The three US Delegates voted as they were directed - there were no "loose cannons." I expect that other countries' delegates did the same... If you live in GBR or NZL or BRA or CAN, you should be working toward finding out why your Delegates voted as they did, and determining what it would take for them to rank the open multihull event above the men's keelboat event. In some cases, it is merely subjective on their part and quite easily reversed.
John,
I happen to know well the only Brazilian who voted there, but in my opinion this doesn't help much. Maybe the data and reasoning will be of help:
He personally funded or participated in the funding of the most successfull Brazilian Olympic sailing campaigns, bringing more Olympic medals to the country than any other sport (yes, of ALL olympic sports!). Among others, he funded Lars Grael's Tornado campaigns that culminated with a bronze medal when Randy Smith won silver.
The fact that only two persons have represent Brazil in ISAF almost forever is recognized as one of the reasons why Sailing is more succesfull than any other Olympic sport in Brazil.
The two representatives and their group (the Iate Clube do Rio de Janeiro sailing department and part of the council, essentially) are stronger than the Brazilian Sailing Federation (FBVM), that is more government related than sailing related. The FBVM manages government money to sailing and boating, which is not really relevant. Anyway, his vote is representive of this group's opinion and, since a consensus is rare, the two ISAF "life representatives" opinion weight a lot.
I know that the person who voted (and his group) have nothing against multihulls, so pressing him is worse than useless, especially from abroad (remember I am not in Brazil now). He knows me since I was three years old and will not form his opinion based on what I say. What I can do is send information from important and reliable third parties - and that is what I am doing. But not in an obvious way:
I am sending everything to the greatest sailing reporter in the country. His note following the vote was pro-multihull and pro women's HP dinghy. He sails mostly Stars with the mentioed group and works as Lars Grael's press secretary (Lars is in politics since he lost his leg). This will work over the entire group and will carry more weight than a chat over the phone with me.
Another piece of information: the Tornado sailors in Brazil are leaving for the A Class because they feel the T is too expensive - and it certainly is for them due to 85% taxes/duties on anything imported. When people say "the Tornado is relatively inexpensive compared to campaign costs" they forget to consider each country's specifics. Those taxes/duties do not apply to campaign costs, obviously, so the cost of the boat is proportionally more important for the Brazilians.
