US Sailing's Sailor Athlete Council (SAC) has gone to the officials of the involved racing class for input regarding the ISAF proposals to select equipment for the 2008 Olympic Games:

- Multihull Open: Hobie 16 or Tornado
- Keelboat Women: Soling or Yngling
- Keelboat Men: Soling or Star or Yngling
- D/H Dinghy Open: 49er or Snipe
- D/H Dinghy Women: 470 or 49er or Snipe or 49er
- D/H Dinghy Men: 470 or 49er / Snipe [whichever loses vote 4]
- S/H Dinghy Men: Finn or Laser - whichever is not selected is the only
option in vote 8
- S/H Dinghy Open: Finn or Laser
- S/H Dinghy Women: Byte or Europe or Flash or Laser Radial or Zoom8
- Windsurfer Male: Hybrid or Mistral or Mistral Derivative
- Windsurfer Female: Hybrid or Mistral or Mistral Derivative or outcome
windsurfing equipment evaluation trials

The Sailor Athlete Council represents all racing sailors, and is interested in learning how the US Sailors in these classes feel about the choices. SAC member Louise Gleason ([email protected]) is collecting this information prior to discussions at US Sailing's October Annual General Meeting in Portland Oregon.

From the Scuttlebut!

You've got to be kidding

The H16 would not threaten the Tornado...... I cannot see a current class available that would. Including the F18.

Selection of Equipment for the Multihull Events at the Olympic Regatta 2008
A submission from the International Tornado Association
PROPOSAL:
The International Tornado Association proposes that the International Tornado Class catamaran be
selected as the equipment for the open multi-hull event at the 2008 Olympic Games.
CURRENT POSITION:
16.1.2 Submissions for Equipment for the Olympic Regatta shall be made in accordance with Regulation
1, except that no submission will be accepted after 15 March in the year of the decision on Equipment.
Supporting information required under regulation 1.5.1 shall be specified by ISAF and shall include
information to enable Council to evaluate how well the Equipment meets the Olympic Equipment selection
criteria.
REASON:
The Tornado truly meets the guidelines for the Open Events: it is innovative and evolving; it creates
exciting and spectacular racing for the media; it attracts both young and established sailors; it the fastest
boat currently sailed in the Olympics; it is acrobatic and athletic; it is still developing under the mature
guidance of a strong class organisation.
The Tornado has set a standard for achieving the highest levels of performance, durability, and strict onedesign
controls, while also incrementally evolving to take advantage of modern materials and sail plans.
After more than 36 years, the Tornado remains the highest performance and highest quality International
Class multi-hull in existence. Its performance is matched by the flexibility of its sail plan, which allows
crews varying in weight from 130 kg to 170 kg to finish in the top 10 at major events.
The Tornado has also proven to be a boat with a long competitive lifespan; many 10-year-old boats are
raced at the top level and the current world champions continue to win in 2004 using the same boat they
sailed in the 2000 Olympic Games, with a mast from 1994. The reasons for this longevity are both
exceptional build quality and stable one-design class rules.
The basic price of the Tornado, except for the new bowsprit systems, has remained nearly flat for many
years, changing little except for adjustments for inflation. Yet, because of the durability of the boats,
resale prices are strong. It is a fine combination: a high quality, long-lasting boat with low depreciation.
As a result, the Tornado has a very reasonable cost of ownership, particularly when compared to boats
with limited competitive life spans. In 2003, the ISAF and Tornado class approved two new builders,
which offers new high quality builder choices to sailors worldwide.
The new rig on the Tornado has been an unqualified success. The boat is perfectly balanced;
performance is up; and the athletic exhilaration of sailing the boat has reached a new level. While fitness
is tested in the Tornado, the age range in the class has remained wide. Top crews range in age from
early twenties to mid-forties; and there is strong growth in 16-21 year old sailors that have been attracted
by the new rig. The class has also attracted Olympic medallists from the Mistral, Star, 470, and 49er
classes.
The Tornado has also been successful in attracting sponsors and building media coverage. The Tornado
fleet is widely supported by strong and diverse sponsors. Innovative format Champions series racing is
entering its second season, with major corporate sponsorship and excellent media coverage. Print and
web publications focus on the top Tornado sailors when they offer articles or expert series.
The International Tornado Association is a stable, mature organisation with members in 37 Countries. It
stands ready to continue its proven leadership, and to meet and exceed all of the responsibilities of a
Class chosen as equipment for the 2008 Olympic Regatta.

Not a US sailor, but come on. Who in their right mind would want to see a H16 at the olympics. The H16 is a great boat, but not a challange to sail in the same way as a Tornado. I cannot believe this is even being considered (again).

There could be some argument if replacing the T with F18 purely on cost grounds, but IMO theTornado is still the ultimate Beach Cat.

I thought that the Mexicans had withdrawn their proposal for the H16

At the ISAF Sailing Committee meeting on the 23/24 April 2004, under the heading 2008 Olympic Regatta, the following paragraph was included.
(vi) Hobie 16
It was noted that the IHCA had not put forward the class and that the Hobie 16 does not reflect multihull racing at its most demanding. Also it
was considered that it is not particularly crew weight tolerant.
http://www.sailing.org/meetings/minutes/2004_SC_24_04.pdf

I am sure that I saw somewhere else that the Mexicans had not followed up on their proposal, but I cannot find it at the moment.

Hello All,
I am wondering WHY it is presented as ________ OR _________.

Due to the obvious speed, hi-tech, excitement, global attraction,....on and on and on.......why not have TWO ( or more) multihull classes in the Olympics?

It if a fair statement that there are MORE THAN 1 monohull class in the Olympics,...so, what gives here?

I suggest opening up the multihull classes,, for example;

- Tornado / Spin ( all genders)
( because it is a proven winner)
and
- H-16 ( men and women divisions)
( ..there is a zillion of them out there)
and
- Uni w/spin, solo ( open to all genders)
(..FX-1, A Cat, T 4.9, Stealth,I-17 ...on and on)


....wouldn't that be interesting



Why not?

regards,

Bruce
St. Croix
I-17

Because then all those 1/2 boat sailors (and members of most important decision making bodies) would get a upset !

And they would also find out how much fun Cats are

[quote]Not a US sailor, but come on. Who in their right mind would want to see a H16 at the olympics. The H16 is a great boat, but not a challange to sail in the same way as a Tornado. I cannot believe this is even being considered (again)].

I for one would love to see it be an Olympic Class.Why not make the Olympic class more affordable an attainable(talent not technology,was Paul Hendersons theme).Look at the sussess of the laser.Keep the Tornado(for the people that have TOO MUCH money,and have the hobie 16 for the great sailors that won,t have to morgage their house to campaign it.

Hello All,

Ok,....since this discusssion is posted,........here is the question..

..why have such limitation in sailing athletes at all?


Why not consider the Texel Race format?

Wouldn't be an exciting event in Olympic Sports to see 500-600 catamarans racing!

Obviously, Texel has been doing this successfully for years.

Maybe the Olympic Committee should consider the Texel 2008 race be their event also and open this thing up instead of limiting it !

..comments..


regards,
Bruce
St. Croix
I-17

That's a great idea - and surely one that should eventually prevail. A one-up cat with spin seems a lot more distinct in the sporting challenge that it offers than the difference between say Laser and Finn.

Mark.

It always amazes me to realize there or those that believe the main reason not to campaign for gold is the cost of the boat! Come on...the reality is the boat/equpiemeht cost is a fraction of the total campaign. I've heard direct from a recent US Tornado campaigner that their team budget for 2003 was $100,000...and this was to ramp up in 2004. It's the (international) travel, lost of employment income, training, etc. etc. that is the main cost, not the boat.

Mike.

I have to pose the question then Mike,(and keep in mind, I'm on the tornado side of the argument, no matter the answer here) But Woudl one have to do so much international ravel for a class the the hobie 16? I mean there are a bazillion of them right here in the states?

Back in the '70's there were a lot more Tornado's in NA as well...the competitive guys will always need to travel overseas to find the best in the world to hone their skills against. Travel, like boat cost, is one aspect...not the only aspect. You'd still need the years of training, dedication and long periods of lost income while away from work. You just can't hope to be competitive at world levels doing the weekend thing.

Josh, all you have to do is look at the results of the latest Hobie 16 Worlds (here) to see why international travel is necessary.

The top US Team (Jeff Alter) was only just able to break the top 20.

As a long time Hobie 16 racer, I personally don't want to see it become the Olympic multihull class because of the political baggage that comes with being an Olympic class.

Fair enough! ;-)

Read an interesting post-olympic commentary from the Sailing For Gold Canadian team...they mention the top guys were all olympic veterans and they now know why:

Sailing For Gold

Hi Gang,
I see much confusion between sailing as a sport popularity
and sailing in a given class popularity. The decision as to whether or not a sport should be in the Olympics is made based on the popularity of the sport world wide. In our case it is the sport of sailing. As to what class/event to put in the Olympic sailing contest, that is a totally different question. The Olympic sailing contest must be held in a boat that is very responsive to sailing skill of all facets and it must also be very responsive to athletic ability, physical conditioning, strength, endurance etc. Now a boat that does this isn't going to be popular. Serious Olympic minded sailors for the most part are going to enjoy this boat and the average sailor will not enjoy/appreciate this boat. In sailing the boat has a major impact on the degree of difficulty of the contest or another way to say it is the opportunity for sailors to show their skill. The parallel to this in snow skiing is the use of the giant downhill slope to determine the best speed skier in the world. This 80 mph slope certainly isn't popular, the bunny slope is much more popular, but the giant downhill slope is what is required to separate the best snow skiers in the world according to skill. The same is true for sailing. The giant downhill boats belong in the Olympics and they will only be popular with Olympic minded sailors of which there are few but thank goodness for them.
Bill

If I had a time and a good crew I would by a Tornado tomorrow. The reason sail my I17 is that I don't have anone I would want to crew for me and at the moment I do not have time (young family).

Once my sone gets to an age where he can sail with me (and assuming he wants to) I can see the following hopefully happening :

Spitfire followed by
F18 (or Tornado) followed by
Tornado

Bill,
I don't think you'll find too many Tornado sailors willing to take their boats in the Olympic Giant Downhill event


Seriously though, you make a good point here.
Mike.

Mark,
I think that the International Olympic Committee is trying to make as many events as possible equally inclusive to men and women. They also are trying to reduce or contain the number of people who participate in the Olympics, while at the same time adding new events like ballroom dancing and tug-of-war and golf, all of which are going to be gender-equal.

The way I see it, ISAF has managed to get around the gender equality issue for sailing and add classes to the sailing events by calling them “Open,” meaning open to both men and women.

Right now there are three “Open” classes, the Multihull, the 49er and the Laser. None of those three is truly open to women with the current boats.

I don’t think the Tornado should be taken out. However, if there is a choice, I think ISAF (read IOC) would go for a boat that is more user friendly for both males and females.

If we ADD another multihull class, which definitely should be done, they would have to eliminate one of the other sailing classes. The options for elimination would be the 49er, the Finn or the Laser or maybe the Europe. My choice would be to eliminate both the Finn (single-hander male) and the Europe (single-hander female), and replace them both with a single-hander multihull -- Multihull Women and Multihull Men.

This does not add to the number of sailing class disciplines and does not add to the number of people attending the Olympics. And it maintains the gender balance. Any woman who can sail a Europe dinghy can sail a single-handed catamaran. And, of course, any man who can sail a Finn can sail anything.

(Technically, small catamarans are considered to be “dinghies,” so they could easily replace the ”equipment” in the single-handed dinghy categories with catamarans if they wanted to.)

P.S. I am not promoting the cause of women in sailing. I am just saying what I think is the thinking of the International Olympic Committee and, therefore, the International Sailing Federation. It is all very political.

P.P.S. The last time around when the Hobie 16 was proposed as an Olympic Class, as I recall, the class association was opposed to it and the factory was in favor of it. It would be interesting to know how the class and the factory feel about it now.