Olympic Classes

The 29er XX is in it's developement stages at the moment but soon there should be one design versions coming out as the class grows. I think they're just in the testing phase currently and making slight adjustments. When it is produced to the puiblic it should be just as 'developent' as the 49er.

skiffs look great to us sailors because we understand what its like to go downwind. trying to explain this to the majority of my year at school is like a friend of mine trying to explain the joys of golf to me. i can show people pictures, i can try to describe it, i can shout at them about how much fun it is until im blue. but however hard i try they dont get it. so give up on trying to make sailing a spectator sport and think about the sailors. and i totaly agree with the point about lasers. they may not always look as exciting as an mps or 49er but they are great as an olypic class because of their strict one design-ness. sailing is never going to be a very succesful spectator sport so get rid of that stupid scoring system before it ruins an olypics.

Not sure why you cant handle some one saying that saying that sailnig would be better off not in the olympics.I campaigned for mmm 6-7 years in a Laser and I loved every minute of it. The world titles (5 in total) that I did were fantastic. How ever after watching the racing in the last few olympics , compared to the world titles the  Olympics do not hold a much inportance as a world title.

Sure the sport does have a lot of plus's being in the Olympics, in regards to funding , coaching, etc I should know I am a coach, I own a sailing school etc, how ever the weight that is put to the importance of a Olympic medal which is easier to get than a world title is not right.Its harder to win a world title than a olympic medal

 It may take 4 years to campaign to even get to the olympics sure thats a given. However you are not racing against the total best in the world. Many countries UK included have a handful of sailors in each class that could on any given day win a medal, but only one from each country goes. 

 Where as other sports have maybe 3 reps per event, so yes you are competing against the best.

If sailng was not olympic then you would find that the level of sailing in most classes would increase as you dont have 6 people going for the 1 spot and they move to a class that is much more fun to sail.

 I race a FD and that class was Olympic and now it is a class that has great racing with still good numbers at a world title. Once I said FDs should be Olympis, I think I was wrong. The class does not need it , its great how it is 

 

Being in the olympics is not why sailing is popular.If any thing if a class is in the olympics most people would stear clear of it as the enjoyment of pure racing goes. Pretty much every Olymipc class boat regatta when you go to them the people do 3 races a day  then go home and sleep , no social no nothing. Take Keil week for example. During the international classes part there are kegs of beer in the boat park and most classes hang around and enjoy them selves.

 I think I can justify it by saying that when I race I like to race against the best. I like to race boats that are Fun and/or interesting to sail.MOst kids that start sailig in Opties like going to worlds titles because there are 200+ boats there.The only reason that they go on to do Olympic campaigns is because they think that is the be all and end all.Of those 200+ optie sailors there are maybe 1 or 2 that go on to olympic level, with the rest sailing other classes .

 If sailing was not in the olympics you would have the best sailors sailig  modern boats and in may cases classes that they would prefer to sail .I know that my helm and I have considerd doing another Olympic campagain.TO do that we looked at the type of boats we could sail.THe Fin (no way) the Laser (boring), the 470 (we are not migets and we like to have a beer most days) Yingling (wrong sex),tornado (maybe),Star (well about the only boat that is interesting if only because like the laser at world level it is harder than the olympics).

 I think that every athlete needs stimulation and if you have somthing that they can aspire to that pushes them ,then thats great. But with or with out the olympics sailing would be no worse off not being in the olympics as people at world level still need coaching, support and Funding. THe ISAF games would be bigger etc etc. It would do no harm not to be in the olympics

Turnturtle

If you're going to sell a sport on the basis of its excitement, then it better be damn exciting, because you're going to be competing with true extreme sports for a half-hour space-filling spot on ESPN.

I'm sorry but I think the "excitement" difference between a Finn race and an MPS race, in typical Olympic conditions, is so very small compared to the difference between an MPS race and tow-in surfing as to be almost non existent to the average punter or TV exec.

In fact, watch the individual races on the video of the Athens Olympics. Of all the classes (not considering the Finn because of my bias) I honestly think the 470 men's race in a big breeze actually looks the most exciting, and certainly looks most like a test of the athletes. Maybe it's because the 470s are more directly affected by the waves and don't just skim over or through them.

The problem is that if you push excitment to the average Joe and fail, then you're just left with pretty pictures of colourful boats, and that is death.

But what about the alternative; really drawing the punters into the race, the contest, the experiences of the sailors themselves? After all, the drama that makes all successful Olympic events great comes from the competitors and the competition, not from any whizz bang equipment. If you want thrilling equipment to be the star, then go for monster trucks.

Think of the difference between road cycling and BMX, both variations on the same theme. The latter is far more visually exciting. The former can capture and maintain an audience of 100s of millions for weeks on end.

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