My first post on my own thread after cooling down a little from the weekend:
The big downside new netting system that I see is that it severely restricts the view for spectators, especially where these is a field entrance on the spectator side. The velcro edging of the netting itself failed in a couple of places and needed patching, so that could be improved. As for wind resistance, there is little that I can think of that can be done to improve its performance, because there is not much to prevent it collapsing downwards when pushed over by the wind. At least permanent damage is relative unlikely to result.
As for the traditional netting systems: the hardware in use was in a poor state of repair before the event started, with serious rust and visibly bent poles. More importantly, it was inadequately secured, with no 45-degree guy lines to take wind loads, so all the force was transmitted to the relatively small footprint of the bases via the ratchet straps. There was, as far as I am aware, a single pole failure when the wind got up, which is about standard for any Millennium, and the rest of the field only failed while they were trying to lower the netting, causing uneven loads on the whole structure.
The copy of PGi I chucked in the top of my kitbag for the benefit of curious security staff happened to contain the review of last year's Malaga event, with a double-page photo of the fields. It could be seen that the netting poles in that setup had 45-degree guylines, which don't amplify wind forces as the small-angle straps do. If the same system in use this year had been properly tethered from the outset, I don't believe it would have failed.
The big downside new netting system that I see is that it severely restricts the view for spectators, especially where these is a field entrance on the spectator side. The velcro edging of the netting itself failed in a couple of places and needed patching, so that could be improved. As for wind resistance, there is little that I can think of that can be done to improve its performance, because there is not much to prevent it collapsing downwards when pushed over by the wind. At least permanent damage is relative unlikely to result.
As for the traditional netting systems: the hardware in use was in a poor state of repair before the event started, with serious rust and visibly bent poles. More importantly, it was inadequately secured, with no 45-degree guy lines to take wind loads, so all the force was transmitted to the relatively small footprint of the bases via the ratchet straps. There was, as far as I am aware, a single pole failure when the wind got up, which is about standard for any Millennium, and the rest of the field only failed while they were trying to lower the netting, causing uneven loads on the whole structure.
The copy of PGi I chucked in the top of my kitbag for the benefit of curious security staff happened to contain the review of last year's Malaga event, with a double-page photo of the fields. It could be seen that the netting poles in that setup had 45-degree guylines, which don't amplify wind forces as the small-angle straps do. If the same system in use this year had been properly tethered from the outset, I don't believe it would have failed.
