I believe the Europe dinghy was replaced by the laser radial for women... What a downgrade that was... The Europe looked like a proper high tech boat with great foils, well made, with appropriate sail controls etc etc. I loved the way they moved through the water.
If memory serves... the ISAF wanted a POPULAR single hander... ergo the laser.
This fact makes your point. ISAF does not place a premium on a high performance boat for a particular event.
In fact... they can compromise quite a bit on performance to get mass appeal or familiarity to the world community.
I personally think the Olympic boats should be extremely high performance to make the work the sailor puts into the sport developing just a bit better sailing skill pay off with gold... ISAF and other groups would be OK if it's just a grunt contest or even a luck of the race contest when using lesser tech equipment.
Bottom line... I am very worried that the Olympic ideals that I value will be last on the list of priorities in deciding events and boats. ... But if the IOC says... bye bye to the ISAF... It will be a non issue.
