Olympic Classes

So how many countries have fleets?  

I agree totally with Stephan, how can you say that Sailing should not be in the Olympics?! Every class of boat in england even if it is not an Olympic Class will have had some benefit from sailing being the Olympics. Sailing would not be any where near as big as it is today without the Olympics nor would we have so much funding and opportunity availble and coaching available. The RYA do not force kids or people to sail Olympic Classes but simply say that if you want to go to the Olympics this is what you need to do to get our support. The RYA's money comes from Sport England and the RYA can not simply give this money to any class of boat it has been alocated and they only get because of the Olympics.

Personally I think the MPS should replace the Finn in the Olympics in terms of attracting more veiwers of maybe even the Moth. The Finn is a great boat with really tight racing and it is also demanding to sail, but show any non-sailor video footage of a Finn in 15knots and a MPS and all of them will say the MPS looks cool and more exciting. If you know a lot about sailing then watching Finn's sail is really good because you can understand it but not to the general non-sailor.

Firstly, to make the Olympics you have to be the top team for your country over the Qualifing period ( up to 4 years).....  That is a measure of consistancy, not a potential one off brilliance if you win a Worlds.  Then you will race against the best of other countries that are consistantly good performers and not one shot specials.  This will be 4 years of dedication, putting your carrier, relationships, life on hold for this one in 4 year event.

There is no doupting the importance of an Olympic Campaign.

The Olympics also gives sailing that little bit more exposure to the general public which can not be a bad thing.

National Bodies both sporting and government give $$$$ for Olympic success.  If sailing is not in the Olympics, then these $$$$ go to another sport.

These $$$$ goes into facilities, assisting in financing the running of our National and state yachting bodies, research and develpment in boats, sails, rigs, hardware, systems, sailing techneques at a FULLY PROFESIONAL level.  This in turn trickles down to non Olympic classes and sailors benifiting the whole sport.

Those who are closed minded will not see how important and how much to offer, Olympic competition is to the general yachting comunity.

It absolutley $hits me to tears every time I here this comment and makes me realise how ill informed, closed minded and just plain greedy some people are.

I say greedy because those who make this comment only care about how it directly effects THEM in the imediate short term and is not appreciative of the long term direct and indirect gains our sport gets from an Olympic Games.

If you look at the criteria for the various categories, and apply them rigidly, there's no way the MPS could possibly replace the Finn. Go read the criteria, then come back and name a single SMOD that fits the bill.

As for the political element, Paul Henderson ( FD sailor) was President of ISAF when the FD was dropped. Didn't help much did it? Personally I think being dropped from the 5-ring circus was the best thing that could have happened to the FD class, and any "open" class that is newly selected will encounter exactly the same problems - and benefits - that the FD did.

Problems:-

Arms race over gear, perception that unlimited funds are necessary to win, and the idea that the boat is not for mere mortals, just to name a few!

Benefits:-

Top sailors come into the class, RYA support (if that really is a benefit!), ready-made international regatta circuit, and a steady flow of good second-hand gear from the Olympic gods to help the poor of the parish

I agree with 7250 in the main. The choice of boat will make very little difference to the viewing figures. Viewing figures for sailing in the UK were good because we were in the hunt for lots of medals. If the situation is different next time (God forbid!), no-one will bother except sailors. How many of us had ever watched curling before 2002?

The 49er is a great boat, but a better boat than the FD? Better for what? If you were standing on the shore looking at 25 knot breeze and 4m waves, which would you pick to go racing? None of this is anything to do with the boats, it's more to do with the current obsession with the word "modern". Next thing we'll see will be compulsory pit-stops and shoe-changes every 4 laps in the 10,000 metres! No? Wait till a TV executive suggests it, then see how quick it happens. The only sport I have experience of at that level, fencing, has been completely ruined - sorry, "modernised" - by the pressure of making it more telegenic to keep Olympic status. Dinghysolutions is probably right in the end.

Neil