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.... it definitely does elsewhere in the world! To accomplish this, the strength of our domestic program must get better. It is unrealistic to think that a high school or early college sailor can commit to a summer racing in Europe... even if they have extraordinary drive and commitment. Unfortunately, that is where the competition is, and our European counterparts benefit greatly from the harsh realities of geography.

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.

As far as college sailing, I love the game- it is perhaps the simplest, most fun sailing you can possibly have. The important thing to remember, however, is that college sailing is just a very, very small part of the overall sailing world. It is really good at teaching some skills, but the realities of the venues and format mean some skills are neglected- and that is ok! I don't think an Olympic campaign and college sailing are mutually exclusive, but success in both requires clear communication of goals between coach and sailor, and flexibility from both sides.

Fran (MIT Sailing Master) is all for running a college event in multihulls, but the same question arises... where do you get the boats?

These issues are fresh in my mind currently... lots of discussion of my brother-in-law's campaign during Thanksgiving!

I don't think anyone is asking a kid to give up an education- in fact I think that would be the last thing anyone would say.

I'm not going to apologize for still believing in the awesome honor that sailing in the Olympics represents. Sure you can say an Olympic medal is a "piece of metal," but you can say that about anything in life! If you take that attitude, why bother to even sail at all, let alone race?

For me, I'm going to keep going to the gym, working on my boat, and supporting, those who dream of Olympic glory.

IIRC, don't other nations sponsor their Olympic teams, reducing the need for the competitors to seek private support? Seems our Olympic hopefuls spend more time soliciting than they do practicing/competing.

Why not partner with the Collegiate Sailing system for Olympic development?

And explain again why my USS membership wouldn't support Olympic sailing program or team costs?

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, 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.


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.


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

Jay,

I think the level of support is country dependent. Some countries are putting tons of money into their national sailing programs- Singapore is a great example. Team GBR relies on national lottery funding to help support its sailors.

I think the US got caught behind the curve when it came to national team funding and a very professionalized program. For a long time we dominated Olympic sailing using a very individualistic model... so we didn't change that model until all of a sudden we were playing catch up (at least IMHO). The good news is the US Sailing Team funding to athletes is increasing, hopefully reducing the individual burden slightly.

The simplest answer to the collegiate question is that the current college system works really well by some measures, and is difficult to change.

Not sure why USS membership doesn't go towards Olympic sailing, although I know many wouldn't support it.

Well, we are a "what's in it for me" society now, aren't we? I guess perhaps the only reason I feel somewhat benevolent now is I actually know the Olympic hopefuls...?

Hey, can we continue to bring international level events here to the US? Would that help bring the teams up to Olympic caliber faster?

I'm torn. I personally have no interest in Olympic sailing but having the team supported by USS dues is appealing to me. I know, a little contradictory...

I guess I feel that private efforts are doomed to fail for lack of funding. A true National team with appropriate funding levels is a whole different matter.

Bringing international events to the US is great, but hard to sustain in my opinion. The only annual international Olympic class event in the US is the Miami OCR, and I think it will be a struggle just to make sure we keep that one. Raising the profile of existing events like CORK would be very beneficial (and sailing there is awesome!).

As far as individual class events, you are restricted by class politics. For the F18s, getting a Worlds outside Europe is VERY hard. The current tentative plan is:
2013: Grosseto, Italy (confirmed)
2014: Ireland or Argentina (bids)
2015: Argentina or Oman (bids)

I believe there is another European bid in there as well, but I forget where. Argentina has a chance because it is Souther Hemisphere and the Europeans wouldn't lose part of their season to ship boats.

The A-Cats will likely be back, but it could be a few years. The 2013 F16 Worlds is Germany, maybe a US venue can put together a bid for F16s in the coming years.

The Nacra 17s will also have a worlds, but that will be subject to the ISAF Combined Worlds planning, so hard to say!

College Sailing is NOT a stepping stone to the Olympics...We have conclusively demonstrated this at Weymouth.... College Sailing is great for what it is... and we should leave it alone... no reason to put boards, cats and skiffs into the college game..
The proper model is basketball. Elite players go to Kentucky for a year and then to the NBA...School and sailing are seperate activities.


Why should US Sailing not directly fund Olympic Sailing... because Olympic Sailing gets the bulk of it's money from the USOC by way of the IOC.... by way of NBC TV by way of advertising. It would be greedy of them to take from the rest of the sport admin.

Money... Yes.. it would be expensive.... that is why we need a partnership... of several partners... US Olympic, Key Yacht Clubs who want to host Olympic Camps for their top sailors, Multihull clubs and classes, and parents and Junior sailors and some funding partners who brand the program and boats. These camps are not going to be free.... the goal is to cross train top regional sailors and plan to grow their performance in what ever boat they race or pathway they take. You hope to find a Smyth or Lovell as well as crews.

We need a vision for all of the partners and leadership from US Olympic and full support from the partners and multihull sailors.

I haven’t read any of the posts in this thread but a quick scan shows that it’s just like any other thread on the topic. Everyone is mapping out their own particular if-I-ruled-the-world scenario. Unfortunately it’s all just talk and just about no one is going to actually do anything. Here’s something you can do, give some money to your favorite aspiring Olympians, that’s what keeps real Olympic programs going.

+1

I agree but I think a few good ideas have come out of this thread that are actually implementable:

1) Hiring regional coaches-certainly doable if groups of F16/F18 sailors get together and make it happen. These coaches may be Olympic hopefuls and you're helping fund their campaign.

2) Getting a double stack F16 setup available for use. Its viable if there is manufacturer support behind the effort

3) Showing up at high school/college regattas and practices with your F16/F18/N20 and taking the kids for a spin after racing or the parents during the day. More exposure to high performance sailing=more interest in the classes=a few more Olympic hopefuls.

All of this takes at the minimum time, and in reality money by the class organizations to make it happen. Perhaps it would be better to spend this money directly on individual campaigns but some change needs to happen for 2020 before the U.S stops supporting sailing at the Olympics all together after another 0 medal count event.

More to the point...
Target is the 15 to 21 year old junior RACER... Not learn to sail... not recreational sail.. NOT OLD FARTS like us...
(now a partner program of coaching for the weekend warior set adds a huge amount of financial power and velocity to a program )

Credentials and authority matter...(as much as cat sailors reject authority)... FACT OF LIFE... no parent will spend the coin unless the program is real and supported by US Sailing AND your local establishment Yacht Club and it leads to International Championships.

Big time Yacht clubs already hire full time coaches/program directors (AYC just hired a recent ex Olympic coach) ... for their core group of sailors... We need to augment this expertise with a regional coach that comes in to support the high performance boats (skiffs and cats).

We need to change the attitude of college coaches... When THEY assert that juniors who cross train in high performance boat classes are the prize recruits and College admissions accomodates this change... Parents will be insisting that their kids have cross training opportunities.


This is a partnership between US Sailing (program) and your regional YRA, and the sponsors (boat builder and benefactors). A couple of YRA's could get together and buy into the package of training opportunities. The leadership starts at the top... but the people who make this run are at the YRA level (working with the key Yacht Clubs)



No... NO ... NO... Taking the kids for a spin is a proven waste of time...

Sailing is sailing.. racers decide on what class is more fun and meets their goals (regional champs, NA's, ISAF qualifier, College Admission, Olympics) ... it's not a novel new experience... So... they want to see the opportunities available and how doable is the class.

Ultimately... a kid needs to buy a boat... so parents are going to want to see a real commitment... a training camp of a couple of days will cost some money... when the US high performance program delivers.... the parents and kids have real information to move forward.

Final point... Kids don't want to look bad to their peers or anyone... So, they don't just jump into something where they will look foolish... Programs are a work-around for that psychology. (Tried for years to get kids to take a free boat to a race... does not happen! .... THEY love to just sail it tho)

What you propose is best left to the boat builder... it's called marketing. Or a Yacht Club... it's called membership drive.

Yes, it's about the money. To live on, train on and compete on. I've met 2 Olympic aspirants over the years. Robbie Daniel when he was racing a Hobie 18 in Fort Myers and a high school friend of my wife who was a track athlete. Jill Nickerson did great promo work with Robbie so I was able to follow his trials and tribulations through her articles for Multihulls Magazine. Robbie was in a program with Home Depot where he worked for the company and they allowed him time to train and compete. The track star has a similar situation with Mobil Oil.

Are there stilll programs such as these?

The last quad was very different for US Sailors compared to Robbie, your track buddies experience... or Bob M's experience... These sailors did not have financial or coaching support that was remotely adequate from US Olympic.

US Olympic provided 60 days of on the water coaching and other financial support after a succesful fund raising push... The problem was coaching, competition,experience, and pipeline... (assuming the sailors had equal talent)

I never mentioned US Olympic. Are corporations still providing this support?

On point 3, is it? How many of those AYC sailors have been on a double trapeze boat? I can count on one hand the number of those boats parked in downtown Annapolis, so I'm guessing the percentage isn't very high.

The fundamental issue is a culture switch. When speaking directly to the high school sailor, they would love to be on a double trapeze boat, but they aren't going to do it if their friends are off campaigning C420's. The solution is to take some of that 420 funding and buy 6x F16's/29er's etc. and build a viable fleet with paid coaching. You won't see people break out of the college sailing mode until the yacht clubs change their base program. Its too easy for the parents to drop the kids off at the club, coaches take care of transportation, no need to move boats, and they're hanging out with 18+ of their like-minded friends.

Probably the best suggestions will come from our Olympic sailors that have won a metal. Looks like it takes a lot of dedication, time and money. In addition to Bob's comments, we should hear from John Lovell and Charlie Ogletree.

In the past, I have donated to the Olympic Committee Fund. With the return of Multihulls to the 2016 Games, I plan on shifting support directly to our Teams working to earn the position to represent USA. As Bob Suggests, you may want to do the same.

Caleb Tarleton
www.sailsandpoint.org

I agree with you Caleb, but what if I was an old senile monohull dude who wanted to support whatever Olympic program was out there developing the teams to represent us? Should I just give to the USOC? Or would that also allocate my funds to the Curling team?

If the USOC is the primary means to get people to the Olympics, where would USS fit in that picture? Is it an adjunct organization for "the rest of us"?

US Sailing collects donations specifically for Olympic sailors. Go to the website, and you will see several options.

It's not obvious if you can make a donation to specifically help multihull sailors, but I'm sure if you called and made that a condition of your donation, they wouldn't turn you away.

As Bob mentioned, you can always donate to a specific team of your choice if you prefer.

We may mock curling all day long, but they get a TON of air time...

Mike