Snipe Rodeo Stampede

APRIL FOOLS’ DAY – THIS IS A JOKE

To survive, sports must attract more and more spectators, sponsors and money. We must create a product that can be sold to the largest television networks and “make numbers” of viewers on YouTube channels.

Extreme sports are the best way to attract attention. In alpine skiing a giant slalom is boring compared to a ski cross race, with 4 skiers simultaneously going down a narrow slope with artificial features like jumps, rollers or banks and lots of falls and contact between competitors. The technical aspect is less important than the expected accident; excitement is the key.

So, to make sailing exciting, the Snipe Class will experiment with the “Rule Rodeo Stampede.”

The screws of the hiking straps in half the boats will be replaced (secretly, and without the knowledge of competitors) with tin screws specially created by the SCIRA Saboteurs Committee and approved by the SCIRA Technical Committee. Tin screws look exactly the same as normal stainless steel screws, but they are designed to break under load at the least opportune time.

What this will mean is that skippers and crews will suddenly end up in the water, at different times during each race.

But wait, there’s more!

Antonio Bari, chief of the Rules Committee—after in-depth consultations with the expert in Snipe Rodeo, Diego “Mini” Lipszyc—has found a way to make things even more exciting: the unfortunate dismounted sailor can only be recovered with a rope tossed by a competitor from another boat.

The cowboy / sailor can throw any type of rope but it must have a loop (known as lasso) big enough to fit over the head  or around one leg of the poor sailor. The recovered sailor must then be secured in a fashion dictated by his/her size and age, before delivering the prey to the closest RIB.

The “cowboy-boat” will receive a bonus of 10 points (e.g., finish position = 15th: total points will be 15-10=5. A race winner would receive a score of -9.)

Mini, who has been invited to join the Rules Committee as lasso specialist, said: “In spite of every superstition, I am sure that, with all the experience I have in this field, Luis and I will be able to bring the Isaacks Hub Trophy back to Argentina. And the Worlds for the next 30 editions will be held on the Rio de la Plata. ”