You know that it all comes down to the manipulation of fair sailing. If you are good, I do not believe that the minimum class wieght is an issue to you. Tornados do not need this complication in the class and I for one voted against it. I think somewhere on the second page of this thread, Rolf responded the decline in the Tornado class, stating that it is not happening, it is just flat. In Europe and Austraila this may not be the case. But in the US it is the case. I began racing Tornados in the late 80's and there were active fleets around the country. Our fleet in Hingham, MA was 15-18 boats and 80 boats turned up for the 1990 Nationals. Now there is no fleet and the last Pre-Olympics/Nationals were what 12-14 boats. Convince yourself the fleet is healthy and active, but you are only kidding yourself. Add to this the costs involved in running a campaign these days and you will additionally see why this class and others are struggling and why the Laser class is actually growing. You can afford the boat even if you cannot afford to campaign it. Add to this the new ISAF requirements for C1 events and world ranking even to compete in the trials. No more showing up at the trials and just competing. I think that you can join the trials, but without ranking, even if you won the regatta, you would not being on the Olympic team. But, why don't we just keep making sailing less accesable, more expensive and go back to only the elite for Olympic competition. It is sad when you have a sailor with the capabilities and skills that Lars Guck brings to the sport and watch him sit out the trials because of the campaigning costs.