The Sailing Anarchy Podcast

Few stories in sailing have caught the public’s attention like the rescue of these two Hawaiian sailors.  At first a feel good story for the US Navy, Jen Appel’s inexperience and exaggeration turned the whole thing into a cautionary tale for people who might not have their story straight.  Phantom F11 storms, Giant marauding ‘pods’ of Tiger Sharks, the Dragon’s Triangle - none of it made sense, and Sailing Anarchy’s Mr. Clean caught up them to try to figure out what really happened out there.  From a New York mobile podcast, where the sailors were out of money and stuck in a place they would never want to be.

The 7 times Volvo Ocean Race competitor and first time America’s Cup winner talks about the obstacles faced by Emirates Team New Zealand on the road to Bermuda, and spends more than an hour with host Alan Block going over the plans for the next America’s Cup in Auckland, NZ. They talk boat choice, venue choice, and much, much more in this long-overdue chat between to bald guys with gravelly voices.

The talented pro rider and founder and president of the International Federation of Kitesports Organizations talks to Alan Block about the years long struggle between his organization and a group of companies, people, and organizations - including World Sailing - for the governance, ownership, and future of kiteboarding at all levels. Learn more at www.ifkitesports.org. 07:54 Why Spanish people can't understand Portuguese but Portuguese can understand Spanish 09:34 How Diego began his kiteboarding career, what he’s done 12:29 How to raise a kiting rock star - or at least a kid who loves what you do 15:04 Is the current state of kiting - tech and the sport’s maturity - a good time for a young rider to get into the sport? 16:29 Has the more modern gear and design made kiting safer? How did you deal with your kid’s safety when learning? 19:29 What was it like in the early days of pro riding? What was competitive kiting like before the IKA was born? When was it born? 22:38 How did IKA convince kite organizations to join them and World Sailing? 23:42 Was it improper for IKA to declare itself the governing body of kiting? Why? 24:04 Who is the mystery character that has been pushing kite boarding towards sailing and the olympics? 25:06 What is an International Federation anyway? How does it validly and responsibly represent its sport? 27:39 Is kiteboarding sailing? What do riders think? 29:04 What happened to windsurfing under ISAF/World Sailing stewardship? 30:44 Is World Sailing somehow sabotaging windsurfing to get kites in the Olympics? 31:44 Why doesn’t Diogo and IFKO work within World Sailing to accomplish the goals of the riding community? 33:24 Who are all the organizations now claiming to control kiting and how have they gone about pursuing those claims? 37:09 Who has jurisdiction over the IOC and its affiliated organizations? 38:39 Would kiting be better off under the IFKO or World Sailing? Why? 42:24 False documents, national sports ministers, and accreditation. How does it work (or not work)? 43:44 What laws does Diogo think have been broken in this case? 46:24 Why does sailing wants kiting in the Olympics so badly? 49:54 Why does Olympic sailing have such poor fan base 54:24 Speed skating, the EU commission for sport, and monopolies. What’s up? 55:09 How does Diogo intend to move forward to regain control of kiting? 57:59 What is the Global Kitesports Association, and what do they do? 62:61 what are IKA/GKA doing to advance kiteboarding interests? 68:44 Are there any official inquiries into the whole IKA vs. IFKO saga or anyone officially questioning IKA’s right to ‘exclusively govern’ kiteboarding? 70:54 What organizations does the IFKO represent? 75:44 How did the IKA move into and gather the support of the national kiting bodies? 81:04 Javier Perez Dolset, Spanish jails, and the ownership of kiteboarding. 87:04 Virgin Kite World Tour and Sir Richard Branson’s love affair with kiting. What kind of money is in kiting competitions? 88:34 Has Diogo or the IFKO reached out to Richard Branson? 89:54 Does Diogo (or Clean) really believe World Sailing is corrupt? 90:54 If Diogo could set the sport up in his own dream scenario, what would it look like in ten years? 96:09 How can riders or others support what you're trying to achieve for kiteboarding?

Mr. Clean hits a slew of wide-ranging subjects raised by the 2017 America’s Cup competition with some of the leaders in the sport of sailing. INTRO SHOW NOTES: 00:00:19 Sailing Anarchy current podcast numbers – 200K downloads - thank you listeners! 00:01:04 Reach out on itunes, stitcher, clean@sailinganarchy.com if you have any show ideas. 00:05:55 The Ellison Era – the good, the bad, the ugly. 00:16:30 Cup media program, media coverage. 00:18:50 The in-person experience at AC Bermuda, 00:19:33 Broadcast/production problems with analysis. 00:26:222 Clean goes to Nacra 17/49erFX/49er European Championships – what to expect. First, a discussion of the event itself with two writers with 6 decades of AC coverage between them; Associated Press sailing correspondent Bernie Wilson and longtime Aussie scribe Rob Mundle. Show notes: 00:28:55 Intro to Bernie Wilson and Rob Mundle, plug for Mundle’s soon-to-publish Spithill biography. 00:30:57 legendary parties and the Society of International Nautical Scribes (SINS). 00:34:00 Does the Associated Press see sailing as a major sport? How do they cover it and why? Who is following the SA in mainstream media? 00:46:22 ACEA/Coutts/Bermuda administration; did Russell take his eye off the prize? “If they want to be mainstream, they have to act like a mainstream   sport.” 00:54:22 “Good riddance to Larry Ellison and the Cup. The Louis Viutton effect vs. the Red Bull effect. 00:58:00 will the US get behind an American challenger? 1:01:08 The Cup as a hooker and Coutts as the pimp. Next, a tech talk with the man behind the on-screen broadcast graphics known as Liveline, multiple world-record-holding navigator Stan Honey.   Show notes: 01:03:07 Stan’s interesting month in Bermuda, his role in the 2017 AC. 01:06:42 Stan’s/Liveline’s role in AC35, differences between SF and BDA systems. 01:08:52 Factchecking Spithill’s claims that the software caused his multiple OCS. 01:11:20 On screen graphics/green screen/Hockey Puck swoosh from 1993/geeky broadcast stuff. 01:15:19 Bringing Liveline to lower budget classes/events. 01:18:18 Too much information for sailors? 01:21:08 Tech’s ability to make the sport less intimidating for both fans and competitors. 01:22:55 Storytelling, digital streaming, customizable interactive viewing, the PGA tour, professional directing. “The key to everything is the story.” 01:27:43 Stans’s experience at the AC, overall highlights. 01:28:45 Stan’s Transpac record, what’s next. 01:29:35 That’s a wrap – custom feed and the importance of the storytelling team.The Interview Wrap-Up: The Custom Feed & the Right Storytellers 01:29:35 Finally, a chat with America’s fastest foiler, double Moth world champion Bora Gulari, about the recent Mackinac Race, his picks for the Moth Worlds, and some foil design thoughts about the AC50, as well as a discussion on what Bora would like to see in the next America’s Cup (hint, it ain’t a multihull!).   Show Notes: 01:35:27 Mackinac carnage – what happened to Natalie J? 01:38:38 the MOD aboard Meridian X, thoughts. 01:41:48 Safety conscious sailing – more sensible these days or more reckless? 01:43:19 Battle of the Lakes superboats, damage to Earth Voyager. 01:45:15 America’s Cup impressions, good vs. bad matches, and the problems with the grinding. “It just doesn’t feel right to me.” 01:47:46 Foil shapes and changeable surfaces, new Gitana, flaps. 01:50:07 Wing trimming vs. sail trimming. 01:51:25 automatic foiling, the Holy Grail of perfectly stable/low drag foiling. 01:53:07 The rise of Burling – luck vs. skill vs. maturity. 01:54:05 Foil shape analysis of AC. “Aspect ratio is king”, daggerboard shredding. 01:59:19 Getting personal/emotions at missing the Cup after being part of Luna Rossa team. “They definitely got the short end of the stick.” 02:01:53 Underdogs and outsiders. 02:03:15 If Bora picked his perfect boat for the next AC, what would it be? Why don’t we have widespread automated electronic foil control now? Other formats, “I think the Superfoiler has a lot of potential.” 02:10:30 Bora pulls out of Moth Worlds. 02:13:27 Moth Worlds form guide. 02:19:30 Outro/What’s next for the Sailing Anarchy Podcast/Wishlist for future talks

Alan Block sits down in Bermuda with the legendary Aussie catamaran sailor for a half hour of fascinating subjects the day after his Kiwi team closed the Larry Ellison chapter of the America’s Cup. Subjects:  How his time as a kid, watching the C-Class cats on the beach near Melbourne, led to his current job.  Wing development boss Steve Collie’s work and their different design philosophy for wing handling.  “You can’t fly a plane with a piece of rope”.  Why no one else copied their wing system, and how many secrets are they still guarding?   How their wing trim and foil loading gave them stability without penalty, and enabled their slick maneuvers. Once and for all, were they sandbagging in the earlier rounds?  “We kept our good fruit for the end” How did they balance the need to push and develop the boat with the fact that any breakage in Auckland might mean an end to their campaign? “27 hours before the first race of the America’s cup was the first time we had all of our good componentry on the boat”. What was the actual speed difference between oracle and ETNZ?  To what does Glenn attribute Pete’s 7-1 advantage over Jimmy in the starting box?  What maneuvers could they do that no one else could? In what conditions does the jib hurt boat speed, and why didn’t they go bareheaded in their racing? Will wing sailed boats in the future need jibs? Why did Glenn and so many sailors take less money than other offers in order to stay on ETNZ? Just how close did ETNZ come to shutting their doors and walking away from competition? Will Glenn return with ETNZ for the next America’s Cup? If Glenn was given a free hand to pick any boat for the next America’s Cup, what would it look like? Did ACEA/Oracle’s shenanigans provide additional motivation for ETNZ to fight their hearts out? Next for Lenny: Moths? A-Cat Worlds?  Vacation?