer.

Little Joe says:

02:41pm | 07/08/12

So by your thinking ....... walking, riding a bike, swimming, shooting, archery, etc etc should be excluded!!

Shane* says:

02:49pm | 07/08/12

@ian, no I’ve never sailed more than a few hours on a mate’s catamaran, so I know my opinion comes from ignorance.

However, as I’ve said before, I don’t think that anything physically arduous is automatically a sport.

I appreciate the skill and tactical know-how associated with racing a boat. Similarly, I appreciate the skill involved with hitting a small white ball 300m with a club to get it in a hole the diameter of an orange.

But while they’re skilful pursuits and difficult and can be physically demanding, I don’t think that makes something a sport. I think a sport needs to be powered by humans. Sorry if you disagree, but the inescapable fact is that the boat/sail/wind does most of the work. Controlled and positioned and kept upright by a human? Sure. But where does the majority of the work actually take place?

M says:

03:01pm | 07/08/12

Is horseracing a sport?

M says:

03:07pm | 07/08/12

Little Joe, it’s a bit of a stretch to call shane’s brand of thought bubble “thinking”.

Tim says:

03:16pm | 07/08/12

M,
as I said last week I just don’t think you’d be able to get them “exactly” the same. Sure you could get close but I don’t think that would be good enough.

I love horseracing but I wouldn’t call it a sport in the traditional sense.

Shane,
Darts and Golf. Why do they fail for you?
I can’t see a reason from the definition you provided. Is it just because you don’t like them?

Cheerleading would have to be judged so it’s out and fishing would rely too much on equipment and the fickleness of fish.

iansand says:

03:29pm | 07/08/12

Shane - The work of the wind is nothing without the countervailing work of human muscle.  Without it the boat falls over (even, eventually, catamarans) and doesn’t move.

Where would basketball be without the bounce - who does that work?  Or pole vaulting without the bend in the pole?  Or any number of things you would undoubtedly classify as “sports”.  Reductio ad absurdum.  By your definition anything that requires equipment cannot be a sport.

Shane* says:

03:30pm | 07/08/12

@M,

No, of course horse racing isn’t a sport. For one thing if you took away gambling it wouldn’t exist! And secondly, it’s a competition for horses, not people. Without looking it up, can you name Pharlap’s jockey?

@Little John,
Walking and bike riding are sports when they’re a race against competitors over a set distance. If I walk around my block for a bit of fresh air, I’m not playing a sport… I’m just walking. The walking itself is not a sport. But competitive walking? That’s a sport.

Archery and shooting are skills, not sports. Same as golf. Doesn’t mean I think they’re rubbish. Simply means I don’t think they’re true sports.

Shane* says:

03:37pm | 07/08/12

And @M, re: horse racing…

I forgot to include this earlier but I can also explain why it is NOT a sport in one word: Handicapping.

M says:

03:43pm | 07/08/12

@ Tim, it really isn’t that hard mate. Honda and KTM are doing it in Moto3 and moto 2 atm.

Tim says:

04:14pm | 07/08/12

Shane,

Archery, Golf, Darts.

Clause 1. “Two or more competitors (or teams) directly engaging one another against a clock or scoreboard under the power of their own human steam”

Yes, all three pass.

Clause 2: “There should be as few variables/handicaps as possible, such as one team having vastly superior equipment”

Yes, all three pass.

Clause 3: “The winner should be the person with the greatest ability on the day, not the person with the best luck or the person who was assisted most by outside factors.”

Yes, all three pass.

I think you need to rethink your definition if you want to try and exclude those sports.

Otherwise people could just as easily say under your definition that any sport with an implement or equipment, - ball, footy, shuttlecock, racquet, bike are not sports either.
The people don’t score the points/race, the balls, footies etc do.

M says:

04:17pm | 07/08/12

I think we can ignore shane’s ramblings about what constitues a sport from now on.

iansand says:

04:29pm | 07/08/12

FWIW, my definition of a sport is a contest where injury to participants is possible even though everyone is playing within the rules.  It actually works quite well.

Shane* says:

04:35pm | 07/08/12

@Tim, they’d be a lot more interesting if they truly did directly engage each other.

Directly.

But instead it’s ‘You go first, then I’ll go.’

Similar to golf, really.

And weightlifting, which is problematic because my instinct is to say weightlifting is a sport, but I suppose my definition isn’t perfect.

But hey, at least I offer one! Going to dictionary.com or wikipedia and C&Ping; their definition would give you the impression that competitive bodybuilding or cheerleading are sports.

@iansand

Work = Mass times acceleration times distance. The pole vaulter (not the pole) does most of the work. The basketballer (not the ball and not gravity) does most of the work. The wind (followed by the sail followed by the sailor) does most of the work.

PhilD says:

07:24pm | 07/08/12

It can be a recreation if you just want to float your boat. Tennis is just a recreation for those that hit and giggle. However aggressive, competitive sailing on a one or two-manner can leave you buggered after a few hours.

iansand says:

09:55am | 08/08/12

Work = Mass times acceleration times distance, and the boat bobs aimlessly downwind until it runs aground on a lee shore on the other side of the body of water on which it is adrift.  Your argument would be unassailable if sailing races were awarded to the best drifter.  But they aren’t.

Little Joe says:

02:33pm | 07/08/12

Just remember ..... it’s only sport!!!!

ibast says:

01:37pm | 07/08/12

Yes the commentary on Australia’s poor performance is really making me cranky.  It’s not only an insult to our athletes it’s an insult to those that come ahead and behind our.  We really have become a nation of poor winners and poor loosers.  At least the commentators make it feel that way.

eRon says:

01:52pm | 07/08/12

Nice work, Susan.
Hay’s a foony feller, ahroit Sooosen.
 
There’s probably some equally clever dick feverishly working away on a new media ‘handle’ for Slingsby as we punch.
Something like, “The Slingshot” or “Captain Sea-tamer”, or some such nonsense.

iansand says:

02:13pm | 07/08/12

That clip was brilliant.

Susan says:

02:54pm | 07/08/12

Ant..none of those links worked for me and the problem with so many of of your pieces is that your sarcasm level is often very high. Extraordinarily high. So, don’t necessarily blame the reader for not getting you.  This said, I would unreservedly apologise to you if in that ‘silver’ piece you did indeed asserted your personal joy over anything less than Gold and that you believe any medal colour and any PB records are simply fabulous. And heck, that even getting into the Olympics is generally a testament to hard work and training.  Was that expressed?  You have my email so please send me where you expressed this and I will come back and apolgise.  Which, by the way, is frankly higher behaviour that most here show (including the writers). 

The manner is which so many in our media have walked up to someone and said “You must be gutted” or “You must be disappointed” led me to celebrate Mitchell Lake’s response.

Now..out of interest…and copied from a FB comment: 

“To young Mr Solomon who finished 8th in the 400m final, congratulations! You truly did yourself and your country proud. 2pb’s to get into that final.’

THAT is what Olympic spirit is and this is what the media should be celebrating.  You are the people with the power to write and connect with thousands..so…show us…model for us. 

Now we’re getting is a pissing competition between major media outlets.

Ant's not that bad is he? says:

08:38pm | 07/08/12

LOL

He’s got you there Susan.

Just eat your humble pie and move on.