Interesting Mike Spracklen article!

[Jim Dwyer]

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/opinion/olympics2012/2012/08/there-is-no-middle-ground-with-rowing-coach-mike-spracklen.html

[Henry Law]

On 06/08/12 17:21, Jim Dwyer wrote:
> http://www.cbc.ca/sports/opinion/olympics2012/2012/08/there-is-no-middle-ground-with-rowing-coach-mike-spracklen.html
>

It is interesting. I have no idea whether or not Spracklen's way of
doing things is the best, but I am very doubtful of any suggestion that
there is _one_ way that is best for _every_ type of athlete.

OK, he's a successful coach in international competition. But maybe he
only gets results in times when he has a crew made up of athletes for
whom his way of doing things is best. Maybe in other periods he has a
crew of athletes for whom some other way of managing and motivating them
would put them among the medals, but because he only does it his way
they failed to win?

--

Henry Law Manchester, England

[cjdg...@googlemail.com]

I rowed in his first medal crew. He was and is inspirational. About 80 people turned up for the first trial meeting. He told them to meed up at the Hounslow (now TTRC) boat house in a sculler at 0800 on the Sat. By the end of the day we had sculled up to Richmond half lock, much with feet out, turned round and done a head course from Chiswick to Putney and returned to Hounslow - that was the first outing. The second was a further "techical" up to Richmond and back. Same thing Sunday. 20 people were left the next weekend. 12 the weekend after that. Squad was selected from those twelve. One was a chap in a rum tum (the only boat he had access to). Interestingly, he asked the 10 people left when the eight was selected to vote for whom THEY wanted to row with by ballot saying "oarsmen know who are the strongest people as they row with them and no one will vote to put in the weaker links" That was how the eight was selected at that stage. It did however need strengthening at a later stage and so, sadly for one bloke, who got to be spare man, after the nationals he put in a stronger guy whose later career proved the decision right. Mike does have a ruthless side but you need that to win. I have never seen him be abusive to any athlete but he is so single minded that it sometimes appears that he has no time or consideration for the athletes that do not make it. What surprises me about the allegations made is that some of his more successful athletes with gold past records are apparently behind the complaints. With respect to Darren Barber, I suspect that Mike was testing him because (as I recall and I stand to be corrected) Darren was in my alma mater in Dublin doing his training and only came over to train with Mike at a later stage - hence the exhaustive checking. Others may correct me. All in all If your country's goal is to win medals preferably gold ones Mike is your man. If you want to develop a broad range of talent and extract bronzes from finalists, he is not. Paul Thompson got medals (OK four years later) with the athletes that Mike did not in 2000 but you could easily argue that it was the mental and physical training done under Mike that was the platform that Paul used for his success. Paul who has to be the most successful UK coach after Brailsford, did have is detractors and one got a gold medal in cycling to prove it! You cannot win them all!

[sully]

On Aug 10, 1:09 am, cjdgeo...@googlemail.com wrote:
> On Monday, August 6, 2012 5:34:54 PM UTC+1, Henry Law wrote:
> > On 06/08/12 17:21, Jim Dwyer wrote:
>

> > >http://www.cbc.ca/sports/opinion/olympics2012/2012/08/there-is-no-mid...

>
> > It is interesting. I have no idea whether or not Spracklen's way of
>
> > doing things is the best, but I am very doubtful of any suggestion that
>
> > there is _one_ way that is best for _every_ type of athlete.
>
> > OK, he's a successful coach in international competition.  But maybe he
>
> > only gets results in times when he has a crew made up of athletes for
>
> > whom his way of doing things is best.  Maybe in other periods he has a
>
> > crew of athletes for whom some other way of managing and motivating them
>
> > would put them among the medals, but because he only does it his way
>
> > they failed to win?
>
> > --
>
> > Henry Law            Manchester, England
>
> I rowed in his first medal crew. He was and is inspirational. About 80 people turned up for the first trial

There is a good friend and current coach out there,
a US gold winner. Years back one of his college rowers
who was on the fringes of the nat'l team came up
and told him about her frustrations, getting beat
in seat races, and not happy with her progress.

He bluntly and rather rudely told her she ought
to go back and be a stockbroker, make a ton
of money and raise a family. He said rowing isn't
worth it.

I saw him do this and my jaw dropped. She rowed
for him in college, and you'd think he'd be a huge
help to her as a nat'l team candidate.

She got cut from the team that year. She stuck
with it and in a few years won an Oly medal.

I never had a follow up conversation with either
about that. I have never drawn a conclusion, either,
just always found the story interesting.

The US guys that I know that rowed for Mike
liked him and respected him as a coach. I always
use Spracklin as a shining example of the
difficulty trying to win gold medals with US men's
Oly rowing.

[Charles Carroll]

"We all have a point at which we stop; we give up. We wall have a point at
which we back off ... So we create an environment where the goal is to
retire that point — push it further down the line — until it becomes that
last stroke of a race." -Mike Spracklen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNA-JaCkvQg

[redandwhite]

Latest news with commentary from Mike fans:

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2012/10/01/sp-rowing-canada-spracklen.html

In summary, RCA has decided that Mike will no longer be part of their coaching staff.

[redandwhite]

It has been a long time since I last posted and wasn't sure what name I would post under. Glad to see that it is this one.

I rowed for Mike what seems like a lifetime ago, but in reality this was within the last 10 years. I still have mixed emotions about him. He is someone who set up a process that helped me push myself to my physical limits. It didn't push me past my limits, but definitely helped me discover that those physical and mental limits were not what I thought they were. Without him, I would have never rowed on a National Team.

I was also fortunate to have rowed with people who are still my heroes and because I got to see the inside I can understand their views.

One one hand you have the passion demonstrated by Kevin Light (http://www.cbc.ca/sports/opinion/2012/10/rowing-canada-will-regret-parting-with-spracklen.html) and by anonymous rowers who commented after the cbc.ca story. Whilst not agreeing with the vehemence of the anonymous attacks on other rowers, I can fully understand their admiration of the man who took gifted athletes and made them the best in the world.

But, I can also fully understand the opposite views (http://www.cbc.ca/sports/rowing/opinion/2012/10/rowing-canada-better-off-without-spracklen.html). I can relate to the abuse and bullying that went on. Sure, so long as you were spared it, or if you were a favored athlete it was easy to keep quiet- after all, you had sacrificed so much physically what is a little emotional pain to go with it?

But, I am ashamed to say that it was bullying and it was abuse. Yes, Mike obtained amazing results, but he and by association his rowers used and abused others to get these results. Mike could of obtained the same results without the vitriol and anger that he used to make personal attacks on people - both his rowers and his employers.

[sully]

How would you define "abuse" in this case? Do you have an example without giving names?

Years ago, I watched a US nat'l candidate approach the head coach during selection camp. She had gotten hammered on some seat races, was fatigued, a little bit sick, and very discouraged. She could see the writing on the wall.

She asked the head coach what she could do to make the boat go better, if he saw what she was doing to get beat. She was on the verge of tears.

I had observed her shortening up and hammering during the pieces, not really lengthening and rowing with the rest of the four, and expected to hear something like that.

Instead said the coach:

"****, I don't think you have it in you to be on the team, you just aren't good enough. I think you're wasting your time here and should go back to ****** and be a stockbroker."

She looked like he punched her in the stomach, they'd known each other long time.

she stormed off pretty angry. She did get cut that year, didn't make a crew that year, but achieved a world medal a year or two later.

[redandwhite]

On Monday, August 6, 2012 9:21:39 AM UTC-7, Jim wrote:
> http://www.cbc.ca/sports/opinion/olympics2012/2012/08/there-is-no-middle-ground-with-rowing-coach-mike-spracklen.html

Two events are vividly etched in my memory through the haze of training under Mike:

A (yet to be) Olympic Gold medal winner in tears on the lake after a tirade about his attitude and ability.
A (yet to be) World Cup gold medal winner and Olympic rower told in a public meeting that he was wasting his time, that he would never be a successful rower as he was not tall enough or powerful enough (yet still taller and with a better erg score than other people whom were in the 8).
In both cases the rowers were advised that they should quit and find something that they could be successful at.

There are other examples that I remember but will not repeat as I did not personally witness. Neither will I confuse things by mentioning the many instances of unprofessionalism that caused friction with rowers and RCA officials that I both witnessed and heard about.

In both cases mentioned above, the rowers ultimately were successful. Yoda fans use examples like these to demonstrate his ability to motivate rowers. Whereas others uses these as examples of his confrontational and unsupportive attitude towards rowers who were not favored.

Mike told me that he honestly did not think that I as not good enough to make it into a boat at the Olympics. When he did this, it was one-on-one and he also let me know that if I thought he was wrong and wanted to prove this then I was welcome to train at the center and have access to the equipment and coaching to do so. Same message, same effect (in terms of motivation, sadly not results) but totally different delivery.

The results excuse everything is the common theme in the comments on the media web sites that are reporting this. Interestingly, I note that the rower who was in tears is one of those who support Mike and are publicly condemning RCA for this move. So...maybe he is right, and I become a bleeding heart liberal in my old age.

[sully]

So your description is not unlike some other coaches I've seen, national coaches, and college, in fact very similar.

I've never liked it, but I get it.

In their minds there is a standard of athleticism and toughness that they accept, everything else doesn't count.

It's the athlete's responsibility to put him or herself at that level.

[thomas....@googlemail.com]

"In their minds there is a standard of athleticism and toughness that they accept, everything else doesn't count. It's the athlete's responsibility to put him or herself at that level."

Id propose a slight edit to your statement above

In their minds there is a standard of athleticism and toughness that they accept, everything else doesn't count.

It's the athlete's responsibility to put him or herself at that level BUT EQUALLY it is the coaches responsibility to allow the athelete to demonstrate they can perform at that level

Quite often that last part can be missed off

[Henry Law]

On 03/10/12 21:34, redandwhite wrote:> On Monday, August 6, 2012 9:21:39
AM UTC-7, Jim wrote:
> ... fans use examples like these to demonstrate his ability to
motivate rowers.

I don't know they guy and I'm never likely to, and I have no experience
of life at the kind of level some of you are or were familiar with. But
one thing I do know: people get motivation in different ways, and it's
clear that this man had ability only to motivate certain kinds of
rowers, the kind that are motivated by being bullied. Because bullying
is what it sounds like: someone exercising over someone else a power to
hurt them.

What about all the other kinds of rowers, for whom this barbarous
"ability" of his was hateful? How many excellent, gold-medal-winning
athletes has Mr Spracklen lost to Canada? How many of them would have
used a positive experience of being coached to excellence as a means to
coach others - the current junior generation - to greater excellence?

The mark of a great coach is not (just) that she or he produces
excellence from athletes; it's that she or he can produce excellence
from a wide range of athletes. Mr Spracklen, it would appear, cannot do
that and therefore in my mind he's a lop-sided coach, dividing his squad
into "favourites" and "victims" and, we're told, bullying the latter
mercilessly.

There was a rugby coach at my school who was like that. He was held in
contempt by everyone that was not in his "favourites" group. Which, in
the end, was nearly everyone.

[sully]

I'm not sure I understand the edit. An athlete who demonstrates the athleticism and toughness will get a shot, that according to the mindset
of that particular coach.

We are human, and it's possible that the opportunity that coach believes he provides is not necessarily the one the athlete believes he/she has been offered.

I thought about this some more the other evening.

Do you believe that the pursuit of elite level rowing is for everyone? Would you encourage a person who had no athletic talent to pursue a national team?

To what end?

The coach I know who is pretty brutal about this stuff just frankly thinks that the pursuit of the nat'l team is only about winning. If you don't have the talent and toughness to do so, he feels you're wasting your time, actually feels by rejecting you he's doing you a favor. If you aren't tough enough to win in spite of the guy, you aren't tough enough anyway. Rowers have proved it, been rejected, cut, told to go away, and come back and win. The ones who stayed away, he feels would have eventually failed anyway.

So yes, there's hurt feelings. But every athlete who works very hard and fails at their goal has severely hurt feelings. I think back at races I lost and there's no a-hole coach in the world who can make me feel as bad as I felt just losing those races.

[Carl]

This discussion highlights concerns I'd raised elsewhere.

All that extraordinary focus on the physical, with not a thought about
equipment? That's like perfecting a race-car's engine while ignoring
its aerodynamics & suspension.

Sire, crew power & fitness are vital. But they are not everything. Why
not involve real science & engineering to optimise equipment? Why not
work with those who have already proven their competence in this area?

In the 2012 Saturday finals crews were moving crab-wise in the
cross-wind, which certainly made them a lot slower. Just 15km away, we
had specialist kit - readily available - which would have enabled any of
those boats to point more directly along the course throughout - &
thereby to reach the finish several seconds faster.

That coaches & teams have deliberately ignored or blinded themselves to
the means to save several seconds while flogging crews all year for a
smaller gains is myopic folly on a grand scale. But that's the
technologically blinkered mindset within high-performance rowing circles.

Carl

--
Carl Douglas Racing Shells -
Fine Small-Boats/AeRoWing Low-drag Riggers/Advanced Accessories
Write: Harris Boatyard, Laleham Reach, Chertsey KT16 8RP, UK
Find: tinyurl.com/2tqujf
Email: ca...@carldouglas.co.uk Tel: +44(0)1932-570946 Fax: -563682
URLs: carldouglas.co.uk & now on Facebook @ CarlDouglasRacingShells

[A. Dumas]

Carl wrote:
> Sire,

That's giving Ol' Sully WAY too much credit.

[Carl]

Hardly. He is, after all, a father of RSR, & we're enjoined to 'honour
thy father and mother....'

;)

[thomas....@googlemail.com]

On Saturday, October 6, 2012 8:04:36 PM UTC+1, Carl wrote:
> On 05/10/2012 23:14, sully wrote: > On Friday, October 5, 2012 2:28:56 AM UTC-7, (unknown) wrote: >> "In their minds there is a standard of athleticism and toughness that they accept, everything else doesn't count. It's the athlete's responsibility to put him or herself at that level." >> >> >> >> Id propose a slight edit to your statement above >> >> >> >> In their minds there is a standard of athleticism and toughness that they accept, everything else doesn't count. >> >> >> >> It's the athlete's responsibility to put him or herself at that level BUT EQUALLY it is the coaches responsibility to allow the athelete to demonstrate they can perform at that level >> >> >> >> Quite often that last part can be missed off > > I'm not sure I understand the edit. An athlete who demonstrates the athleticism and toughness will get a shot, that according to the mindset > of that particular coach. > > We are human, and it's possible that the opportunity that coach believes he provides is not necessarily the one the athlete believes he/she has been offered. > > I thought about this some more the other evening. > > Do you believe that the pursuit of elite level rowing is for everyone? Would you encourage a person who had no athletic talent to pursue a national team? > > To what end? > > The coach I know who is pretty brutal about this stuff just frankly thinks that the pursuit of the nat'l team is only about winning. If you don't have the talent and toughness to do so, he feels you're wasting your time, actually feels by rejecting you he's doing you a favor. If you aren't tough enough to win in spite of the guy, you aren't tough enough anyway. Rowers have proved it, been rejected, cut, told to go away, and come back and win. The ones who stayed away, he feels would have eventually failed anyway. > > So yes, there's hurt feelings. But every athlete who works very hard and fails at their goal has severely hurt feelings. I think back at races I lost and there's no a-hole coach in the world who can make me feel as bad as I felt just losing those races. > > This discussion highlights concerns I'd raised elsewhere. All that extraordinary focus on the physical, with not a thought about equipment? That's like perfecting a race-car's engine while ignoring its aerodynamics & suspension. Sire, crew power & fitness are vital. But they are not everything. Why not involve real science & engineering to optimise equipment? Why not work with those who have already proven their competence in this area? In the 2012 Saturday finals crews were moving crab-wise in the cross-wind, which certainly made them a lot slower. Just 15km away, we had specialist kit - readily available - which would have enabled any of those boats to point more directly along the course throughout - & thereby to reach the finish several seconds faster. That coaches & teams have deliberately ignored or blinded themselves to the means to save several seconds while flogging crews all year for a smaller gains is myopic folly on a grand scale. But that's the technologically blinkered mindset within high-performance rowing circles. Carl -- Carl Douglas Racing Shells - Fine Small-Boats/AeRoWing Low-drag Riggers/Advanced Accessories Write: Harris Boatyard, Laleham Reach, Chertsey KT16 8RP, UK Find: tinyurl.com/2tqujf Email: ca...@carldouglas.co.uk Tel: +44(0)1932-570946 Fax: -563682 URLs: carldouglas.co.uk & now on Facebook @ CarlDouglasRacingShells

Out of curiostiy what products do you provide that would have prevented the "crabbing"? It was certainly very obvious in the LM2x where all boats piled off to bowside from the start and as someone who tends to race on Dorney quite a lot itd be interesting to hear what tools there are to stop it. Marlow Regatta this year for example I think we spent the first 500m at a 45 degree angle in the lane :)

It was interesting that several of the GB pairs had those "shark fin" black blocks on the bow canvas, I assume for headwind deflection although I wonder benefit it wouldve had in a cross wind?

[davie...@gmail.com]

Carl mentioned his canard fins. I am assuming he meant those.

[Carl]

That's right. The proper combination of our AeRowFin steering foil and
our canard (= forward-mounted) C-Fin will make your life a whole lot
more fun. Why not give me a call and I'll be happy to explain how & why?

Cheers -

[thomas....@googlemail.com]

Ah many thanks for clarifying, after messaging I read the other thread where you expanded these comments and talked about the "canard" fins, I hadn't actally realised they were an item you sold!

Both the fin and the stories of tape along the blade shaft to help against wind (i believe, correct me if I am wrong) were both things I had read about being done by the 2000 sydney 8 to get an "edge"

[redandwhite]

On Monday, August 6, 2012 9:21:39 AM UTC-7, Jim wrote:

> http://www.cbc.ca/sports/opinion/olympics2012/2012/08/there-is-no-middle-ground-with-rowing-coach-mike-spracklen.html

When this guy talks, I listen:

http://scottfrandsen.com/2012/10/letter-from-darren-barber-olympic-champion/

[Carl]

Actually, I did report on her on RSR on that case of swamping &
subsequent hypothermia of members of the Canadian squad that year. I
believe the outing was continued on grounds given by the coach as
approximately: "Do you think the Germans would cut training when it gets
a bit rough?"

[Carl]

On 08/10/2012 16:16, thomas....@googlemail.com wrote:
> Ah many thanks for clarifying, after messaging I read the other thread where you expanded these comments and talked about the "canard" fins, I hadn't actally realised they were an item you sold!
>
> Both the fin and the stories of tape along the blade shaft to help against wind (i believe, correct me if I am wrong) were both things I had read about being done by the 2000 sydney 8 to get an "edge"
>

Yes, it has all been a bit 'spread about' over the 2 threads. And while
we don't deliberately hide our lights under a bushel, even so we have
tried to market first the AeRowFin and only then - as a valuable
enhancement - the C-Fin. I have thought it best to educate slowly

What has amazed me, which is why I've opened out on this following the
Olympics, has been the dumbly insolent scepticism & stolid
'don'tcareness' that the concept of being able to steer & control your
boat with precision has evinced among so many supposedly bright rowers.

It astounds me that rowers who are happy to fly anywhere seem not to
appreciate, nor even to wish to accept, that the science which enables
the design of modern aircraft, wind turbines, racing yachts & race cars
- among so many others - is equally applicable to rowing equipment & to
how we should best row as it is to any of these other fields. Even in
the early C21st, rowing remains stuck with the outdated interpretations
developed by the classicists who coached rowers in the late C19th. Thus
a major field of engineering science has passed by, virtually unnoticed
by this sport.

Earlier this year I offered to write a series of short, entirely
non-mathematical articles for Rowing & Regatta (British Rowing's house
magazine). They were to have been entitled, "The Fluid-dynamics of
Rowing - or - Several Ways to Save a Second" & each would have dealt
with a separate aspect of rowing which is better understood by the
informed application of this science. After a long silence they told
me, "It would be too technical" - but how could they possibly know? And
then they told me that, "It wouldn't fit with our plans". Doh!

My view is that BR prefers to shun articles which might, even remotely,
pose the risk of conflicting with their 'established wisdom'. Yes, I
might well have offered some (to them) new insights, but shouldn't any
forward-thinking sport have encouraged this?

I think this kind of negative response speaks volumes. Its time to open
the curtains & see if we can cast a bit of light on how better, & more
intelligently, to get from the start to the finish of a race.
Especially since there are distinct physical limits to how hard we can
get any human body to work, & since the increasing burdens of training
for ever-decreasing returns seem guaranteed to deaden the spirit & kill
the enjoyment of our sport.

[James HS]

On Monday, August 6, 2012 5:21:39 PM UTC+1, Jim wrote:
> http://www.cbc.ca/sports/opinion/olympics2012/2012/08/there-is-no-middle-ground-with-rowing-coach-mike-spracklen.html

>> "It would be too technical" - but how could they possibly know? And
then they told me that, "It wouldn't fit with our plans". Doh!

Kind of sums up why R&R is a fairly poor read. Other journals I get (not rowing) I keep and rip out or scan articles to keep - not R&R I am afraid as it is repetitive and mainly for the 'pictures'.

What a pity there is not an outlet for your wisdom Carl.

James

[sully]

On Oct 6, 3:24 pm, Carl <s...@sss.jjj> wrote:
> On 06/10/2012 22:10, A. Dumas wrote:
>
> > Carl wrote:
> >> Sire,
>
> > That's giving Ol' Sully WAY too much credit.
>
> Hardly.  He is, after all, a father of RSR, & we're enjoined to 'honour
> thy father and mother....'
>
> ;)

Whoosh, totally over my head.

Is my explanation for a not uncommon view on
coaching somehow opposed to understanding the
technical aspects of rowing equipment.

I told a tale of a particular coach I know
very well. He introduced the riblets to shells
that were subsequently banned.

I don't adopt his methods, but I understand
them and see their place.

explain?

[sully]

On Oct 8, 11:32 pm, James HS <jholmessie...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Monday, August 6, 2012 5:21:39 PM UTC+1, Jim wrote:

> >http://www.cbc.ca/sports/opinion/olympics2012/2012/08/there-is-no-mid...

> >> "It would be too technical" - but how could they possibly know?  And
>
> then they told me that, "It wouldn't fit with our plans".  Doh!
>
> Kind of sums up why R&R is a fairly poor read. Other journals I get (not rowing) I keep and rip out or scan articles to keep - not R&R I am afraid as it is repetitive and mainly for the 'pictures'.
>
> What a pity there is not an outlet for your wisdom Carl.

RSR is archived.

It has also been helpful at spreading the message. I just saw
JD challenge Pocock flotation in their newly marketed eight.

RSR is a place to argue the ideas, formed ideas have to be brought
to
the governing bodies and manufacturers by coaches and athletes
who give a s***

[thomas....@googlemail.com]

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012 7:32:50 AM UTC+1, James HS wrote:
> On Monday, August 6, 2012 5:21:39 PM UTC+1, Jim wrote: > http://www.cbc.ca/sports/opinion/olympics2012/2012/08/there-is-no-middle-ground-with-rowing-coach-mike-spracklen.html >> "It would be too technical" - but how could they possibly know? And then they told me that, "It wouldn't fit with our plans". Doh! Kind of sums up why R&R is a fairly poor read. Other journals I get (not rowing) I keep and rip out or scan articles to keep - not R&R I am afraid as it is repetitive and mainly for the 'pictures'. What a pity there is not an outlet for your wisdom Carl. James

I agree, it's a shame these sort of disucssions aren't spread out amongst the rowing population more. They may or may not cause confusion but at least it gets people thinking and maybe even a few more people giving new ideas a try

Carl - Did you try providing the article ideas to another rowing publication? Rowing Voice is the other one that jumps to mind? Or maybe even do occasional articles published on your website, sort of like biorow currently do?

[Carl]

Yes, I discussed it with Rowing News. Again they seemed confused. They
asked me if I'd seen the video put out by Vespoli (I had, but they sent
me the link anyway).

They seemed to think that Vespoli's promotional video said all it was
necessary for rowers to know. I replied that I thought it was a great
publicity tool but was devoid of information useful to rowers.

We got no further.

Need I say more?

[Carl]

Here we go - topic drift ;)

Well, yes, I will say a bit more:

The proposed articles are coming together nicely and will, in due
course, be published as an EBook.

There's no deadline, so please be patient. Meanwhile I will always
welcome suggestions for areas I ought to cover.

Cheers -

[robin_d...@hotmail.com]

I am assuming that this will already be included as it has come up many times over the past decade on RSR in dribs and drabs, but within the treatise it would be really useful to have a comprehensive but succinct explanation of how and why a boat steers (or doesn't) when the cox wants it to, the factors that contribute to this (interaction of bow shape and fin / rudder combination), and, for instance, the additional situations where the boat steers when you don't want it to (impact of crosswinds or blade timing on directional stability and how a bow canard fin can rectify this when the hull shape doesn't have inbuilt directional stability. On this topic, were there ever any photographs of the Sydney 2000 bow fin in situ?

[Carl]

On 09/10/2012 14:42, robin_d...@hotmail.com wrote:
>
> I am assuming that this will already be included as it has come up many times over the past decade on RSR in dribs and drabs, but within the treatise it would be really useful to have a comprehensive but succinct explanation of how and why a boat steers (or doesn't) when the cox wants it to, the factors that contribute to this (interaction of bow shape and fin / rudder combination), and, for instance, the additional situations where the boat steers when you don't want it to (impact of crosswinds or blade timing on directional stability and how a bow canard fin can rectify this when the hull shape doesn't have inbuilt directional stability. On this topic, were there ever any photographs of the Sydney 2000 bow fin in situ?
>
>

Yes, the hows & whys of shell steering is one chapter in the book. You
put the relevant points of interest very well, Robin, for which many thanks.

A photo of our C-fin on the GBR 2000 Vespoli was posted on Vespoli's
website at that time. The boat was, IIRC, upside down on trestles. I
guess the more expert among us will be able to extract it from a
way-back archive?