Archive for the ‘Rants on Sailing, Rugby and Sports’ Category

I’m increasingly finding that the Web is my TV channel. The two sports I love – sailing and rugby – pretty much get no coverage here in the US. With a Dell XPS One running Mediacenter I’ve got pretty much what I need. Downloading Rugby off Mediazone is easy but can be a drag. Love the sailing I find all over place, including at Sailing Anarchy…

This is fascinating reading… The IRB report on the Rugby World Cup clearly points to why NZ didn’t make it through. They abandoned their winning ways. Blame the ref. Blame the coach. Blame whoever you want. But when the players let the game get dictated by the opposition, or worse still, veer from the winning formula like a runaway truck, you don’t have to look far…

There is however a risk in the 15 man distribution approach – or at least there is a perceived risk. Passing from all parts of the pitch requires a solid platform as well as skill and pace. It also requires confidence since it is thought to heighten the risk of losing possession when compared to a tight kicking and rucking game. Successful as the New Zealand approach had been, the one question that was critical therefore was whether an expansive approach would stand up under the pressure of a winner take all knockout competition.

It did not – and this has never been more dramatically illustrated than in the France v New Zealand quarter final game. In order to understand the immensity of this game, it is necessary to go back to November 2006. In that month, New Zealand defeated France – in France – by 47 points to 3. This suggested that New Zealand seemed to have found the right formula for beating one of their major world cup rivals. They scored 7 tries, creating just 43 rucks and kicked the ball 29 times. They made few passes – just 91 – but were clinical in their execution.

This formula disappeared however in their RWC quarter final match
against France. Instead of creating 43 rucks, New Zealand created 165 or almost 4 times as many. This was around 100 more than a normal New Zealand game; was around 50% higher than the next highest in the tournament and is almost certainly the highest figure ever seen in an international match. It was at a scale that New Zealand had never remotely experienced before with an often seen expansive approach being replaced by forward attrition. The successful formula of recent years had been abandoned for some reason and New Zealand found themselves out of the competition.

If you are looking to watch the Rugby World Cup in the US you have a range of options. First, subscribe to Setanta Sports via your TV provider. Second, plenty of pubs will be showing the games, punch in your Zip code and get off to the game. Third, take a look at Mediazone to watch on your computer. No excuses now!

Mari-Cha has done it, breaking the 100 year record for an Atlantic crossing under sail. What’s amazing is the smaller Kiwi boat, Maximus, is only 3 hours (40 miles) behind her and still might be able to hunt her down for a win. Ok, it’s not a Podcast but here is a call from Mari-Cha on the record falling.

This morning, in thick English Channel fog, Robert Miller’s (Hong Kong/New York, N.Y.) 140-foot (43m) Mari-Cha IV passed through the four-mile-long gate off the Lizard on the Rolex Transatlantic Race to break the 100-year-old record set by Charlie Barr on board Wilson Marshall’s 185-foot (56.4m) Atlantic. Miller’s giant state-of-the-art racing schooner completed the 2,925-nautical mile passage, east across the North Atlantic between New York and the Lizard, in a time of 9 days, 15 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds-a full 2 days, 12 hours, 6 minutes and 56 seconds faster than Atlantic’s record-breaking voyage 100 years ago.

"It is a great feat," commented Mari-Cha IV’s owner Robert Miller. "For a record to stand 100 years, and we’ve had the honour to make an attempt and be successful at it–I am over the moon, overjoyed. It is fantastic. This was a very tough trip. We had six days of weather on the nose. We crossed the Gulf Stream, saw some very rough seas there and again headwinds and steep short seas on the nose, and the boat and the crew took a lot of beating."  – Regattanews.com

For all you yachties be sure to tune into the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge. Imagine two, hundred foot plus racing machines cutting across the top of the planet. These are two of the biggest, fastest yachts ever built. Charlie Brown says it all: 

Designed by Greg Elliott, who was also part of Mari-Cha IV’s design team, Maximus may be 40 feet shorter than her rival but benefits from state-of-the-art technology, maintains Charles Brown. He too is enthusiastic about the race celebrating the anniversary of Charlie Barr and Atlantic’s record-breaking voyage. “It is the greatest challenge, a 100-year-old record, what better could you do? Charlie Barr was the most famous yachtsman in the world. It has everything to do with why we built the boat. And it is extreme stuff. You go north, near the ice, and it is 3,200 miles – a really fantastic race.”

I wish these guys would RSS enable their sites though… The troubles we bloggers face….