Jay, US Sailing dues are not used for Olympics, but they do run completely separate fundraising for Olympics. I can't recall the specific reason, it's probably buried on the website somewhere. You can always write a check and send in a donation.
I agree that full time Olympic paths often start after college, but if the US is going to be competitive internationally, the Olympic path must start younger....
I agree, and didn’t like what I was typing as it came out. The roots need to start earlier, but this will be a huge hurdle to set up in the short term. A long-term plan needs to be devised and implemented ASAP so we aren’t having this same discussion again down the road. There is lots of interest and potential right now at US Sailing, this is our chance to make a big impact.
So what can we do? Well in Europe they have the EUROSAF sailing cup, we need to work with Canada, Mexico, and the Islands to create a similar circuit. The regattas already exist- CORK, ABYC OCR, Miami OCR, etc., but quality and participation is lower than in Europe. Maybe we need to start incentivizing these events. Make competition in your regional OCR a mandatory requirement to qualifying for a regional development team. Having national ranking points that count towards funding tiers from US Sailing. Have quality clinics included as part of the events. We don't need huge fleets, but we need close the gap between youth sailing and college sailing, and a full time, euro-centric Olympic campaign.
I agree with a lot of this as well, but there are real travel costs here with those locations being so spread out. We need a plan to address that.
Fran (MIT Sailing Master) is all for running a college event in multihulls, but the same question arises... where do you get the boats?
This may be the most encouraging thing I have ever seen on this site! Let’s figure out how to solve the boat problem.
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I do know that there is some interest at NYYC and St. Francis in multihulls, and it’s not all due to the America’s Cup. Sail Newport has been a long-time supporter (Hobie 14 frostbiting, F18s, etc.), and has outstanding fundraising capabilities for projects that they buy into. NYYC and SN have established ties to Olympic sailing. I think we can leverage these (and other) avenues for everyone’s benefit.
Mike
